You Don't Need to See My Identification...

These aren't the droids you're looking for...move along!

(source)

Well, it looks like I won't be needing ol' Obi-Wan's help this time around. I can get past security after all! My passport came in the mail! Woo hoo!
I applied for this little booklet about one month ago, and let me tell you, it was a hassle! The passport window was only open certain times of the day, and only at certain post offices. Being a first-time applicant, I had to go in person. I brought my identification and the form I had filled out on my computer. All set, I turned in my paperwork, only to be told I was missing information!

What?!

Turns out I had left my parent's dates and places of birth out of the original form, along with info about my employer. I didn't fill them out online since it said optional! But apparently it wasn't optional for first-timers. Luckily, a frantic phone call to Penga-Dad yielded the missing information.

Also, I did not bring a check with me, and they only allowed check or money order. It's a good thing the post office could make a money order for me, otherwise I would have been out of luck.

All the stress certainly didn't do me any good either - my mug shot turned out horrible. I have a sleepy eye and a super sour face. Definitely not flattering, but like Sak says, "If you ever get questioned by authorities, you're not going to be smiling anyway". True that.

So now, armed with a passport and a sparkly beautiful plane ticket to both Hawaii and the honeymoon destination, I'm ready to goooo!

(source) I'd love to ride in a Pokemon plane! Kawaii!

Have you applied for a passport? Or do you count on those Jedi mind tricks to get you where you need to go?

In Sickness and In Health...

Friends, Sak has a problem. Actually, he has two problems.

First, he gets sick when he travels. Every. Single. Time. For example, on our planning trip a couple months ago, he was sick upon arrival - fever, snot, the works. By the end of the week it had petered down to a cough, but he was still miserable for a while.

Secondly, he gets sick when he's nervous. Well, I think most people do, but he gets REALLY sick. He was sick for an entire month when we first started dating. I think it's really sweet now, but at for a while all I could remember is him throwing up on my roommate's rug and her being seriously mad. He even went to the Doctor, who (like any good college doctor) tested him for mono, and then sent him home with the pronouncement that there was nothing wrong with him. Uh, other than the fact that he was vomiting at least once a day. But eventually I stopped scaring him or something, because the stomach lurches luckily ended.

I think you can see the problem here. Wedding = travel & nerves.

The last thing I want is a sick husband the day-of. And we definitely don't need his illnesses keeping us from enjoying our limited honeymoon vacation.

So how can I keep him well?

First, we'll be pumping his immune system up as much as possible. Citrus will be his new best friend. And he'll do airborne shots. Regardless of it's errant miracle-cure claims, it's still a good way to get some vitamins.

(source)

Second, he'll keep the water intake high. We already do a pretty good job of getting enough water, thanks to my friend, Mr. Straw. Isn't it strange that it's so much easier to drink water when you have a straw? Maybe it's just me..

(source)

Third, I'll do my best to not stress him out on the trip. Though I think the airport and it's craziness will do more damage than I can ever hope to repair.

Our slightly overweight bag of bags at the airport...luckily we didn't have to pay extra!

What else can I do to keep his anxiety at bay and his body healthy? Should I beak out the swine flu masks? Calming herbs? Valium?

(source)

How do you keep healthy while traveling under high stress?

Scouting Schedule

One of the biggest set-backs to planning a destination wedding is the inability to see anything in person. One is forced to rely on wedding planners, internet pictures or local family members in order to make large dollar decisions on venues and vendors.

Luckily for me, however, we're taking a scouting trip very, very soon. I'll finally get to see, in person, the places that I've booked months ago. But the battle is not over yet.

We won't be in Hawaii very long - only a week. And that week happens to include New Year's Eve and Day, which means all businesses will be closed. Yet somehow, through many e-mails, phone calls and one accidental double booking, we have a schedule.

A three day, super-compressed, meet-the-vendors schedule.

Now, to make sense of the many back-to-back appointments, I drew up a little timeline in Powerpoint:

Sweetly dubbed, "A page so everyone's on the same page".

