Overview:

 

Well, gather around boys and girls and let me share with you an adventure. 

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Let me lead with "Always get travel insurance" you NEVER know what can happen abroad until something happens abroad LOL!

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We decided a few weeks prior to our trip that we wanted to go to Bali. We were semi aware of the volcano situation but in our minds "What is the likelihood of it actually erupting while we are there?" Regardless, I still proceeded to purchase my travel insurance "just in case" and even joked with the woman putting my policy together about the volcano. 

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Travel to Singapore (the original destination/travel deal) was smooth without issue. We boarded our Air Asia Flight (Asia's version of Spirit) for our 4 hour flight to DPS. When we arrived it was the usual steps of  getting money out the ATM and transporting from the airport to the hotel (Hotel Neo). We already had a driver assigned for the next few days who would be giving us a private tour for an extremely reasonable price (I think it was $50 USD each day for 10 hours)...Anyways, I digress! 

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We hear the next day that the volcano had a "small" eruption in the evening we arrived. It didn't shut anything down so we figured it was all good. We continued with our tour schedule as planned. Until the third day when we were told that tons of ash was released into the air from the aftermath. While on our tour we were given breathing mask (the ones like doctors wear) that really don't filter that type of emissions in the air. We ended up cutting our tour short because the emissions were heavy and covering our hair, clothes, items etc...! Furthermore, we started getting concerned about our morning flight the next day to Singapore. We monitored the airport for signs of delays and the next morning we went to the airport and was greeted with it being shut down due to volcano ash. If you don't know already, the ash can get into the planes engine and stop it from working. We received our new flights for the following day (if things improved). Lucky for us we were able to return to our hotel and get another room for the night. We started strategizing in the event there is another delay. I called Japan Air and tried to push my reservation out a day since I would miss the connecting flight in SIN. We pretty much spent time online and communicating with other friends out there on backup plans. Someone posted on Facebook an evacuation plan by the Indonesian Government that required meeting at the airport to transport to a bus that would drive us to the other side of the Country. This served to be valuable information.

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The next day we went to the airport early (like 6:30-7AM) knowing it was still closed but wanted to see what our options would be in regards to evacuation. We were directed to the meeting point for shuttle pickup and told when we signed up that we would have to pay in cash for our bus ticket. So we ran to the ATM nearby to make sure we had enough for food as well as we travelled. The shuttles came (about 8 of them) and took us to a shady location behind a gas station. We piled out the shuttles and into small sized buses with very little leg room. This would be our transportation for the next 14-16 hours and it was around 2 or 3pm by this time. Once every seat was taken and money collected we set off for the ferry. We were told we had to take a short ferry ride (bus included) which was a nice break from the smells and crowding of the bus. We were able to charge our phones and eat on the ferry. Right before we docked we had to return to the bus. The drive seemed like FOREVER and that may be in part to stopping every hour or hour in a half for restroom and food breaks. One cool stop involved a soup kitchen set up where we got a hot meal and beverage for free. I can only assume it was specific to the evacuation. We caught up with a couple others from our travel group who caught the bus directly from the bus station...and their bus was better and had more space. The stop was about 45-60mins then we continued on to Surabaya. During the process (really on the ferry) I realized I didn't have a plan once I arrived at the airport. I started sending WhatsApp messages to see who was still awake (due to the time difference) and luckily a new friend I met while in Dubai that was working in Saudi Arabia responded to my SOS. She was able to find a one-way ticket from SUB to SIN and even purchased it for me (which was a real blessing because I didn't have access to a computer to get online and do it myself. She made it for 6:30AM which according to what we were told would be okay if we actually stay within the time frame we were told... and of course due to the stops along the way our trip was closer to 16-18 hours. 

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We finally rolled into the airport around 3:30-4AM and it couldn't have come sooner. I ran out of the bus in search of my terminal. Which required an airport shuttle of like 10mins to get there. Since it was so early in the morning everything was still closed (in the way of food). We sat around charging our phones and trying to take a nap (I caught up with the two ladies from earlier). We had to wait for security to open up at 4:30-5am so we could check in and head to our gate. I had a lounge pass so I had a few mins to check it out, grab a snack and collect my thoughts on how to get my next few flights sorted. I tried to reach Japan Airlines but they never answered their phone. I had to board so my sister and her husband called them...they were on hold for at least 2 hours and never got through to anyone. Once I landed in SIN I had to go find Japan Airlines main office and get them to straighten everything out. They tried to charge me a $200 change fee until I reminded them that they never answered the phone and showed them texts from my sister stating the same thing. After I got my new flights (which were better times) I went to the lounge to shower and eat and just relax until that evening flight. 

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So...in the end it all worked out for me. I had travel insurance through Seven Corners, I picked a package with John Hancock. They made it real easy to get reimbursed for all the extra spend due to the delay. If you're wondering I did pay my new friend back ASAP via PayPal while at the airport. LOL!!

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So, there you have it. Consider this a cautionary tale on the importance of getting travel insurance. Yes, injuries can happen, luggage can be lost or like my situation...you have to spend more to evacuate a whole Country!

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