Day 56 - Journey Home and Reflections
August 16, 2023: Time to go home. After almost 60 days abroad, today we made the journey back to the United States. We headed to the airport at 6:45am and flew from Keflavik, Iceland to New York City (JFK), then to Atlanta and finally to Fort Myers, Florida. It took us almost a full day with layovers before we made it home at 11:00pm (3:00am next day in Iceland). However, the nice thing about being frequent travels is that when we do have layovers, we also have access to lounges with free food and drinks along the way. Additionally, having TSA pre-check and Global Entry allows us to almost eliminate waiting in lines at security and customs. I highly recommend to anyone reading this that you invest in both. If you pay for Global Entry and go through the process of doing the security screening, you automatically get TSA pre-check with it. You don’t have to pay for both. I am also an advocate of getting a credit card that helps you accumulate miles. We have gotten status, free upgrades and free airline tickets just by using our card and then paying it off every month.
So, on to my reflections of our second summer rove. This trip was everything we hoped it would be and more. We expected to have some issues along the way, but really it all went so smoothly thanks to months of planning. I know some people like to just “wing it” on their trips, but we ran into several people during our travels that told us they were not enjoying their vacation because they stood in too many lines without reservations at major attractions, couldn’t get into the restaurant they wanted because it was full, or didn’t even know about half of the amazing things that were available to them. The trick is to plan, plan, plan! I read blogs, listened to podcasts, participated in Facebook groups, followed travel sites on Instagram, etc. all with the goal of making the most out of our trip. I also used the TripIt (highly recommend!) app and website to log all of our activities in one place with addresses, confirmation numbers and phone numbers so that every day we knew exactly where we needed to be and when and if we could easily contact someone if we had questions.
We purposely traveled at light as possible on this trip. We each took a 24” suitcase and a backpack. It was a challenge because we knew we would be both in hot and humid climates as well as cold and rainy climates, but we did it! The key was to make sure we had a places to do laundry strategically throughout the trip and it worked perfectly. We were even slightly under our weight restriction on the way back since we used up some things and got rid of a few worn items before heading back home.
One unforeseen challenge for me personally was not realizing how hard it was going to be for me to be away from our new grand baby for such a long period of time during her first year. I missed three months of her life during a time when she is changing and learning things so fast. I don’t think we will do this long of trip again for a while, probably one month at the most.
I believe travel is important, especially as we age. Traveling keeps you active both physically and mentally. On some days we walked over 20,000 steps and we consistently hit over 10,000 steps per day. It also requires you to overcome fears and get outside of your comfort zone. You are using your brain constantly to navigate new environments. And best of all, especially for an extrovert, It provides you an opportunity to meet new people and learn about other cultures. We will continue to travel as much as we can, as often as we can for as long as we can, and we hope you continue to follow us on our journeys. Next up…Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada in September and then New Zealand and Australia in October/November. I love this quote that I have seen a few different times online and in boutique shops.
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list!”