24-Hour Plus Travel Day

Think - calm attitude and looking for the best in things and people.

International travel can be physically tiring and trying even if the timing of connections seem well planned. Delays will happen, babies will cry and airplane tea is just not great. I decided not to wear a watch, brought good earplugs and my own tea leaves which gave me a small positive emotional edge for endurance. I left Toronto at 1:30 a.m. thursday and arrived into my hotel in Taipei about 25 hours later. Flying Korean Air is always a joy. The skyteam of beautiful, smartly outfitted, smiling young women outdid themselves. Service was consistently excellent. I stretched with a few Qigong moves at the back of the plane to keep relaxed, ate vegan, drank as much liquid as I could, rested and visualized being in the tea gardens soon.

One transfer stop was Incheon International airport, Seoul Korea. This ultra modern airport made it amazingly easy to breeze through a 5 hour layover. When I arrived there I just wanted to sleep but instead an adventure began. Free WiFI, seaweed snacks, a decent cup of tea, an actual 1/2 hour sleep on comfortable benches hidden away and joining in some activities organized by the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. I was able to take part in an art activity that was available for visitors. I was instructed by a traditionally dressed lady on how to create an ink print using an ancient stone ceiling tile. The heavy tile was about two inches thick and about 14" by 14". The stone depicted a Korean scene. Water was gently sprayed on the tile to moisten then thick white fibrous paper was pressed onto the tile by hand. Next, black ink was applied with a dabbing motion all over the surface. It recreated the ancient scene on the paper and voila my masterpeice was finished.