New Chapter - Starting the Dream Vacation from Frankfurt Airport

Sunday, October 13, 2024

The time has come! We are starting our world trip, planned almost five years ago but delayed due to Corona. It will take us to five different countries, all managed independently. Thorsten has truly put a lot of thought into how to organize everything in a sensible manner. But just like so many other round trips over the years, he has managed it. Yet, it has also taken a toll on him. In the days leading up to the departure, he was plagued by serious doubts about whether everything would go as smoothly as he had planned.

After all, we had to consider the inadequacies of the German infrastructure. Would we even be able to get to Frankfurt Airport on our own? The train connection from Dellbrück to Cologne Central Station had already been canceled a few days earlier. And suddenly, the ICE from Cologne Central to Frankfurt was no longer listed in the DB schedule and was canceled... With the information about the cancellation of the train connection, however, the binding of the ticket was lifted, and we were able to take any train that would get us to our destination. But was there even a train? Could we trust the schedules? Too often, a train had been canceled...

With all these unclear circumstances, even within the first 200 km of the thousands of kilometers we were about to travel, our enthusiasm for the trip was greatly dampened. This lack of desire peaked the day before our departure when we seriously considered whether we should just abandon the whole trip and avoid the stress... After all, there were still many other connections by ship or plane to make...

Nevertheless, we were brave and decided to go on the trip. Had it not been planned for so many years, and ultimately, they were our long-desired destinations that we both still wanted to see. But one thing was clear to us: A trip like the one we are now embarking on, or those we undertook primarily in the USA years ago, we would not do again. Too many “what if” questions weighed us down.

But now we are sitting here in the airport terminal in Frankfurt, and everything has gone well. Likely, this will continue to be the case, but the uncertainty still remains.

Now we are waiting for our Condor flight to Los Angeles, from where we will fly to Hawaii, Big Island after an overnight stay.

The adventure can finally begin. Oh, and in the meantime, we have also started feeling excited about the journey, as everything has gone smoothly with the KVB and DB, it can only succeed. After all, we are no longer caught up in the