When we reached the Malay/ Thai border, it was a simple walk through immigration, and picking up the KL Kommuter, which starts a four hour train ride to downtown Kuala Lumpur.

But first we needed a break, so took one in Butterworth (Penang), Malaysia for two days, and we both marveled at how smoothly that all went. Which we appreciate, since that is not always so!

No question, it takes planning and LUCK to travel as often as we do. The logistics of time changes and ticketing (online and in person) improves with experience and PRACTICE, but there are no short cuts! So many things can go wrong, both on OUR end, ie, booking incorrectly, plus the weather and “Acts of God,” and surely, the challenge of hoping that your transportation provider follows through on THEIR end. Even after all these years, hundreds of train, plane, and bus rides, I still freak myself out a bit, wondering if I made a mistake.

A few years ago we were on the Greek island of Naxos the week before Christmas, and it was beautiful! We took a side trip to Santorini, and on New Years Eve DAY we were scheduled to return to Athens via ferry, to catch a flight to Singapore later that day. This was a REALLY BIG DEAL, since this was our first trip to Asia, about 13 hours in the air, and we’d be celebrating the New Year of 2020 while in the air with several hundred of our closest strangers!

That departure morning we woke to rain and strong winds and went down to the ferry port in plenty of time, only to discover that ALL ferries were grounded. Oh s..t! How to get back to the mainland? There was only ONE morning flight, and it was due to leave about 90 minutes after we had our ferry cancelled. So Kat and I hauled ass (she was a trouper), got a taxi, and took a painfully slow ride to the airport, all the while dodging huge raindrops and large puddles. We got to the airport as the weather was “kind of” clearing, went to the ticket counter and found out that 1) there WERE tickets available, and 2) the flight we wanted to take BACK to the mainland was delayed getting IN, so we actually had plenty of time.

Long story short, we caught the plane, we got to Athens, and later flew to Singapore. But just ONE little hiccup and we would have been out a grand and have to do some serious scrambling to get to Asia.

The lesson here is, do what you can to be sure you are doing everything RIGHT, allow yourself plenty of TIME, be PATIENT, and HOPE (pray) for the best outcome. In all our travels we have missed just one flight (to the island of Dominica) out of Miami—due to a hurricane—and ended up staying in the Miami airport for almost 24 hours. Stuff happens, but the odds are usually in your favor