I Missed my Flight to Hong Kong!!

No – this is not a joke – I did in fact miss my flight to Hong Kong! So how did this happen and where am I now?

My flight was booked in mid-February and I had asked the travel agent for a flight on Saturday, March 20th. The first itinerary they sent-back looked perfect – a flight leaving at 1:05PM on Saturday afternoon.

I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to travel and always take extra precautions to make sure everything goes smoothly. So what was the first thing I did? I put the flight into my Outlook calendar – setting a reminder with detailed information about my trip.

So Friday, March 19th was a hectic day as I prepared for the trip. In fact I worked 12-hours straight from 8:30AM – 8:30PM to finish all the work I had to complete before leaving and packing everything I could possibly need for the trip.

At around 9PM I headed to the UCLA science lab to keep my girlfriend company – she is busy working on finding a breakthrough cancer treatment and sometimes that means late nights at the lab.

I stayed with Daina in the lab until about 1:30AM and then headed home to get some sleep. We woke-up in the morning around 8AM – had a nice breakfast together, called the cab, I was ready to rock!

About half an hour before I was ready to leave I decided to check my flight status online. This is so important because if your flight is delayed by 2-3 hours, spending that extra time at home is far more enjoyable than spending it at the airport.

I typed-in my flight number and the status appeared on the screen in front of me – “Departed”. What!?!?!

I assumed I must have made a mistake so verified the flight number – it was my flight and it was already making its way across the Pacific to Hong Kong!! How did this happen – it was only 10AM – my flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1 – and therein lies the problem – the number one.

So what’s so specal about the number one? Well if you are using 24-hour time then 1:05 is not 1:05PM but instead 1:05AM – that’s right – my flight left at 1:05AM on Friday, March 20th not 1:05PM – my flight had been in the air for nine hours already and I’m still at home!

I picked-up the phone and called Cathay Pacific – maybe there was another flight this afternoon – all hope was not lost…or at least that’s what I was hoping for! The reservation agent told me there was a flight at 11:20PM but it was oversold so I could try to get on Standby.

I asked about other flight options – the next flight that had seats was not until Monday. If I left on Monday I would miss the Asian Film Awards entirely – the main purpose of my trip!!

So what did I do? Did I panic, freak-out, yell, scream? Nope – I had a wonderful day with my girlfriend and then headed to the airport at 7:30PM to begin what I hoped would be my adventure to Hong Kong.

This trip means a lot to me – Dot Asia was kind enough to sponsor me and provide what I think is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never set foot on a red carpet before and this was my chance to do so and help promote a TLD I feel very passionate about .Asia! But was it all lost? Had I blown it by confusing my flight time?

Well I have some good news folks – as you read this right now I am in Hong Kong at my hotel on Monday morning. I got on the 11:20 flight and I will be filming as planned at the Asian Film Awards today in Hong Kong!

In life I believe that everything happens for a reason – maybe I was meant to spend Saturday with Daina – we had a great day and in the end I had a great flight to Hong Kong. Really there are two ways you can look at experiences like this in life and for those who know me – you know that I’m a glass half-full kind of guy!

So stay-tuned this week as I bring you incredible coverage from the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong along with a detailed look at .Asia in action and why this TLD might just be the next big thing in Global Domain Investing!

Okay – time to head-out into Hong Kong and begin what I can only imagine will be another great adventure! Thanks for reading and get ready to enjoy a week in Hong Kong with me and .Asia!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton