Losing a Phone (a Second Time) in Rio de Janeiro (August 2018)

View from Classico Beach Club Urca cafe on Sugarloaf Mountain. Christ the Redeemer in the far top, right corner.

Brazil marked my 50th country to visit! And the best part, certainly for the sake of my marriage, was the fact work sent me. I say this because Brazil is on my husband’s bucket list and going there intentionally without him would put me in the dog house for a very long time. He’s very supportive of my traveling addiction despite not being able to travel with me so I was actually hesitant to go without him. With that said, who can tell their boss “no” to an international trip?

I departed Washington, D.C., (DCA) on a Saturday afternoon and had a late night connection in Miami (MIA). I was able to use my Priority Pass (PP) for dinner at the Corona Beach House in MIA. The PP restaurant also offered a small convenience store-like option so I was able to use the remaining allotted $28 that comes with a PP visit on snacks and bottled drinks. My plane departing DCA was delayed three hours. It’s times like this having access to the Admirals Club lounge pays off. I don’t like waiting in airports for hours at a time (even with lounge access), but when it comes to international travel involving connections, I book with delays in mind. I arrived in Rio de Janeiro Sunday morning just after 8am local time. I didn’t really have an issue with jet lag since Rio is just an hour ahead of D.C. and I slept on the plane during the overnight flight. There was nothing special about the plane ride itself to report.

Continue reading

Seven Day Honeymoon Stopover in Hong Kong (December 2017)

Morning view from my room at the InterContinental Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was the first of two destinations we took for our honeymoon, which began two days after Christmas and actually coincided with our one-year anniversary. We selected an early morning flight from Reagan National in Washington, D.C. to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) so we would have time to experience the American Airlines (AA) Flagship Lounge. (Flying business class on Cathay Pacific (CP) gives you access to the lounge.) I can never afford to fly business class, especially on international trips, so I was excited to have the opportunity to finally experience this lounge. The Flagship Lounge at ORD shares the same check-in with the AA Admirals Club (AC) and I’ve always been jealous of seeing passengers go into it while I always get ushered to the AC every time I connect through ORD. (I’m assuming it’s the same kind of curiosity and feeling others in the terminal, who never experienced any sort of lounge, have when seeing passengers like myself go into one.

There are countless reviews of ORD’s AA Flagship Lounge so I won’t include a review. Let’s just say I’m the Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when it comes to free things in airport lounges, especially when it comes to free alcohol and food. For some reason, stale yogurt covered pretzels taste much better in a lounge than eating a store bought bag in the terminal. Unlike the AC where bar tenders pour you drinks, this lounge had self pouring options. Continue reading