We’ve made it to Japan! But not without a travel saga that pushed us to our limits. What should have been a long but straightforward journey turned into an exhausting 15 hour longer than expected ordeal, thanks to last minute cancellations and reroutes that completely derailed our plans.
Originally, we’d planned a two day layover in Madrid to break up the journey before heading to Japan. That would have given us time to rest, reset, and enjoy the city. But after an unexpected cancellation, the airline initially wanted to delay us indefinitely meaning we would have missed our onward flight to Japan. That wasn’t an option. Those tickets from Madrid to Japan would have cost us another £2,400 to rebook, so we had to fight to get rerouted. In the end, the only option they gave us involved flying all the way to Chile before turning around and heading back to Madrid. Completely absurd, but it was the only way to avoid being stranded.
By the time we finally arrived in Osaka, we were completely wrecked. We’d had just one night in Madrid before a brutally early start, so exhaustion was unavoidable. The one silver lining? We’ve been told we’ll be getting £900 each in compensation, which helps soften the blow but honestly, I’d much rather have just had a smooth journey in the first place.
After a much needed full night’s sleep, we’re settling into Osaka. Dotty isn’t feeling 100% today, so Ali is staying back with her while Georgia and I head out to explore. First impressions? Osaka is every bit as exciting and fast-paced as we expected, and despite the nightmare getting here, we’re excited for the weeks ahead.
Lesson learned: if an airline messes up, push back, fight for your reroute, and don’t just accept the first option (which in our case would have made us miss our connection at our cost) but then it would be nice if you could avoid situations where you need to negotiate flights across continents just to get where you’re going!
Give me a few days I’ll post some updates till then I’m just gonna try and get over the confusion of the last three days travelling from one side of the world to the other!
See you later!
