The Journey Home

Tonight, Im heading out of town for the two days of travel that send me back to America. I thought Id share the route I'm taking on the journey and some great things I've learned about international travel.

Tuesday: 11PM I get on the bus at Izumi Chuoo about 10 minutes from where I live.
7:10 AM Wedensday I get into Tokyo
I then need to get to Narita airport from here. I plan on trying to find the Tokyo Station and navigating my way there. I really have no clue what I'm doing and I hear the place is really confusing. I'm just praying God will guide me through it.
11:15AM I fly out of Narita Airport
This is where I talk with Doc Brown about the 1.21 Gigawatts that we will need to have to go back in time. After a 13 hour flight. I arrive in Washington DC at 10:40 AM. 35 minutes before I left Tokyo. Crazy huh?
I get a nice 4 hour layover in DC. Also, don't ask why I have to fly to DC to get back to Michigan.
2:17 I fly out of DC to Chicago.
I get there at 3:18 and have a 3 hour layover.
I then fly out of Chicago at 6.
I reach Muskegon at 7:54 PM. 33 hours later.

After Setting up this route, I've learned a few things. I spent several hours at the beginning of June trying to find a good cheap fly. I came across some weird things.Heres a few things Ive learned:

• When flying international. If you want the cheapest route, you should look for something that just gets you into the country then find a flight to your destination. I kept finding really cheap flights from Tokyo to LA and then LA to Chicago. It was about $500 cheaper than any other flight that would get me into Chicago. 
• The best international travel sites are Cheapoair.com and expedia.com. Trust me here, it will save you a bunch. I looked everywhere for my flight home and even my flights for Thailand and Philippines I will be making in August. These sites which are only a few dollars apart, beat out other sites. It can even be rediculously cheaper than booking directly through the airline. I always double checked. I think Delta is the only Airline site that was comparable that I saw.
• Even if you are going one way, it is actually cheaper to fly round trip. I looked at booking opposite way tickets and the price of each way was more expensive than the round trip which doesn't really make a lot of sense.
• Have a few different airports that you can fly out of. This can make a huge money difference. It gives you more choices on flight times and if you heed my first piece of advice it gives you other options for connecting flights. In Tokyo, for example, there is Henaida and Narita. Ive spent 13 hours in Henaida (see im safe at home). and flown in and out of Narita. Both are pretty much the same to me. 
• Flights make no sense. Don't try to figure them out just deal with it. I spent mindless hours looking at random flights. I stumbled across the cheapest flight I could find home. It was a round trip to Vegas from Tokyo. It had a layover innnn DETROIT. This was much cheaper than either a flight to Detroit, or a round trip anywhere close to Michigan. My flight I chose has a layover in DC. Dont know why. I've also seen flights that would have layovers in TX, NY, LA etc. but if you tried to get a flight directly through those airports it was more expensive. 
• Your time is worth money. When it all comes down to it, you may find a pretty cheap flight, save a $100 bucks but it takes a day out of your trip. If you're only going for a short time, you've gotta take the other flight. I almost took a flight home through LA that would have given me a 10 hour layover, overnight in LA. Once, I factored in breakfast, lunch, and a hotel. It just wasnt worth it. Believe it your not, if you are one of the few people in the world lucky enough to have a job, you will make more money. One thing you will never do, is make more time.

I could go on and on but I need to get ready for the day, so I will leave it here. Traveling is intimidating, nauseating, and headaching but the destination is almost always worth it. Why else would you spend that money? I've been through a lot of randomness in the past few months of traveling across the Pacific Ocean. I'm praying for a safe and headache free flight home and look forward to seeing my friends even if it is for weekend!