THE JOURNEY
The first flight, from Jakarta to Istanbul, was 100% full. And these days, that makes for an intense flying experience as you simply can't avoid being up close and personal to so many strangers. I just sat there for 12 hours trying not to move much.
Luckily, Matcha was super chill the entire time. She slept, played and slept some more.
Then we arrived in Istanbul.
At the security check, Matcha jumped straight up onto my shoulder, which is what she does when she's scared. So getting her down from there was challenge number one, much to the delight of the other passengers and security staff.
Challenge number two was getting her back in the travel case after I let her run around for 2 hours on a leash.
Challenge number three was getting her to go to the bathroom. I finally found success when I went to the IGA Lounge and snuck Matcha into the shower room. I set up her litter with a makeshift tray and amazingly, she did her business. I then spent 20 minutes picking kitty litter off the floor.
Then came the second 12-hour flight, from Istanbul to Miami.
This flight was only 30% full and we had our own row. It would have been quite relaxing if I didn't have a massive headache by this point. Matcha remained calm though and only started getting agitated about an hour before we landed. I was impressed she held out so long.
The whole experience was crazy stressful though, constantly worrying about Matcha. I managed to sleep for about 2 hours during the entire 40 hour trip and that headache didn't go away for 2 days!
