February 15, 2020
Today is the second day since docking and I still do not have flights out of Cambodia. They ‘should’ have me flying out sometime tomorrow, February 16. I believe there are only 60 of us who will stay onboard one more night awaiting flights home. They are certainly not kicking me off the ship until I have them. So, I wait.
I have had quite a few ‘firsts’ on this adventure and yesterday afternoon was another…It’s not every day that you get to hang out with and have pretty lengthy conversations with staff members from the United States Embassy. They flew down here to Sihanoukville from Phnom Phen to oversee everyone getting off the ship, and they are not leaving until every last U.S. Citizen is on a plane home (comforting since I feel like I may be the last). They took up residence in the board room behind my little ‘office’ and they couldn’t help but notice me sitting in my red uniform with my company’s name embroidered on it. How can you NOT stop and talk to me, right?
There are quite a few misconceptions about what an embassy or consulate actually does, and I’m not going to turn this into a history lesson, but they aren’t going to give you their black American Express card and fly you home in first class. Nope. Not what they do. But, they are going to make sure you get home, just on your dime. And they will help you with all of the reservations. Rarely, do they load Americans into the belly of C-17 Globemaster jet and whisk you away to a tropical military base. If that does in fact happen, you have bigger concerns than a being on a luxury cruise ship that just can’t find a willing port.
More to come…
On the Road in 2023 
Leave a Reply