OUR FIRST INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT IN OVER A YEAR (United Polaris Business Class)

Hi, I'm Kara and this is my husband Nate. After spending four years traveling to 100 countries, airports were pretty much our second home. But like everyone else, we had to make some big changes in 2020. Our tiny home on wheels has been great, but we are those weird people who enjoy everything about the flying experience. And we could not be more excited to be taking our first international flight in 14 months.

I cannot believe this day is finally here. Our flight leaves in 24 hours and there is so much to do between now and then.

15 seconds each side. 1, 2, 15. You can switch going a little bit.

1, 2, 15.

International travel is a.

Lot more complicated than it was last.

Time we did this. The first thing that we need in order to get on the plane tomorrow is for that test to come back negative. And it should because we're vaccinated. I've read as much as I can, but there's definitely some guesswork going into today.

Hello.

We were calling with your results of the test.

You guys are both negative and you can come on inside for your coffee.

Okay, thank you so much.

Sounds good. Appreciate you. Bye. Bye. Woo. Let's go. We have no time to waste.

Come on.

I heard you in the car.

So are there a lot of people coming in for travel testing?

Of course. Making us jealous.

All right, you're in charge of this very valuable sheet of paper. In addition to this negative COVID test.

I also need to register for another test in the airport where we're landing tomorrow. And then I have to fill out an EU passenger locator form which I'm pretty sure is going to ask where we're staying.

And I haven't booked that yet, so I need to get to work.

While.

Nate's taking care of that.

Oh my gosh. I've never been so excited to pack a suitcase in my entire life. But it's not gonna be easy. Somehow I had to figure out how to stuff all of this, all that and all this into that. This is going to be tough.

Too many clothes. I don't think they're all going to fit.

This feels so weird in the best way. Can't believe I'm packing my bag.

It's already heavy. This is the bedroom and Nate's parents house where we've been staying and we've wrecked it.

Yes, fingers crossed. Oh, yeah, no problem. Oh, darn. Forgot my socks. I think it'll be too hot for these anyway.

It is almost midnight. The hotel is booked. The forms are filled out into wash today. I'm a little delirious.

Goodbye, van. This does not mean that we're giving up on our 50 states goal.

It just means that we're taking a little break from the van and putting that goal on pause.

If I were you, I'd be a little skeptical too, but we do already have stuff booked in July, so I'm 99% sure we'll be back.

That didn't go so well.

What did she pack?

Oh, my gosh. I left my backpack in your truck.

I was like, I feel so free.

See, that was an exciting way to start the morning.

We might be a little rusty at this.

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Okay, let's try.

Thank you. All right, we got things under control again. Check in was super easy. I brought an entire folder full of stuff. The only thing they asked to see was a printout of our negative COVID test. And we have our tickets. I don't know if there'll be more to do in Newark, but Nashville is super easy.

Not only is today our first international flight in 14 months, but it is also our eight year wedding anniversary.

No gifts, just travel.

Well, kind of. We did splurge.

By splurge, I mean I found a really good deal for us to fly in business class. We haven't changed that much.

Thank you.

I will never complain about sitting in business class, but this plane is so old that it still has the credit card swiper. Like if you wanted to watch a movie on the plane, I guess you used to have to pay and swipe your credit card. I'd like to watch the stock market, please.

Good morning.

It scared me so bad.

This is one of those things that I'm realizing now I should have been doing since day one. And I will continue doing it even when Covid is a thing of the past.

Once again, this is nonstop service to Newark. Pleasant. Good morning, and welcome aboard.

In just a minute, we will be showing you a video which highlights the safety features of this Boeing 737 aircraft.

I know this is a lot of airplanes. It's just been so long.

Here we go. Two hours to Newark. There's a party now.

And on behalf of United Airlines, and especially this entire crew, thank you for sharing part of your morning with us today in the friendly skies of United.

Thank you. You guys have a great time. Chocolates make a big difference.

Always bring chocolates for yourself and for the cruise.

All right. Two hours later, we've made it to Newark, which, I'm gonna be honest, I learned for the first time today is in New Jersey and not New York.

That's not the first time.

From here, we are boarding a fully Covid tested flight, which means that everyone on the plane has tested negative for.

Covid in the last 48 hours. Then when we land, we have to.

Get another COVID test, and as long as we test negative, we're free to enter the country. We are both fully vaccinated, but right now, the only way to get into the country without having to quarantine is.

To be on one of these Covid tested flights.

Well, this has never happened before. We are leaving the lounge two hours early, but hopefully we're going to come back. We're just going to make sure there's not, like, I don't know, we need to get another COVID test before we leave or something.

We're the new and improved Karen.

I think we're this way.

So we're good to go. Thank you so much.

We are so responsible.

Miraculously, we had every document we needed. Our. Our boarding passes now say dock. Okay.

A whole line of people formed right behind us. I think because we were the first ones that went up there with all these papers. Made everyone nervous.

Yeah. Basically, we just had to show three documents. Our negative COVID test, our EU passenger locator form, and to show that we registered for a COVID test when we landed. So back to the lounge.

All just feels right right now.

As usual.

That went by way too fast. But it's time to go to Italy.

I'm pretty sure this is now the line to get your documents checked in order to get on the plane.

We are trend setters.

This airplane is taking us out of the country. I can't believe it.

I can't contain my excitement.

I'm so happy, so much space. I think I would be excited if I was flying to Italy in like a three foot box. But instead. Welcome aboard.

Hi, guys.

