Up, Up and Away

Hello from the other side! 

Jack and I are happy to announce that we made it safely to our new home.  As you might imagine, traveling in this climate was a bit of an endeavor.  For that reason, my first post from abroad actually is not about Amsterdam at all -- but rather, about the ins and outs of our journey getting here.  I found it endlessly helpful to read about other people's flight experiences in advance of our own, so hopefully this recap can be useful for anyone considering an upcoming voyage, whether domestic or international.
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In the weeks leading up to our departure, I checked our plane's seat map every few days.  At the time we booked, we were relieved to see that only 3 other seats were reserved on the entire flight, easing many of our safety-related concerns.  After scouring the seating chart, Jack and I strategically booked the most socially-distanced spots we could find.  Even up through the morning of our departure, my recurrent checking showed that only a few more seats had been claimed, resulting in a whopping 19 people on the flight, including ourselves.

Even so, we departed for the airport sporting vinyl gloves and face masks, equipped with hand sanitizers and sprays galore, and of course - donning our trusty Amazon face shields.  Which, just in case there was any confusion as to what we were wearing, thoughtfully proclaimed FACE SHIELD dead across our foreheads (pic below).  Such a helpful -- and not at all embarrassing -- design choice.

​The goodbyes with our parents were emotional, and we crossed our fingers as the desk clerk weighed each of our bags.  Thankfully, she let our questionable 24 kg duffel slide without comment -- as well as the 9 other bulging bags that followed.  O'Hare itself was next to empty.  Although we arrived approximately 3 hours before takeoff, we glided through check-in and encountered no line at all at security. 

I was so focused on preparing for the flight itself that I honestly forgot about the entire process of security.  I don't know how else to describe it other than that I was at the conveyor belt to load my belongings and my brain finally went, "Oh yeah, this part."  I definitely did not love the experience of loading my items into those germy little bins.  As someone who has been sanitizing religiously these past few months, the whole encounter involved far more 'surface touching' than I'd done in some time.  However, we made it through, and found ourselves at our sparcely-populated gate nearly 2.5 hours before we were due to board.

I wanted a bottled water for the flight, so off we trekked to see what (if anything) was open. The airport was eerie - every lounge, shop, and kiosk we passed was barred up.  I began to worry we wouldn't be able to buy anything for the flight, and had no idea if they'd be providing service on board.  Thankfully, at the very end of the terminal, we discovered that one shop and one restaurant bar were open.  We grabbed waters and cheesesticks, and enjoyed a final drink in America (served in a plastic cup, and gulped down hastily at a remote Burger King table across the way).  Classy!

Then, it was time to board.  Alarmingly, the flight was far more crowded than expected.  Although still much emptier than a "normal" flight, it was definitely not the 19-person voyage we anticipated.  We quickly pieced together that the online seat map only reflects the passengers who take time to specifically choose a seat -- not everyone on the plane.  Good to know for the future, for sure.

After making our way back, we arrived to find a couple sitting in our carefully-selected seats.  Without protest they moved (to two rows behind us), ​and I diligently sprayed down the entire area they had been sitting in.  As I was already wearing a FACE SHIELD, I figured I couldn't look any more crazed, so I didn't hold back with my vigorous spritzes.  In fact, many people on the plane actually were sitting in seats that weren't theirs, and the attendants had to keep repeating the message that we were allowed to relocate if desired, but not until after takeoff.  Despite having to spend time issuing this reminder, we still took off without delay, and they informed us we were due to arrive 45 minutes earlier than planned.  Praise be.

As soon as we were airborne, many passengers elected to change seats.  For some reason, the crew wouldn't let anyone utilize the fully empty second cabin of the plane, so we all had to maneuver around the same front section.  I do wish this other cabin would have been available to us, as it seemed strange to me that they'd confine our seating when another unused, viable option was right there.  

They also did conduct an extremely brisk meal service about 20 minutes into our flight.  They served a full entree including alcoholic beverages, and about 20 minutes after that, offered everyone bags of soda, water, and sandwiches.  Jack and I lifted our face shields and removed our masks just enough to shovel in our meals.  A lot of food was handed out in a short amount of time, and after one quick trash round, the crew did not come around again until landing. 

For our "in-flight entertainment," I read a book and Jack watched a movie, and honestly, the masks and shields were not as cumbersome as I thought.  Once it fell dark, more people continued to move seats, seizing any empty row and sprawling out as if it was a full bed.  While we didn't love having people park themselves directly behind and to the side of us, everyone did keep their masks on, and we felt thankful for our pesky face shields, after all.  We fell asleep ourselves, and before I knew it we were descending.

We landed around 6:00 am Amsterdam time, and like O'Hare, Schiphol was a total ghost town.  We were the first ones in line at Immigration, and got through with relatively little hassle thanks to our pile of paperwork supporting our journey.  We surprisingly were also the first -- and among some of the only ones -- at the baggage claim.  We eventually maneuvered our (many, heavy) bags onto luggage carts, and after some trial-and-error in figuring out how to drag them all behind us in one go, successfully made it to the pickup area, where a driver from Jack's company was waiting for us.

He sped us to his van, loaded our belongings, gave us a hearty spritz of hand sanitizer, and promptly dropped us at our new apartment.  More on our new digs, how we're handling our 10-day quarantine, and our developing adjustment to Dutch life in my next post.
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Hope this recap was helpful in some way -- if for nothing else, to remind you of what it feels like to actually be on an airplane!  For many of us (myself included), we haven't traveled in so long, that we've almost forgotten what the experience is like.  Rest assured, KLM's meal service was just as average as you'd expect, and no matter how diligently you choose your seats, you're always guaranteed to end up next to a screaming toddler (or in our case, two).  At least our screaming toddlers spoke French, which somehow made the situation moderately more charming.  

That's it for now!  Stay tuned for cute apartment photos and my hot take on bikes.

Tot ziens, 
- Lou