Once again I am planning to write a blog for a trip for my mom. Once again, I’m thinking about how there have been trips that I did not write about here since the last blog post: a road trip to Montreal and a train trip to New York City. When I retire, I will write about all my trips, but for now, I am only going to do the “big” ones.

And this one is a doozy only because I am already having a problem: SNOW. Not like a little bit of snow, but a LOT of snow. The irony of this snow storm is that the weather has been beautiful for the last week, with beautiful sun and temperatures in the high 50s (Farenheit). But they started predicting snow for my departure date over the weekend, and I started becoming an amateur meteorologist on Sunday, watching the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) like they both owed me money.

Let me introduce this trip. I am traveling with the final destination of Jakarta, Indonesia to visit my daughter who is on her first tour as a member of the foreign diplomatic corp. When I was searching tickets, one of the options was a direct flight from Boston to Seoul with 12-hour layover, so I wondered how much would it cost to stay in Seoul for a couple of days since I haven’t been back in ages. it really was only about a $50-$70 difference. That is, was, the plan.

In the beginning, I wasn’t that concerned. They were only predicting 6-8 inches for Worcester and 4-6 inches in Boston, so I figured the airport wouldn’t be that bad. But as Sunday went by, the predictions began to get worse. The predicted snow amounts rose. The predicted amount per hour rose. The predicted wind issues rose.

I went from thinking about how I should manage the morning–how many times will I need to shovel before I leave? How early should I leave to get to the Framingham Logan Express to get to the bus to the airport? How much longer should I give the bus ride depending on the snow?–to thinking, I should probably try to go to airport on Monday.

A friend of mine from work texted me worried, and while I was texting I worked through a solution that apprently lots of people do on the regular–stay at the airport hotel the night before they fly out. Who knew this was even a thing?!?! I don’t know how much of this is because I’m just not a savvy traveler or if it because I’m generally a cheap traveler?

I rearranged my Monday work, so I could work remote and finish the pre-travel tasks that I had planned to do Monday night since after the last meeting, I planned to pack up the cheese (another story) and head to the bus and to the hotel.

I booked a room at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport Hotel which, though they provide shuttle service, is actually connected to the airport. It was funny because the Logan Express driver seemed a little worried when I told him my airline because he knows they only fly during the day. He was fine after I explained I was just going to the airport early to beat the snow. Still, he was probably thinking that I was actually staying overnight in airport. Instead, after I got off the bus, I took the walk from the terminal to the hotel.

I think the walk back will feel shorter because I now know where I’m going. However, even though it was really only a fifteen-minute walk it felt much longer than this picture even looks.

I also wonder how many people actually walk it. Even though they advertise this convenience on the website, the very nice woman that checked me in seemed surprised that I came that way.

It seemed very lonely. I was the only person I saw, but that could because it was 7 PM on a Monday night.

But once you get through the creepy part, you walk into an area overlooking the lobby.

Because I was so busy looking, I completely walked past the elevators!

Because the woman at the check-in desk was so nice, I asked her if she thought I should try to book another room for Tuesday night in case my flight was cancelled. Because I took the bus, I wouldn’t be able to just go back to Worcester like the last time my flight was cancelled (this was on way to London and the new flight was actually better than one I had booked. I had booked the cheaper flight and they put me on a nonstop). I did not want to have to travel through a foot of snow to get home.

But she warned me that not only did they not have many rooms left because a couple of airlines had already blocked off rooms, but that the cost had gone up since she got to work. Wow. She was right! I was actually going to give her a shout out, but I don’t want to get her trouble with her manager if she was supposed to be selling me a room. She did more to persuade me not to book unless I had to.

To be honest, I have been thinking about this possibility since Sunday when I booked my Monday night accomodations. I hesitated because I probably wouldn’t know if I should cancel the reservation until after the time I could get a refund. I checked again on Monday; there were fewer rooms, and they were already over $150 more than when I had booked. By the time I checked the app again when I got in my room last night, they were up by another $150! I determined then and there that I am just going to stay at airport! Showers be damned!

In any case, I’m ensconced right now at 3 am in my room. Very cosy with an original plan which was again disrupted by a text from Korean Air telling me that the flight has been delayed until 3 PM.

I haven’t left my room. I was tired when I got here last night. Probably the stress from figuring everything out. I was so relieved when I got here, and decided to immediately put the frozen cheese in the fridge, but it wasn’t working! What was I going to do with all my cheese?

Turns out that it just wasn’t plugged in! And the only way to plug it in was to pull out the fridge. All done, and cheese is safely tucked in there.

So, I know I’ve mentioned cheese several times already, so I need to explain. The only thing my daughter wanted me to bring her was cheese. Cheese is not easy to get in Jakarta at least the large variety of cheese you can get in the states. I have three different kinds of cheddar (NY white extra sharp, Vermont white sharp, extra sharp yellow), Gouda, Horseradish, Pepper Jack, Provolone, Mozzerella, Monteray Jack, Mexican Blend, Cream Cheese, and two different kinds of Brie. And I don’t just have one of most of these cheeses.

If my suitcase is overweight (and I didn’t realize that my luggage scale was broken until yesterday), it will be because of this cheese.

If I get stopped at a border. It will be because of this cheese.

Starting on Sunday, I called or checked pretty much every hour to see if the flight was delayed. No decision was made even by the time I decided to go to bed. Everything else had been cancelled. Schools and universities across the area made announcements to close. Still nothing from Korean Air.

National Grid texted to warn me of possible power outrages. I even got a text from my internet company apologizing in advance for possible outages. Still nothing from Korean Air.

Finally, a 2 AM text woke me up. They finally decided to delay the flight until 3 PM. I immediately got up and checked outside to see if it had started snowing yet, but though it was predicted to be a 1AM to 11 AM storm, nothing was happening yet.

It’s 4:30 now, and still no snow.

I’m thinking about taking a nap now, going to eat breakfast at 6:30 (the earliest I can get hot breakfast), coming back to take a long bubble bath, repack the cheese, check out at 11, sit in hotel lobby and check mail, and work on blogpost for the Korean drama Marry My Husband (I’m just doing this project with a friend; I don’t have time to get back to drama blogging like before), and then head over to airport at noon to check in.

The only thing really that is disturbing about all of this is that one of the reasons I decided to extend my layover in Seoul (which considering the snow is fortunate) was to be able to see my friend who has taken a leave to move back here temporarily with her husband and to see her ailing mother. However, if I don’t get to Seoul in time to see her mother on Thursday, I won’t be able to. She has treatments on Fridays and isn’t up for seeing visitors on her treatment days.

Wish me luck and for all travelers today to be safe.