Ben and I thought pretty hard about where we wanted to go on our honeymoon. We threw around ideas such as Hawaii, the Caribbean and Europe. Ben has not been to any of those places, nor has he ever been out of the country. I have been to many places over the years, so I wanted this to be extra special and give him an opportunity to experience being overseas. I made sure he had his passport well in advance before planning an actual date.
In May 2023, our geocaching friends, Brenda and Ray, decided to retire and become expats in Portugal. They spent a lot of time getting prepared prior to October 2023, when they made the move over to Europe. They did a lot of research, filled out a ton of paperwork, sold a bunch of their belongings, their house, their car and went head on into the new adventure they carved out for themselves. It was fun to follow their progress along the way.
Ben and I spent months coming up with ideas of where we wanted to go, see and do. After being there for over a year, Brenda and Ray were craving for some visitors from family and friends. They suggested that we come to Europe and spend our honeymoon over there. It wasn't a bad idea. We could spend some time with them and then Ben and I could go do our own thing together. You never know when the next opportunity you have to do something like that again. Ben and I were excited to go to Europe and to not be at home or work for two weeks. Ben had asked Josh to take us to and from the airport and he agreed to do that for us.
We finalized our plans and were looking into going the last two weeks of February. Ben put in leave at work and I thought I would be considerate and let my supervisor and team know three months in advance. It did not turn out the way I imagined it going. She basically said that it was great that I had a plan and to next time give us a heads up. She continued with that we are still a group of people with various time off needs, but obviously it's great that I had a plan. I sat there going, what the actual hell? Next time give her a heads up? Were three months not a big enough heads up? I was literally dumbfounded. I actually asked my DJA supervisor for some advice on the matter. She said she would love a three month heads up if one of her agents knew they were going on vacation.
As the dates got closer and I got further into my DJA, it began to get stressful. A position opened up in the unit I was doing the DJA in and I was going to apply for it. At the time, I wasn't sure if they were going to open up the recruitment and close it while I was on vacation. I had planned on bringing my personal laptop to Europe with me just in case. I had most of my information updated and I had already begun to work on my resume and cover letter in early January. I was in a good spot, but it was still stressful.
About a week before we departed, Ben and I made sure we had all of our stuff booked, sent Brenda and Ray our itinerary, we had our luggage set out, made sure we knew where our passports were, Ben purchased a new backpack, Rhonda and Doug were going to feed our cats and check on our house while we were gone, I put in my leave, buttoned up a few things at work and waited for vacation.
The day before, I went into the office, and the universe must know that you were going to be out on vacation. It was so busy, and I was trying to get everything done before I left. I didn't end up leaving work until almost 5. I was exhausted when I got home but glad to know we were going to be on a plane heading to a place we've never been before. We made sure all of our laundry was done and the clothes we were going to bring were clean. I got in a shower. We packed as many things as we possibly could the night before and seriously attempted to not go to bed super late.
Technically it was Valentine's Day, but we call it Deadpool Day. We got up between 7-7:30 and noticed we had a little bit of overnight snow. We both slept terrible because we stayed up way too late the night before, something we were trying to avoid, but did anyway. I got dressed into my comfy airplane clothes, chatted with Erika on the phone, fed the cats and really didn't have time to eat. Ben shaved and took a shower. Josh arrived earlier than anticipated.
All I had left to do was pack up my toiletries and coat. I was worried that my suitcase would be too heavy. I also made the mistake of taking zinc and vitamin C on an empty stomach and did not feel the greatest the entire car ride to SeaTac.
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We left just after 9:30 after stuffing our bags into the back of Josh's car. The ride up was uneventful, to traffic but I did feel nauseous after taking those supplements on an empty stomach. I listened to Josh and Ben talk about random things while I texted Debbie - I found out her internet was still down which did not affect me since I was not at work and wouldn't be until the beginning of March.
We arrived just after 10:45-11ish, the arrivals lane was packed so that made for extra traffic in the departure area. We found the Delta drop off, Josh pulled over as far as he could, we all got out, Ben and Josh got our suitcases out of the back, and I felt just absolutely terrible. I walked up to the sidewalk and puked. I haven't puked since 2018, when I had my last kidney stone. I hoped I had gotten it all out because we would be standing in several lines over the next hour or so. I felt blah the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.
We printed off our bag tags and boarding passes and then got in line to drop off our suitcases. My suitcase was 46 lbs., lol. We got into the security line, I dumped out the water in my Nalgene and then Ben disappeared, he had gotten into the money exchange line while I proceeded through security. Security, this time, was a breeze, no extras - I didn't have to take my shoes off or take out my laptop. I grabbed my stuff and waited for Ben. I felt bad but it wasn't awful. I did use the restroom while Ben waited for me.
We wandered to our gate to see where it was. We had some time to kill so we stopped at Qdoba and Hudson for some food and drinks/snacks. We both had the chicken and rice bowl. I really needed something in my stomach after that puking episode in front of the unloading zone. I'm sure some people saw me, and I became a story for them to tell. We found a table to sit at and eat our food and play on our phones.
We found out our flight was going to be delayed by about a half hour. Instead of 2ish, it was going to be closer to 2:30ish. We hung out near our gate while our phones charged. We got up a few times to use the restroom, stretch our legs while we could and check in with our families and friends.
It was finally our turn to get in the boarding line, presented our tickets and got onto the Delta Airbus. Ben and I picked two seats to ourselves next to a window when we booked our tickets. We didn't have to sit next to strangers! When we did get to our seat, some guy was in Ben's seat. We had to show him he was in the incorrect seat and adjusted. Ben let me sit next to the window and we got comfortable. It was going to be a 10-hour flight from Seattle to Amsterdam. This will be the longest flight I've ever been on.
We took off. I was excited that we were on our way to Europe for the first time. It has always been on my bucket list and part of it is finally coming true. Once we leveled off, we adjusted and I grabbed my notebook, pens and headphones out of my backpack. Ben and I passed the time writing in my journal and watching movies - Beetlejuice 2, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Despicable Me 4 and Book Smart. Ben watched Deadpool and Wolverine, Venom and the D&D movie along with playing virtual chess, poker and sudoku.
A couple hours into the flight we were served dinner and Ben had to be careful what he ate since some of it was not gluten free. We had chicken, rice, veggies, cheese, a brownie, crackers and a diced pepper/cauliflower medley. The food wasn't that bad.
As it got dark, we tried getting comfortable so we could get a couple hours of shut eye.
Today and the day we come back will be extremely long days. I sure hope I had enough energy to enjoy the first day we arrive to Portugal. I usually bounce back quickly when I travel but this was going to be several time zones 8 hours ahead of home, which is essentially an entire workday.
Europe, here we come!
Next Adventure: Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 2
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