I'm in Taiwan - January 22

Well, don’t mess with China Air - they actually weigh your carry-on. VERY bad for me. Mine weighed 40 pounds; the maximum was 15. They told me to get rid of the excess. I moved away from the counter, opened my bag and started moving stuff into my purse, my little day-pack, and into my jacket pockets. I put my laptop in its case and added papers on top to make it look like a folder of papers - and went back. 23 pounds - not good enough. I threw out some food – good bye big bag of dried cranberries - and stuffed more into the purse and daypack. These now looked like sausages ready to burst. I hid these in front of the counter while I passed my carry-on over to the agent. MADE IT. She put a sticker on it. I took the carry-on around the corner and put all the stuff back in.

Went to security – they weighed it again! Not good. They asked if I had added stuff after the sticker was put on. What could I say? I confessed. I was sent back out – moved the excess back to purse and day pack, hung them both behind my back and went through – made it!

Now, the truly incredible step. I was in the first group called to get on the plane – and, you won’t believe it, they WEIGHED IT AGAIN. Now here’s the incredible part - they made each passenger step on a scale holding EVERYTHING - purse, carry-on, anything else in their arms - EVERYTHING. How can you tell how much the baggage weighs if the person is counted too? Now I am worried – NOT GOOD. And then the most wonderful thing happened. It has never been good to be overweight – never. But now it was. How could they tell what was me and what was the baggage? They shook their head, I stepped off the scale and they pointed to the carry-on – the lightest thing I had. I swear my jacket pockets weighed more than my carry-on. They weighed it – 15 pounds, and waved me on. I made it. I collapsed on my seat and just laughed.

The flight was great – 14 hours –but I slept most of the way. Leaving at midnight has its definite advantages. Truly – it felt more like crossing the country, not the world.

Thank you everyone involved in the final days – the phone calls, the dinner out with Lee and Celeste (fabulous Indian restaurant – to get me in the mood), visits with friends and family. I know I was anxious about going this far, for this long, not knowing anyone – not to worry. The woman I happened to stand behind in line (before the first weigh-in) was part of our group. We didn’t realize it until about 15 minutes into our conversation. Met 3 others before the flight, and met the rest once here. Great group - diverse and interesting. The youngest is 19 and several near my age. I am traveling with 12 others.

Now the big problem – tomorrow another China Air flight. Our group leader warned us they are even tighter. I got rid of some more stuff, am going to wear extra clothes, will hang my camera around my neck, pinning bags with more stuff inside my jacket – I will get through. Think good thoughts for me!