Destination unknown

The trusty old travel bags are out of the closet,




I have a fistful of foreign currencies,




And a complicated spreadsheet to track the various flight options,




but no real plan.
Our original idea was to fly to Paris, via either Toronto or Montreal, on August 30th. As the flights filled up, we gradually pushed it further and further forward to the 26th of August, and have now given up on that option altogether. Not that Dan & I haven't gotten on completely hopeless-looking flights before. (Hey, you just never know when a volcano might erupt and force half of the booked passengers to have to disembark from a totally full flight, suddenly opening up 75 seats for stand-by hopefuls...), but the odds are definitely not in our favor.

Plan B is to fly from Calgary to London, then take the Chunnel train to Paris. We are hoping to squeeze onto the flight on Monday night, but that's still 4 days away, and the numbers change every time I check them, so it's gonna take a truck load of luck for that to work.

Plan C is to try for the Frankfurt flight on Tuesday night. That one actually looks quite hopeful, but never having been to Frankfurt, it's a little bit out of my comfort zone. Not to mention it's a 5 hour train ride to Paris from there. Oh well, at least it's on the right side of the ocean, so we'll take it if we can get it.

Ah, the joys of stand-by travel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's a helluva perk and I'm extremely grateful for it. It was totally worth it to give up a normal home life for 20+ years for the travel opportunities that we've had. (Shift work, working stat holidays, and irregular days off that seldom coincided with the rest of the world's was a bitch!) Just once though, I'd like to show up at the airport in my sweat pants, with a ticket in my hand, and a hotel reservation waiting at the other end.

Actually, that must be quite boring. I'd miss the challenge, the suspense, and the euphoria when the coveted boarding pass is handed over at the last possible second.

So all fingers and toes are crossed for a successful outcome on Monday. Wherever we end up, it'll be an adventure!