Blocked in the Romp

Road towards Seattle International 2018

At the end of this journey (headed to Darwin, NT), on another Qantas flight (the only airline you should fly with), I think back to the start of my journey Down Under. No adventure is without obstacles and they can start before you even board the first plane.  Before eating avo and toast, before meeting the Aussie family living in Enoggera, and before all my professional plans went tits up there was my flight from Seattle to Beijing, China.

One hour before take off…

Anyone remember the Koolaid Guy from Family Guy?  Well, this is how my brain works folks.

Sitting at Seattle’s International Airport in full anticipation for the long awaited next chapter of my life I get called to the Boarding Pass station only to be asked for my Visa number…  “Do you have a ETA confirmation number?”, asked the flight crew.  Oh no… With all my careful planning and research how did I miss this… Wait, what is this ETA thing you need?  I didn’t know I needed that!  Responding to the attendant, “I have an approved visa by the Australian government.”  Manifesting the ignorant American’s version of the rich and rugged spirit of Down Under I responded further with a simple, “No worries, I have a visa.” Whipped out my Android Galaxy 7 faster than a bloke on his first during “schoolies” and rooting down a successful girl (or lad, it is 2019).  

Wifi is loaded up. I logged into the free service (I had canceled my service just hours before arriving at the airport) with a few taps of my index finger.  Whilst the Delta attendant waited patiently for proof I was allowed to enter Australia, I searched my emails for the Visa confirmation letter that I triple checked before leaving Indiana. Click, click, click goes the sound of my index finger to the touch screen.  Tick tock as the remaining forty minutes till my flight takes off dissipates.  

Oh No!

On September 22^nd, 2017 I received a hard fought letter from the https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/462- that my visa was approved.  Took weeks to gather all the documents the Australian Home Affairs office needed – Military Records, education records, financial statements, health records, certified copy of my passport, and passport picture. Not to even mention all the hours working three jobs and selling off my old Midwest-Americana styled life.

Exit to Seattle International Airport 2018

Looking down at my phone searching for the email my yahoo account stopped loading my emails…. Not a time for this to happen.  No worries, right?  I planned and came prepared.   I still have a tablet and Macbook pro.   Tablet first, easier to work on… Won’t connect to the free WiFi. Ugh, No Worries, My Mac has been all over the States (including this airport) and all the way to Thailand. Worked every time.  Log into the Wifi, solid connection!  Safari time!  Proof I am allowed and authorized to leave for at least a year. A chance to switch careers into Scuba Diving.  To begin living the life I was meant to be living.  Safari comes up with “You Are Not Connected to the Internet…”  Four bars on the Wifi connection are all lit. But no Internet connect. 

Oh No!

Seattle International Airport 2018

Restart and try again. Thirty minutes till the flight leaves and Delta is already boarding the plane.  Sitting at a charging station I attempted to get Macbook to restart and let the issue resolve itself – usually fixes everything.  Failed to connect again.  Macbook restarted, again.  Failed, again.  Tablet tried again, failed again.  Emails still not loading on my phone…  Delta attended comes by to check on me.  She will not let me board without my visa number.  She walks me over to try a Delta computer. It won’t allow for personal emails.  All I can find is the confirmation that my visa application is completed via the Home Affairs website – Not enough evidence to allow me to board.  Adrenaline begins to pump generating glaciers in my stomach. Marine Corps language muttering out my mouth like vomit. Steady, do not panic.  So much planning all to come undone over not writing down my visa number.

Twenty minutes till take off…

Oh No!

I called my sister, explained what’s going on, and what I’ve done to do resolve this issue, but I am still in a jammed up.  She abandons her beloved dog with her walking mate to sprint the five minutes back to her flat.  She logs into her computer and begins to help me out…  10 minutes left till flight is set to leave…  The man of unknown name and a clear enough head to work on my computer to fix the connection began digital kung fu. All the while a prayer of “Please don’t let this f****** happen when I am so close to leaving.”  

All at once… Cue the Koolaid!!!

Family Guy image (google search 2019)

OH YEAH!!!!

The man shows me that my computer needed the web address copied to the browser to accept the SEA. Wifi terms in order to connect, my sister is still searching for the email, and the same Delta attended walks over.  Computer synced, email loaded, sister has the email in front of her… I am ready to show these numbers to the flight attendant like a freshly turned 21 year old ordering his/her first beer, ever when she simply says, “Hi, you are cleared to board now.”

Blooding hell?!  What the duce was this all about?! Don’t stare and don’t care.

  

Thanking all around that helped I gathered my tech and boarded like everyone else.  In the terminal, with mists of water in my eyes, I gave thanks.  Even knowing now, I may not be out of the woods on having a visa number once I land in Beijing.  But for now, do as my sister recommended – drink wine, heaps of it.  Off to make a connecting flight in Beijing.  Visa confirmation stored in my facebook (courtesy of the girlfriend now best friend -none ya'lls business on this one folks) and email.  All should be good now.  Yet, in my gut I knew the next challenge is my connecting flight in China.  Do I need a visa to even be there (another story, folks)?

This was the very start to the journey that I worked so hard to make happen.  I thought that would be the last MMA styled gut check I would have on this journey…  Sometimes folks, I amaze myself on how naive I can truly be as a person.  This WTF moment was just the first in a series of moments that set the tone and hilarious irony that become my first Life in the Romp trip.  On the bright side at least I am not lying when I say I take Life in the Romp. 

~~~©Dustin J. Casey 2021~~~