How are you? Good, how are you? We're so good. Good. Would you like dinner tonight? I'll do the butternut squash, please.

Same for me.

Okay, so the plane that we're on is a 787 and technically the hard product is a bit older. It's a 2, 2, 2 configuration up here in business class. But the soft product is all the new Polaris. This drawstring bag.

It was upside down. This drawstring bag is our amenity kit. Team usa. We have a United States eye mask, typical earplugs, tissues, some striped socks, a dental kit.

Yes. Lip balm, hand cream, face ma cream, face wipe and a little mini pin. We have this down pillow. So soft. In addition, we have a second pillow that is memory foam if you like a more firm product. Last but not least, remember to have this on.

We haven't even taken off yet and I already don't want this flight to end.

Back when we were flying regularly, we would get on planes and we would scroll through all of the movie options and we'd like, oh, we watched that one on the last flight. Oh, we saw that one on a flight last week. And now there are all these new movies that we've never seen before, so.

There'S no way we're sleeping.

There you go.

Thank you. Dinner is served. And I am pleasantly surprised to see real dishes and all of our food on a tray. I'm pretty sure this is the first day that United has done this since COVID We're starting with a salad. Then we have some mixed nuts, a dinner roll, and our main entree is a butternut squash ravioli. But my favorite part are these adorable little salt pepper shakers. Then for dessert, there's vanilla ice cream. Who eats vanilla ice? CRE ice cream.

Hot.

Need some salt. We're washing it down with some champagne because it's our anniversary. Cheers.

You think we look tired? They just brought us to extra Coffees without us asking.

Local time here is 8:07am Please remember.

To gather all of your personal belongings and please use caution when opening the overhead compartments.

Our bodies think it's. It's 2:15 in the morning, but feels surprisingly good. Just riding off adrenaline right now. Been waiting for this moment for so long.

All right, before getting our baggage or anything, I believe we're waiting in a line to get tested. Doesn't look like this line's moving anywhere quickly.

I don't even care. I'm just happy we're here.

Well, we've been waiting in line for an hour. Not sure where we're going, but we're on an escalator that hopefully doesn't lead to another line.

We just signed some papers, paid €20 for a test, and I'm pretty sure we're about to stick swab up our news.

It's going smoothly so far.

Worth it. Uncomfortable, but worth it.

Oh, I think I had gotten used to giving myself those tests at cvs. That was pretty decent. Once we got out of that first line, everything's moved super quick. We're waiting 10 minutes for the results, and assuming those come back negative, we'll be free to enter the country. And then I'm gonna take a nap.

Same.

That swab was intense.

Okay, that's what we needed to see.

Let's go to ro.

For some reason, this translation really makes me laugh. The train that's gonna take us to get our baggage is called the people mover.

There it is. The first passport stamp in 14 months. It's a beautiful thing.

This is so fun.

We are officially in Italy. Our plane landed a little over an hour and a half ago, and all things considered, I would say that is pretty good. Just smells different.

Wow. This is super fancy. But I did the math, and by the time we both took the train in and then got an Uber from the train station to our place, this was only like 10 extra euros.

Thank you so much.

Wow, look at the floor.

We say it. This feels so weird. We're back.

This is a terrible idea, but we're gonna take a nap and regroup for the evening.

At least. We'll try.

That was a little harder than I expected.

Are we gonna take a nap?

Well, I gave us about a 50, 50 chance of actually leaving the room after we went to sleep, but we did it. We did it. We're in Rome. The air smells a little bit like bacon.

I'm so happy.

I've even missed jet lag a little bit.

I'm so sleepy.

I just feel like I'm in this slightly delirious dream state right now. It could be a dream. This all does feel a little too good to be true.

Like these streets, plants, music, puppies. It's so great.

We're back.

I can't believe this.

It smells so good.

Like beautiful cheese.

We have made our way to the Trastevere neighborhood, which is one of our favorite areas of Rome. Our friends recommended this restaurant to us, and I feel like we've been celebrating our anniversary for 24 hours now. But technically we haven't slept an entire night yet, so we thought we'd just keep it going. This is so exciting. So we've started with two appetizers. We have parma e bula. And he talked us into some focaccia bread with olive oil. This is beautiful. Oh, my gosh, look at that. Mozzarella. There's just no substitute for the real thing.

Is this the dream? Is this really in front of me?

I think it's finally hitting me that we're actually here. I have so many emotions, emotions right now that I can't figure out how to express. And I even hate that term because there are like literally hundreds of thousands of words that are made to express your thoughts. But like, what we're doing right now was our daily life for four years straight. And I don't want to say we took it for granted, but I think it just became so routine for so long that once it was taken away, we realized how awesome our life was. It feels familiar and normal.

But it's so special. I think I'm sleep deprived.

Bon appetito.

I feel ridiculous. Bang. I know.

I love so much that this is happening. Just crying and eating carbonara. This is why I married you.

Something's wrong with me.

I never want to take this for granted again. What do you think? All the Italians probably think I'm crazy. Should we speak with an Australian accent? Mate? This is so good.

I loved everything about this place. Just when I thought I couldn't love it anymore. Less than €50 for everything and they give you free suckers.

No, not again.

Look at this sunset. Are you kidding me? I'm being more and more convinced that this is a dream.

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What? I just figured out why everything back here is so sticky. Why this bottle of wine exploded.

Oh my God.

And this one's about to oh my God.

We haven't been in the van in days, so I guess it's just all dried.

Van life is a constant learning process.

That didn't go very smoothly. Sam.