Because of the different ways Holly and I got to Sydney we’re flying back to Vancouver on different planes and will have very different journeys.
Holly’s heading back through China because we were saving money when we were figuring it all out back in May. She’s in the air now (I think) heading to Guangzhou then Beijing then Vancouver. (I’m flying back direct to YVR in about an hour.)
I have a two checked bags allowance which I’m actually using, since Holly only could take one through her perambulations, as she learned to her great pain and sacrifice in June. So today when we got to the airport we thought we were pretty prepared. Now I’m not sure when I’ll see her again.
You see, she has no Chinese visa, because she will be in China for less than a day, and the consulate and the airlines told her that was no problem. Today as she checked in for her flight we learned that might be a very big problem. Long story short, the airline wouldn’t guarantee that she’d make her connecting flights (which we booked with plenty of time between flights, but have inexplicably shrunken since then) so getting out of China before her 24 hours is up may prove difficult.
To help with this, we did another repacking so I took her checked bag so she can go carry-on only and run around in Guangzhou to make her connection. My checked bags are now just under their maximum weight limit (I had to put some cookbooks in what is now the heaviest carryon bag I’ve ever carried).
But Holly’s on her flight. She has her international credit card to solve any problems that might crop up, but Holly’s way better at dealing with that kind of thing than I am. I hope she’ll still get to Vancouver on schedule. If not we might only meet up again in Seattle or Virginia.
