The Long Road Home

The most stressful part of traveling is, well, the actual traveling.  Door to door, the trip home from Dharamsala to Seattle took about 43 hours.  Here are my notes; all times India:

9:00 am (Wed):  Leave Dharamsala by car to Kangra Airport

9:45 am:  Arrive Kangra Airport

12:15 pm: Leave Kangra Airport for Delhi

1:45 pm: Plane arrives Delhi [Flight time = 1.5 hours]

2:30 pm:  Arrive Delhi Hotel by car

2:30 pm to 12:45 am (Thur): Rest in Delhi Hotel, have meal, watch cricket on TV

1 am:  Arrive Delhi airport by car

1 am to 1:45 am:  Wait in line to get boarding pass/check bag

1:45 am to 2:30 am: Wait in line to clear passport control

2:30 am to 3 am:  Wait in line/clear security

4:05 am:  Plane departs Delhi to Dubai

7:30 am:  Plane arrives Dubai [Flight time = 3.5 hours]

10:30 am:  Plane departs Dubai for Seattle

1:30 am (Fri) [1 pm, Thur, Seattle]: Plane arrives Seattle [Flight time = 14 hours]

1:30 am - 2:15 am [1 pm-1:45 pm Seattle]:  Wait for bag at Seattle Airport/Clear Customs and Immigration

3:00 am [2:30 pm Seattle]:  Arrive home in Seattle

Additional Notes:

1. At Delhi airport:  it is important to have a boarding pass to get into the terminal.  I did not have a boarding pass, but I did have a copy of my ticket that worked.  The security guard gave me a funny look when I showed the ticket, but allowed me to pass.

2. At Delhi airport:  give yourself at least 3 hours from the time you enter the terminal to the time you get to your boarding gate.  The airport is very crowded and chaotic and you will spend a couple hours waiting to check a bag, get a boarding pass, clear passport control and clear security.  Add more time if you have to exchange currency.

3. USA Global Entry saved me at least 45 minutes when I arrived in Seattle.  After waiting 45 minutes for my bag to arrive off the plane, I breezed through customs/immigration in about 1 minute using the Global Entry program.  There were long lines of people waiting in customs/immigration who did not have access to this progrm.