The Hamptons Annual International Christmas Trip is back!!
With quite a bit of trepidation, lots of research, 10 rounds of Covid shots between the four of us, and two rounds of PCR testing done, we are on our way to Jordan and Egypt for a few weeks! But of course, we can’t go directly there so we’re traveling through Doha, Qatar and Athens, Greece. Ty being Ty is always keeping an eye out for a good flight deal, and since our Anniversary trip to Sri Lanka he’s been trying to find business class seats on Qatar airways for us to take the kids with us. So he found a deal on Qatar to Athens but we came to Athens a few years ago, so we knew we wouldn’t stay here long. Egypt has been on my bucket list since I was a kid, and we figured with a pandemic going on now might be the time to go and it wouldn’t be overrun with tourists. Fingers crossed of course, this isn’t a crazy use of a pandemic side effect. Jordan, Petra, the Red Sea, and the Dead Sea are so close to Egypt we’re rolling all those into the first week as well. AMAZING!!!
We left Anchorage, Friday (12/10) at 5am, and no one slept really. We don’t actually leave Seattle till 4pm. Due to the 72 hour restrictions that lots of countries have regarding their COVID testing, and the fact that we were traveling through 3 countries in three days, Ty figured out we needed to take another PCR test in Seattle so we would have a valid test by the time we land in Jordan.
So he rented a car and we drove like 1 mile to Walgreens, did a PCR test, then drove another mile to the mall for dumplings for lunch. So yummy! Q
Then we drove back to the airport, and headed to the British Airways lounge to enjoy our last hour on American soil.
Oh yes, when we checked in with Qatar for our flight, they informed us that since we just have a layover in Doha, we wouldn’t be getting our bags back. They’d be checked through all the way to Athens, Which is normally great, but our layover in Doha is 14 hours! We have a hotel booked in the airport. So there are the check in counter I grab our toothbrushes out of our suitcase and everyone agrees they don’t need a change of clothes for several days of travel! This was definitely a mistake, and a rushed decision. We will plan ahead for our return layover.
Ty has been talking up these q-suite seats to the kids for months! L has been telling everyone we meet about these seats and this flight for months as well. There was a lot of build up for this flight. Well it didn’t disappoint!
Getting to have four personal pods, with doors, lay flat seats, and meals on request is an amazing way to fly with kids! You don’t feel uncomfortable, exhausted, and cranky. It’s amazing how much better our parenting is when we’re feeling good.
We landed in Doha airport about 6pm on Saturday. We all felt pretty good considering we just got off a 14 hour flight. But you still feel out of sorts and just a bit off. We had to go through security to get to our hotel and that’s where we saw this guy walking around with two hooded falcons! I was trying to be all sly with my photo but I should have just stopped and gotten a better one. I feel like this was just too bizarre not to document!
