Disappointment :(

If one word could sum up my feeling right now it would be DISAPPOINTED, y’all.  In my previous blog I wrote about us planning a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia.  I was ESTATIC!!  We worked together really hard and found great deals, figured out how to get Vietnamese and Cambodian visas, looked at hostels to stay at, established a time line, and basically planned out an entire trip in less than two hours.  The only thing left to do was book everything.  We wanted to start out with the flight—no flight means not going.  Mollee found a GREAT flight for only $523, which was a bit more expensive than the flight I had picked out, but it also cut down the travel time exponentially.  I was in charge of booking the flight, but I couldn’t do it on the spot because I didn’t have my credit card with me.  I resigned to do it once I got home. 

HOWEVER, whenever I went to book it later I ran into quite a problem.  It was the ole bait-and-switch tactic.  The price listed was not available.  The website we used was cheaptickets.com….maybe not the most reliable website, so I switched to Kayak.  Kayak also did the same thing.  I found the $523 tickets with the same itinerary, but the only difference was that Kayak allowed me to entered in all of our information BEFORE letting me know that the flight wasn’t available any longer.  FRUSTRATION.

I checked everything: search websites like Expedia, Vayama, Priceline, Orbitz, CheapO Air, and even the actual airline websites.  I played around with dates and times but found NOTHING that wasn’t $200ish more expensive or required us to sacrifice shaving off a couple of days of our trip.  I’m not sure where we’re going from here……..  Ian and I were already pushing the budget with a $523 flight.  I highly doubt our bank account will allow us to tack on another couple of hundred to that.  SO.  FREAKING.  DISAPPOINTED.  I know it’s silly to whine and complain about this whenever we are so fortunate to live where we live and have the life that we have, but DANG IT!  I was really looking forward to Cambodia and Vietnam!  That would be two more stamps on the ole passport, countless pictures, and magical memories made.  I know that everything happens for a reason, but right now I really don’t understand that reason…..  *sigh*

I have already checked into backup options.  Korea, Taiwan, or staying in Japan and visiting Hiroshima are all part of those options.  I don’t know what we’ll do….but never fear!  This world traveler is not going to waste previous vacation time sitting at home!  We’ll go somewhere and definitely have another adventure!!

I had something really weird happen to me yesterday.  I was at the ES yesterday, and one of my favorite teachers asked if I had plans for Spring Break.  I said that I was working all of this week, but next week I took vacation and would hike in different spots around Kyushu.  He asked if I was going alone.  I said no, that my husband was coming with me.  He said, “Oh?  Your husband is coming to Japan to visit?”  I was taken aback for a second by his response.  I told him no, that my husband lives with me here in Yunomae.  He said, “Oh really?  I didn’t know!”  *gasp*  I seriously thought that everyone knew ALL of my business.  Granted…this was at the ES where I’m there only one day of the week.  I’ve never been to a drinking party with the ES teachers, and it’s not like Ian comes to school with me, so I guess it’s possible for those teachers to not know about Ian.  However, would it make sense for me to move to the other side of the world for two years without my husband??  I mean…I guess I left the rest of my family behind…but still.  I honestly couldn’t believe that he didn’t know Ian and I lived together here in town!

That’s all for today.  In the next blog, I’ve got quite a story to tell, so I’ll churn that one out tomorrow!