China Travel Plans

I'll be leaving in several hours to catch a flight to Shenyang, China to meet some future family members (in-law). The wonderful woman I've been dating since practically forever is originally from China and I've scheduled some time off to go and meet her grandparents. They are getting up there in years (75 - 80) and if I don't go soon I may never get a chance to meet them.

I'll spend about a week there visiting the grandparents (she and her parents are all Naturalized U.S. Citizens) on both sides of the family. There will be minimal time for sight seeing as most of the interesting stuff requires more time for travel than I can spend. This results from the limited vacation time I've saved up since I started working with my firm. I could take some unpaid time off, but I can't really afford it right now. Just purchasing a ticket cost me some $1,500 a month in advance. Lack of vacation time is not my only complication though.

In order for me to get the most out of my visit, I have to leave Hawaii on Thursday (06/17/2010) morning at 1:40 am. My flight from Alaska to Hawaii puts me on the island Wednesday (06/16/2010) at 12:35 pm. So I'll have some 13 hours to get home, unpack, wash clothes, take care of some personal business, repack, and get to the airport for my flight. It is easily doable, but far from ideal. On the brightside, I'll be able to say that I went from Alaska, to Washington (a stopover in Seattle), to Hawaii, to South Korea (a stopover in Souel), to China, all within ~48 hours! And with that bit of sunshine, peace out!

- TiH