Airport Trekking - Setting off on the Next Adventure

We started our trek around the world from Philadelphia with only carry-on backpacks. When we check in for our flight and they ask us how many bags, I am proud to answer that question "none, for us!" Meanwhile, the people around us generally have multiple roller bags they are trying to navigate the checkin line with.

We had booked Qatar Airways but a couple months before the flight, Qatar canceled our first leg and rescheduled it on American Airlines. I had specifically chosen Qatar for their comfort in economy seating ranking, alas, there are some things I can't control. The first leg of the trip was going to be standard uncomfortable seats and ok service. I had booked a row of 3 near a window and 1 window seat behind the row that already had the aisle seat booked, in hopes that no one would book a single middle seat and we'd have an open middle seat. It worked! I got the window and an open seat to make sleeping on the flight more successful. I left the hubby in the aisle with the kiddos... I probably owe him.

With the current conflict in Gaza, my parents inquisitively wanted me to at least verify we weren't going to the Middle East. I said, "eh, not really." We had at least a 100 mile buffer or so when our flight by-passed Gaza. I'm sure this makes them feel tremendously better!

In Doha, we had a three hour layover, made very comfortable by leveraging our newfound access to a lounge via our travel credit card. The additional comfort, free food and drink, and no loud airport announcements were definitely a nice addition to the trek. There was a whole buffet with local food and kid-favorite, spaghetti. Espresso, beer and wine and big bottles of water for the taking. I'm surprised we didn't discover this earlier - I guess I assumed we needed to purchase a membership which I'd never opt to do. The airport itself was nice as well, complete with a mini-Apple store and duty free luxury car stand.

Our second flight was on Qatar Airways. It was an upgrade to our previous AA flight. Seats that recline a bit more and the flight attendants all looked and acted like they stepped out of a commercial. I love watching the kids play with the flight map and look out the window. Whether it's seeing mountain peaks or dessert below, it's bringing the maps alive.

We mostly got some additional sleep and the kids were in relatively good moods on arrival. Clearing custums was uneventful and then we found an ATM to get some local currency, for some reason it would only allow us to withdrawal $86 equivalent of currency so I guess we'll need to find another ATM at some point, and used an app to get a taxi to our hotel.

I had booked an extra night before our arrival so that we'd be able to get right in and shower, eat breakfast and take a cat nap before starting to explore for the day.

More to come... once my dad figures out where we are!