April 28, 2015 - Day 1

What I hope to do on this trip 11 day trip is to use my be iPhone 6 plus to blog the various locations I'll be visiting. 

Been home for several weeks now getting Springtime yard work completed. So, I was scheduled to begin LCAL starting Monday. It was this morning before church when I noticed the following on my schedule:

I basically have to fly to Kuwait on a commercial airline spending the night in Kuwait and then fly our aircraft to Ireland and then probably commercial back stateside from Ireland. 

As you can tell, I have to airline Tuesday afternoon to Kuwait. Not an easy commute. Here's my itinerary:

Here's my current seat flying from Chicago to Doha, Qutar:

 

That's me in yellow; 15K. It's a window seat with no one sitting beside me currently. 

When I travel internationally, I like to check with seat guru to see if I got a decent seat.

When you do the math, it adds up to 16 hours of flying in Coach.  Here's what my actual duty day looks like:

Notice that number on the far right. That's right, a duty day of 18 hours and 45 minutes. Not your typical 8 hour work day. 

Here's the forecast for Kuwait:

It's currently 46 degrees here in MO. 

Next post should be on Tuesday as I head to the airport. 

Tuesday, 12:30pm and I'm heading to the airport. 

Lots of big rigs on the drive, but made it to the airport. Here is where I park while I'm gone. 

Free parking if you can find a spot. 

Here is what I'll be living out of for the next two weeks. 

It's 2:30 and now on the hotel van heading to the terminal. 

This morning's time break down went like this:

12:30 - leave house

2:30 - catch hotel shuttle 

3:00 - check into flight

4:05 - flight departs for Chicago

Made it through security and to my gate in no time. 

Now I have to wait an hour to fly to Chicago. I was assigned seat 11A. My other two flights are still 15K. 

Made it to Chicago. Here's the terminal. 

Another view from the train running between the Domestic and International terminal. 

Time to wait to board. 

Nice and comfy with an empty seat beside me. 

Here's the dinner they served. Not very good. Some kind of chicken. 

This is a view of the cabin from my seat. 

After 13 hours of flying, I arrive in Doha, Qatar. If you're wondering where in the world Qatar is:

Walking to my gate...

Here I wait for 3 hours for my flight to Kuwait that is scheduled to depart at 8pm. 

Here we are boarding the third and final aircraft at 7pm local. 

Onboard the aircraft. This was my neighbor. 

Of course you have to eat. 

Finally Kuwait. 

This is standing outside waiting for hotel van. 

Its about 10pm here. Quiet ride to hotel. 

Finally, my room. Time to sleep.