The Flight.

     I had called around and it would cost me $2500 to fly business class to China.  I ran an Indigogo campaign to try and raise the funds and was not completely successful.  I knew it would be at least a 14 hour flight and I just wanted to make sure I could lay down.  I finally, days before I was to leave, thought to call American Airlines and see if I could use my miles to fly.  I was told that for 35k miles and $80 in taxes and fees, I could fly to Shanghai and then book a flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen.  The flight to Shenzhen would cost me $256.  Not bad at all.
     The next question I had for AA was how much would it cost me to upgrade to business class?  I was told that was not an option at that time, unless I had 175k miles to do so.  Nope, mere 48k.  I was told repeatedly that I might be able to upgrade at the gate for 20k miles so I was convinced to purchase the remaining 9k miles in order to be prepared.  I did it, figuring it was a small price to pay.  It only cost me $273.  When I arrived at O'Hare at 4pm for my 10pm flight, I was informed that the upgrade was not available but to check at the gate in Dallas.  The excess weight on my baggage only set me back $400, but I had everything I needed, right?
     My flight to Dallas was very uneventful and I arrived in at 12:30am.  My flight to Shanghai was not until 11am so I had a few hours to kill.  I found a bunch of cots in an empty terminal and decided to just lay down for a bit.  I didn't sleep much, but I "awoke" at 6:30am to find myself surrounded by people, so I quietly got up and left.  I took the shuttle to the ass other end of the Dallas Airport for my flight to Shanghai.

     When I arrived at the terminal, I showed the gate person my ticket and asked again if it would be possible to upgrade to business for the flight to Shanghai.  I was told it would cost me 25k miles and $225? to do so.  Relying on her statements, I went ahead and purchase yet another 5k miles.  The $188 seemed a small price to pay for comfort.  After I had purchased the miles and the gate confirmed they were in my account, the supervisor informed me that the other gate persona had misspoken and I was not eligible for an upgrade at all.  Sorry, but you just spent $461 for miles you couldn't use.  He did, however, manage to book me into a middle row of 3 that was otherwise empty to have all to myself.
     While we boarded the plane, there was a Chinese woman eyeing my row who had just seat hopped to a row across from me that was only occupied by one other person.  If looks could kill, she would have been dead.  I used every ounce of my wide bottomed self and all my carry on crap to indicate quite clearly, I was NOT sharing my row.  She kept giving me the stank eye right up until I lay down and put on my sleep mask and covered myself with a blanket.  I had been out of my house and in the same clothes for over 24 hours now and I just needed to sleep...laying down!
     Flying international appears to be much nicer then flying domestic.  Each seat had its own TV and they served us 3 meals in the 15 hours we were on board.  I have traveled quite a bit in the last few years, but I have NEVER been on a flight or trip that seemed so damned long!  The two day bus trip in Guatemala and Mexico seemed to take less time!  I slept, read, ate, snacked, went pee, and slept some more, and only 1 hour had passed!  That Chinese woman across the aisle was still steeling looks at my row, but I would cut a bitch before I let her horn in on the one thing going my way this trip!
     FINALLY, after weeks of travel (well it felt like weeks), I landed at Shanghai Airport for my final leg to Shenzhen.  I had left on Wed. night from Chicago, and would arrive in Shenzhen on Friday night.  After arguing with the gate person, again, about my luggage, I paid the overweight fee, again, and convinced them to give me back my carry on so I did not have to pay excess checked fees for that as well.

     I am on my way to Shenzhen, where someone, no clue who, will pick me up at the airport and take me to where ever I am going.  No, I have no clue who, what, where, when....my leap of faith cannot be undone.  When I arrive at Shenzhen, I am met by a man who speaks no English, but is carrying a sign that reads "Catherine".  We get my bags and he takes me to his car.  After much to do, we get all of my very overstuffed luggage into his car (which is thankfully an SUV) and head off for parts unknown.
     Apparently, my driver had no clue where he was going and spent a good 10 minutes yelling with someone on the phone.  We finally arrived at what we have come to term, "the dorms" and I was given a room and a key.  THANK GOD I packed my towel, so I could take a shower and finally collapse!