I just got my flight information for my trip to Sweden. It starts with a 2.5-hour flight to Chicago, then a 5 hour layover, and finally, the 8.5 hour flight to my destination. That’s about 11 hours flight time between 4:30pm and 7:30am the next day (1:30 pm Swedish time). Sweden is 6 hours ahead of my normal time. I’ve flown in the US from coast to coast, but that’s only 3 hours difference. I had no problem with that — no jet lag or anything — but I’m told 6 hours difference, going west to east can be hard to handle the first time.

This trip is still six weeks away (end of March), but I’m really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I’ll be by myself. I’d love to have Cowgrit with me; maybe next time she can come. Since this is not a vacation trip, I don’t know how much touring I’ll be able to do. My destination is not a real tourist area, anyway, so this will be more like just visiting the Swedish version of my US home. I’ll even be in south Sweden. (Although southern Sweden is far more north on the globe than I have ever been in my life.)

The trip back, a week later, will be all in daylight, and I’ll be arriving home the same day I left — although it will be 14 hours total time for me.

All told, I’ll need a few new books to read and a couple movies to watch on my laptop. Maybe I’ll be able to catch up on some sleep. I intend to keep up my blog postings, but my timing may be a little off because of the time difference.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I’ll be going on a trip to Sweden soon, and I’m doing the paperwork for getting a passport. For the past few days, it looked like I’d be going mid-February, but that may be too soon for the legal paperwork, so now it looks like the trip will be in late March or early April. I’ll definitely be going, whenever, and I’m a bit excited by the idea.

I’ve travelled some: several of the Southern states, as far north as New York and Illinois, and as far west as Texas, Arizona, and California. But I’ve never gone out of the country. Foreign travel is one of those things that I think could be interesting, but I’ve not had the urge, really, to go. There’s still many places in the US I’d like to see if I felt like travelling. And I’m a homebody by nature.

So, I’ve never had a need for a passport. I’m surprised by how expensive it is. I expected some fairly complicated paperwork, but the cost takes me aback. It’s going to be several hundred dollars, all told, with getting it expedited. Had I given it any thought, I’d have guessed less than a hundred bucks.

Today I’m running the errands for the prep-work for getting the passport. I’ve got to pick up a certified birth certificate, get photos taken, go to the post office, etc. It’s not like getting a driver’s license.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com