First time alone
A few months ago, I booked my flight to Vancouver. I realised just how expensive international travel was, especially over the pacific. It was weird to see that connection flights that are supposed to take a longer route is much cheaper than direct flights.
My route from Tokyo was:
Tokyo Haneda - Seattle Tacoma - Vancouver international.
It had a short layover at Seattle, around 3 hours. Tokyo to Haneda took around 8 hours of flying time, and Seattle to Vancouver took around 25 minutes.
At the airport
The airport was mostly back to how it was before covid. Check in counters weren’t full the time we came, but it started filling up quickly. Me and my mum were very lucky to have arrived at the right time. The departure’s line was massive when we arrived though. It was crazy packed with people. So, after we checked in, we went to the plane spotting deck to pass some time. Being a plane nerd I am, it was nice to see so many planes in action.
A few hours passed, so we decided to finally enter the gates area. It was unbelievable for me to be going through passport control and security all by myself, without anyone to guide me through. I was both anxious and excited when I said my final goodbyes to my mum.
Haneda’s security and passport control was super smooth. It surprised me that I didn’t need to take electronics, even my shoes off of the bag and body when going through security. The machines upgraded I guess. Passport control was easy as well. Just a quick scan of my passport, and I was ready to go.
My anxiety faded away completely when I arrived at my gate. There was nothing left to do, rather than board the plane itself. After a quick visit to 7-eleven, it was time to board.
Inside the plane
My flight from Haneda to Seattle was the longest one I had in my life. It’s been over a year since I rode a plane, so I was super excited.
There were no any complication in the boarding process. I was one of the first economy class passengers to board, so I swiftly made my way to my seat.
Once people started to come in, I realised that today’s flight was pretty much full. It was packed. I didn’t see any empty seats, so I can safely say covid is over!
My neighbour was a super quiet person, about 20 years old. As soon as he sat on his seat, he whipped out his Nintendo switch, and started his super long session on his game that lasted all flight. He didn't stop on takeoffs and landings. Heck, he didn’t even stop when food was available. Just sign gestured to the flight attendant on what food he wanted, and played on his lap while he ate. It was quite fascinating how long he could play. He was my ideal neighbour. I didn’t want to have a loud person.
It was another ordinary takeoff, except we had to wait in line for 15 minutes. The captain told us we had to wait until 6 planes ahead off us took off/landed. Lucky I was an aviation enthusiast, or I would have died of boredom.
After departure, I watched a movie (スズメの戸締り). Dinner was served, and I tried to sleep after.
The cabin was dark, and outside was pitch black. There was absolutely non light pollution, as we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Stars were barely visible, but once I had a good angle to see them, they were all really bright. I wanted to get it on camera, but it was impossible.
I couldn’t sleep much. I managed to sleep after eating, but I woke up about 30 minutes after. I tried going back to sleep, but it wasn’t easy. I was starting to get anxious about my connection in Seattle. I was conscious but kept my eyes closed, so I think I got a bit more rest than 30 minutes.
But it was better to be awake in the morning than oversleep. It was the most beautiful morning I’ve ever seen. 39,000 feet up in the air is really different. My body must have been really confused because the sun started to rise at around 1am in Japan time which I was used to.
Not long after the sun rose, we started approach to Seattle Airport. The Pacific Ocean seemed to be constantly covered by clouds. They kinda looked like ski trails.
Seattle was covered in thick layer of clouds. The clouds were very low, so we had no visibility until the plane was only around 300m up in the air.
The pilots done an excellent job, and landed safely on Seattle.
This is around where I started to slightly panic, because I was scared I would get lost in Seattle. Will I really be able to catch my flight? Wont my bag go missing?
I told myself it would be alright. Flights from Seattle to Vancouver leave every couple hours, so it didn’t really matter if I was late. Besides, the things inside the checked luggages weren't that important.
Seattle’s layover was way smoother I expected. My mum actually booked a little helper that would assist me in the connection, and he helped me so much. Without him, I would have definitely had loads of questions and panic attacks. Seriously, American transits are so complicated. You have to pick up your checked luggage, go through passport controls, customs, drop off the checked luggage for next flight, security, and get to the departing terminal which was in a whole another building. I had to take a damn train there. Thanks Mr. Helper. The layover wouldn’t have been this smooth without him 🫡
Like in Tokyo Haneda, once you arrive at the gate, there’s nothing to be worried about. I bought a little souvenir to remember my time at Seattle. I got scammed for like 6$ at the airport. I bought a bottle of water and the souvenir, and it cost 17 dollars. Apparently the cashier accidentally (or intentionally) scanned my souvenir (which was around 8 dollars) twice, and forgot to scan my water. The water was 2 dollars, so I should have only spend around 10-11 dollars, but I actually spent 17 😭. I guess it’s my fault for not checking the price.
Heyyy my plane for Vancouver arrived! Time to get on board!
There was nothing eventful on the flight. I had an excellent view of the wheels of the plane, which is exclusive on this specific aircraft. I might never see this in person ever again, so I’m very lucky to have assigned this seat.
Nothing eventful during the flight. I was super tired, so I conked out as soon as I sat on my seat. In no time, we were up in the air, and got back down. 25 minutes in the air is not that long.
Canada 🇨🇦
Vancouver Airport is really nice. It was really welcoming. Way better than Seattle in my opinion. The exiting process was simple, so there was little stress. Untiiillllll, I couldn’t find my luggage, I checked two luggages, and one successfully made it to Canada without a problem. However, the other one didn’t come through the pickup area, even after waiting for 30 minutes.
Realizing that a connection flight can’t be this smooth all the way, I accepted that my luggage was lost, and proceeded to the luggage counter area. There were a lot of people from my flight there as well, and they seemed like they lost their bag as well.
They told me the airline didn’t expect the flight to be such a full flight. Everyone was on board the flight, and fitting all passenger’s checked luggage was impossible. A few luggages were left behind at Seattle airport, and it turned out that I was one of the unlucky few. I gave the airline my email, and the address of where I would stay for the trip. I’m writing this after the second day of my stay, and I received the luggage at around dinner time today. It took a long time, considering the person who I was talking with at the counter said it would arrive on the same day my flight was. As long as my luggage was here with me, everything is ok for me.
I finally exited the airport after a stressful time at Vancouver, and managed to find my sister and her boyfriend. We took the train to their apartment, had dinner, and I passed out as soon as I layer on the bed. So tired I couldn’t even shower. I slept with the dirty clothes that travelled on me for more than 24 hours. Disgusting! 🤮
Conclusion
The flight from Tokyo to Seattle was really nice, with great views. I got a bit of rest as well, so that was good. The connection was way smoother than I expected, thanks to the helper. Vancouver airport though, it was pretty tough. I guess that was what it’s like to do an international connection flight. Haha I can say to everyone that I went to America! (Of course I won’t tell it was a connection flight. I will let them imagine I went to LA and New York and experienced everything)
See you tomorrow!