I plan to hand these to Penga-Mom, Saka-Aunt, Penga-Dad (who doesn't really care but would probably like to know where we'll be), and the occasional stranger that wants to tag along.

I also double-checked all the appointments with Sak, making sure it's physically possible to drive from one appointment to another within the given time frames. Even though Hawaii may be physically small, their highways are notorious for traffic jams during certain times of the day.

With a schedule in place, I'm feeling more confident about the upcoming trip. Now if only I had the time to go through and "pack up" the necessary inspiration photos, we'd be all ready to go.

Anyone else meet with multiple vendors in a single day? How did you stay organized?

Flight Plans

To be honest, I don't know all that much about the business of flying. I've been on a plane only a handful of times, none of which ever required booking a ticket for myself. So for someone who intends on flying eight people to Hawaii, the learning curve is steep. But I'll ride that wave.

We'll start with a lessons-learned from my "experience" booking the flight to Oahu for our scouting trip next month. I'll put the process in bulleted form for simplified reading.

- Sak and I for sure, were going. Then I thought it might be nice to take my parents too, as sort of an early 25th anniversary present. Not content at that, my parents decided they wanted my siblings to come as well. So, six people flying to Hawaii, not so bad, eh?

-Well, my carrier of choice (Hawaiian) listed zero flights for the day after Christmas on their main website. Sold out? Sak told me no, but the flight would have to be bought through an online travel agency since it was semi-late in the game.

-Screaming over crazy prices ensued. Did it really cost over 800 dollars to fly during a holiday? Apparently.

-After searching around a bit, I found the online travel agency with the best price. Mistake #1: I picked a flight with several connections and different carriers. I call this a mistake not only because it's confusing, but we later had one of the "legs" cancel, only to screw up our arrival schedule by several hours. I realize this could happen even if you have a direct flight, but the more planes involved = higher probability of delays/cancellations.

-Mistake #2: I thought I could pay with debit. Six, $700 tickets adds up. Adds up further than my credit limit, actually. Although I had the cash ready and waiting in my debit account, apparently the online website did not accept anything but credit! Amazing.

-So I called my dad, and had him pay for the tickets, which I later reimbursed him for.

Overall, I don't feel confident about this upcoming flight whatsoever. I feel like the whole thing could be cancelled without warning. I definitely don't want to repeat this process for the wedding.


Now, here's the where the real fun starts.

For the wedding, I'll need three separate flight plans.

Plan #1: Sak and I

We'll be flying to Hawaii with my parents - but instead of returning, we'll be going to Japan for three weeks. We'll be flying "triangle trip", as Sak likes to call it. One-way to Hawaii, one-way to Japan, and another one-way back to the Bay area. Now, Saka-Dad has offered to pay for our flight to and from Japan, so we only need to worry about the one-way to Hawaii.

Plan #2: Immediate Family

My family will be flying over with us on the same day. Now here's the problem - they can't decide on what day to come back. Until I get this vital piece of information, it's a little hard to book a round trip flight for them. I was initially planning on buying all the tickets at the 330 day mark (which is the earliest you can book most airline flights), but this mark has come and gone. (and prices have gone up a good $200 dollars..)

Plan #3: My Grandmothers

One grandma has decided she will book her own transportation, which is perfectly fine with me, since I can easily just reimburse her. My other grandmother plans on flying out with my immediate family, but coming back after only a few days. Again, no firm dates on this one.

I signed up for email alerts on Yapta.com for all these flight possibilities. I watch the prices rise and fall, hoping to spot a trend. As far as I know, there isn't one. And prices rise more often than they fall.

I asked Sak for help, since he is the frequent-flier in the house.

"I don't know. I just use my miles."

Helpful indeed.

Anyway, at this point I'm thinking of just booking flights for Sak and I separately. Maybe I'll put my parents on the "I'll reimburse you" plan as well.

For something that I was supposed to take care of to make life easier for everyone, it certainly isn't easier.

Anyone else dealing with the nightmare of flight booking? When IS the best time to buy?