3 am Saturday morning, NJ time. I woke up groggy after a little less than 4 hours sleep. Destination: Newark Airport.
6 am Saturday morning, NJ time. The flight to Minneapolis boards. We’re served omletes with sausage and potatos for breakfast.
9:30 am Saturday morning, Minneapolis time. The flight to Portland is delayed. I’m reassured that I will make my tight connection on to Tokyo.
10:30 am Saturday morning, Minneapolis time. I’m served a second breakfastof omletes with sausage and potatos.
12 pm Saturday, Portland time. The flight lands, and after a brisk walk to the next gate I’m one of the last to board the Tokyo-bound flight.
At this point all sense of time goes out the window. It’s impossible to figure out where you are on four hours sleep with all the dateline and time zone changes.
4 pm Sunday, Tokyo time. Our flight lands, but that’s great with me. I’m in Narita, one of my favorite airports in the world.
6 pm Sunday, Tokyo time. For the third time on this trip (out of four flights), we’re leaving late. Thankfully boarding concludes quickly and we’re on our way.
1 am Monday, Bangkok time. My checked bag never made it, assuring me of having no clothes to wear. But Northwest did provide 2000 baht ($50) as an allowance to spend to purchase some new threads, and a promise that my bags should arrive in time for me to head up to Chiang Mai without them. At this point, having slept for onoly around 8 – 10 hours out of the last 48, I’m too tired to care.