And we’re on our way back to North America for our first home leave! I’m writing from the Seoul airport where we have a six hour layover. It’s been a long time since we’ve been home and almost as long since we’ve left the Kingdom of Cambodia. The last time we left Cambodia was a short trip to Malaysia with the MCC team in February 2020.

Our entire travel time, from the time we left our house to the time we arrive in Kutztown, will be around 45 hours. The flights are scheduled to take 21 hours and 48 minutes. The rest of the time are layovers and travel to/from airports. But we’re literally traveling “back” in time – or, rather, back in timezones so we’ll arrive in Philadelphia late on Tuesday.

That’s a long time for two energetic girls! I picked up some new activity books for them before we left but we’ll see how long that lasts them.

The Khmer people here at the Phnom Penh airport were so warm and friendly. It made us miss Cambodia already! ជួបគ្នានៅខែសីហា។

Our first flight was from Phnom Penh to Seoul and left at midnight. Catherine was super interested in the plane and asking a thousand questions a minute before takeoff. Well, more like the same five questions a thousand times. It made me realize that she doesn’t actually remember her previous flights. The girls slept for most of the flight and we arrived in Seoul shortly after 7AM local time (6AM Phnom Penh time).

The Seoul airport is lovely with public wifi, play areas, and lots to explore. Our next destination, LAX, is far more utilitarian in comparison. Or at least it was last time I was through it. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get one for an update there.