November 23, 2025

Melissa and I decided to go two days early for our trip up the Danube River and set our flights to arrive on Sunday prior to embarking Tuesday afternoon.  Our 11:30 am flight meant we began our trip taking the kids for boarding on Friday evening.  Loki has recently become frantic with visits to the Vet and again became frantic as we dropped him off at the kennel.  I watched as he got past the first door and by the second he was straining to get inside.  That made me feel better about leaving the kids for an extended visit.  Saturday began with a 1-1/2-hour drive to our connecting airport, a two hour wait for the plane to depart (customs was a breeze), and another 1-1/2 hours to arrive in O’Hare.  Since we had a 4-hour layover, we proceeded to the airlines lounge.  This was a first for us and I was pleased with the comfort, food, and drink offered for free (for members).  We sat as a steady stream of people came in and out, while another steady stream was turned away without the proper credentials.  We had planned on early travel as flights in the US have been disrupted by the government shutdown, but our greater concern was the potential crush of holiday travel. 

When I went online, I found US airlines are predicting another record Thanksgiving holiday travel season.  Airlines for America, a lobbying group representing the largest US carriers, predicted Thursday that airlines will carry more than 31 million people between Friday, November 21, and Monday, December 1.  The busiest days are expected to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving (30th), with about 3.4 million people flying, and the Monday after Thanksgiving (31st), with around 3.1 million passengers.  The airlines have expressed relief after the longest-ever government shutdown ended November 12th.  Shortages of air traffic controllers delayed and canceled flights, disrupting travel plans for some 6 million people.  The industry is pushing lawmakers to pass legislation to ensure that air traffic controllers are paid in the event of another shutdown.  The latest bill only funds the government through January, so industry members are hoping to avoid a repeat of the closure just before winter break and spring break seasons begin.

We arrived at our hotel in Budapest after 20 hours of holiday travel.  This included two drives (car 1-1/2 hours and taxi-1 hour), two layovers (6 hours), two short hops (O’Hare – 1-1/2 hours and Budapest – 1 hour), and an overseas flight to Munich (9 hours).  We were tired but thankful the trip had been relatively easy.  We had purchased economy plus (for legroom) on the overseas flight.  I got up several times to go to the restroom (actually to stretch my legs) but it was still uncomfortable.  We were both exhausted when we reached the hotel and after check-in decided to eat in the hotel bar.  We ordered a cheese and meat plate along with a variety of humus dips.  I was so tired during the meal I almost fell asleep.  By the time we went to our room it was 5:00 pm local time, but we decided it was late enough to go to bed. 

THOUGHTS: You have got to love holiday travel.  I went right to sleep but woke with horrific cramps in my left calf.  Apparently, I had not moved enough on the flight.  I looked at my watch, and it said 8:20.   Even though the blackout curtains were pulled it seemed like there should be morning light coming through from outside.  That was when Melissa told me I had only been asleep for an hour.  Since I was wide awake, I wondered how I was ever going to get through the night.  Then I realized in my new time zone it was still early.  I putzed around for a couple of hours and then went back to bed.  Even as I bemoaned the difficulty faced arriving at my trip destination, I realized how easy it was compared to earlier travelers.  It took four to six months to cover the 2,170-mile (3,490 km) to traverse the Oregon trail by wagon and 20,000 to 30,000 people died (1 in 10).  I guess cramps are not all that bad.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.