In 2005 Larry surprised me with a cruise to celebrate my 50th birthday. In January of this year Larry turned 50 and the pressure was on me to surprise him with a trip. I chose China for a couple of reasons. My brother, Wyatt, lives in Shenzhen, China, which is very close to Hong Kong, just within the border of the People's Republic of China (PRC). I also wanted to spend some time in Hong Kong after hearing from Wyatt and my mom (she visited Wyatt in the PRC in 2007) what a great city it is.
I had never bought plane tickets online before. In February I learned how to to do that. I surfed the web to find a service that would go to the Chinese embassy to secure our visas. I booked our hotel in Hong Kong online. Before long, I was an emotional wreak -- I was spending a lot of money via the internet, hoping I really was buying plane tickets, visas and booking a hotel. Through all of this, I kept the secret from Larry, although he knew we were going "somewhere". My brother helped and encouraged me via email from the other side of the world, and reminded me: "Just remember that the very thing that makes travel frustrating is what makes it fun -- getting out of the routine". I was definitely getting outside my comfort zone.
About a month before we left I told Larry that we were going to China, and no more than that. It was such a big trip, and long airplane ride, it seemed he would need to mentally gear up for it. And he needed to sign the form for his visa. It was a relief for me to tell him, because traveling to China was a very hard secret to keep!
Early on April 12, Easter Sunday, with plane tickets, visas, passports and hotel reservation in hand, we rode with Larry's mom, Mary, and her friend, Gordie, to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport to board the United Airlines plane that would take us to O'Hare, where we would catch our plane to Hong Kong.
