On Thursday morning we arrived at DTW around 6:45am for our 8:30am connection to Chicago. After printing our boarding passes and dropping off our baggage, we made our way to security where we were shuttled through the TSA pre-check line. Although we haven’t applied for the pre-check program, we are apparently frequent enough fliers on Delta to be randomly selected and let me tell you it was awesome! No removing shoes or belts, laptops can stay in their bags, the lines are significantly shorter and you don’t have to wait for someone to swab your hands if you are carrying a kiddo. If you are at all a frequent flier and eligible for the pre-check program, do it! Getting through security was easily the best part of our day. Everything went down hill from there…

First, we discovered that although we were traveling with a young child, our corporate travel agent couldn’t get us seats together. Then, a 30 minute flight delay became a 3 hours due to “maintenance issues” on our plane in Columbus (nothing good ever comes from Columbus, right?). Realizing we might miss our flight we rushed to secure a backup plan but apparently our only option was a 4:30 pm flight to Paris on Delta followed by an 11pm to 5 am layover in Delhi. Not relishing the thought of an extra flight and long layover with a possibly grumpy toddler, we decided to proceed to Chicago to face lost baggage and difficult Delta agents who were not at all interested in helping us find accommodation for the night. Through it all, Ellie was a stellar little traveler and absolutely thrilled to spend a whole day at the airport (Planes! Trains! Moving sidewalks!). Turns out, I was the grumpy one.

All of my misgivings about the start of our trip vanished when we finally landed in Delhi the following day. There is just something magical about major international airports. The world feels so close. I love seeing departure and arrival boards flash the names of cities around the world. I love to watch people and wonder where they are going or where they are coming from. In fact, a flight from Kabul had arrived minutes before us and we found ourselves waiting at foreign passport control amidst a sea of colorful women and leather-skinned men with long beards wearing pakols and dusty shawls. True to form, Elliotte immediately broke the ice, inciting Pashto coos, cracked smiles and pats on the cheek from more than one gruff, grandfatherly looking Afghan man. Traveling with a small child is certainly challenging but it is also incredibly wondrous and rewarding.

On a related note, the whole experience at DEL left me wanting to visit (a peaceful, safe and free) Afghanistan something fierce. But if I don’t, I hope that someday Elliotte can strap on a backpack and book a flight to Kabul without a second thought. I want that so badly for her and for the world.