✈️ Abu Dhabi: An Accidental Expedition

This page was translated from the original Chinese version mainly by Gemini. Please refer to the original for definitive content.

Foreword

I’ve always found it incredibly difficult to write about my trip to Abu Dhabi. The purpose of the trip was to attend a conference, but it was also packed with flight experiences and sightseeing I wanted to document. I felt that the audiences for these different aspects were distinct, and arranging them chronologically would be inefficient for specific readers. Yet, splitting them up would make the travelogue feel disjointed. It wasn’t until a night ten months after the trip, lost in thought due to the flu, that I began to wonder if the person I am today would still have the courage to embark on such a journey. That’s when I knew I had to start writing. It doesn’t matter how I write it; no one really reads my articles anyway. And for those who want to get to know me, they’ll find the words they’re looking for.

Prologue: Motivation, Flights, and Accommodation

The paper I had worked on for the better part of my undergraduate career was finally accepted by IROS 2024 on the last day before my graduation. The conference was in Abu Dhabi, a great location, but the awkward timing of the acceptance meant I struck out everywhere when seeking funding. However, considering this might be my first and last academic conference, I decided to pay my own way.

The biggest challenge of self-funding was the limited budget. To find cheap tickets, I researched nearly every relevant route from airlines across Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. After weeks of searching, I booked my round-trip flights to Abu Dhabi back in July. Due to my tight budget, I booked a round trip with United Airlines from Los Angeles (LAX) to Dubai (DXB). The entire outbound journey required me to first get from UCSD to LAX, then connect through San Francisco (SFO) for a transcontinental red-eye to New York/Newark (EWR). I’d then spend a full day in Newark before an evening flight to Dubai. Finally, from Dubai, I had to find my way to my accommodation in Abu Dhabi. The flight and layover time alone amounted to 33 hours, and the total bed-to-bed time from my home to the hotel was a staggering 48 hours. Looking back now, all I can say is, it must be nice to be young.

The return ticket was similar, requiring a trip from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, then flying from Dubai to Los Angeles via Newark. Of course, the “surprise” United had in store for me on the return journey is a story for later. The entire trip was shockingly cheap, costing just over 5,000 RMB round trip. I paid an extra 700 RMB to upgrade my outbound fare class from K to L for a 25% mileage accrual bonus. The total cost was around 6,000 RMB.

For accommodation, I had two options: a brand-name hotel for about 700 RMB per night, or an Airbnb for around 300 RMB per night. The hotel was located directly above the conference venue, while the Airbnb required a bus ride to get there. A week before my departure, I finally realized just how grueling my itinerary would be. After failing to transfer the hotel reservation, I decided to cancel the Airbnb and stay at the hotel.

Departure: The Journey to Abu Dhabi

On the day of departure, after lunch and a shower, I took the Laxlinq shuttle from San Diego to Los Angeles International Airport. The service uses a 9-seater van, and the trip to LAX takes about two and a half hours. The legroom wasn’t great; my knees were pressed against the seat in front of me, which wasn’t very comfortable. However, filled with the excitement of starting my journey, the drive to LAX didn’t seem that long. Check-in and security at LAX went smoothly. I spent some time doing homework at United’s dedicated Terminal 7, during which I helped a Chinese woman traveling alone to Sydney find her new gate after it had been changed. From there, I was set to fly on United’s busy LAX-SFO shuttle route, followed by a transcontinental red-eye to New York Newark Airport.

My plan was to buy a one-time pass for the United Club in Newark and spend the day there, taking care of food and rest. But by the time I actually arrived in Newark, after nearly 16 hours of travel, I was already feeling exhausted. So, I used the DayUse app to book a day room at an airport hotel, which gave me about 8 hours of rest for a little over $100. After taking the AirTrain to the hotel shuttle pickup area, I couldn’t find my hotel’s name on the courtesy phone display. The small waiting area was filled with some strange people lying around, which was a huge psychological threat for someone like me, who had never ventured far from the bubble of San Diego. Fortunately, just as I was struggling with whether to use my weak English listening skills to call the hotel, the shuttle arrived. I was safe.

Upon checking in, I discovered it was a Marriott hotel, so I figured the conditions wouldn’t be too bad. The front desk clerk spoke very softly, which made my already poor English listening comprehension even worse. After a difficult check-in, I learned that most hotels in the US don’t accept contactless payments. The room was decent, but the American-style bed was uncomfortable for me: the mattress was high and soft, and the bedding was the classic “cheese between two slices of bread”—a comforter sandwiched between two flat sheets. Before leaving my home in San Diego, I had made a large portion of fried rice. I ate some in Los Angeles, but I really didn’t want the rest, so I threw the container away at this hotel.

After waking up, I went back to Newark Airport and grabbed a small burger. It wasn’t enough, so I ordered a slice of pizza too. At Newark, if you order using the QR code on the table, someone brings the food to you. I didn’t know this, so after ordering, I went to the counter to wait, only to hear someone shouting my name for a long time.

The flight from Newark to Dubai was relatively smooth. I was seated in an aisle seat in the two-seat row at the back of an old United 777-200 (non-ER). The passenger by the window seemed to have dropped their phone into a gap in the cabin wall and spent a long time searching for it, without success. The United meal was, unsurprisingly, bad but edible, and there were some extra snacks available in the rear galley. After a dozen or so hours of drowsy flying, I finally landed at Dubai International Airport. Immigration was smooth. The airport looked massive, with Emirates branding everywhere. Just as social media had described, staff directed all passengers to use the Smart Gates. As a first-time visitor from China, I got stuck at the Smart Gate and had to go to a manual counter to have some information entered. At the baggage claim, I spent a long time trying to figure out how to use the e-SIM card I had purchased, eventually realizing I needed to enable roaming. At that moment, I had no idea that the real challenges of my journey were just beginning.

Challenge One: I Have No Cash

After grabbing my luggage, I left the airport’s secure area. According to social media guides, I needed some cash in the UAE; for instance, Abu Dhabi’s bus card could only be purchased with cash. However, I couldn’t withdraw any money no matter what I tried. The ATMs here didn’t support Visa contactless withdrawal, and most didn’t have the UnionPay logo. To make matters worse, my only physical card, an ICBC-US Visa card, was swallowed by an ATM after three failed withdrawal attempts. I later found out that ICBC-US cards are, by default, only usable in the United States and Greater China. I was furious about this because one of the card’s advertised features was fee-free global cash withdrawals. After wasting about an hour at the airport, I decided to use my Bank of America credit card via Apple Pay to buy a Dubai Nol Card. My priority was to get myself to Abu Dhabi first.

Getting from Dubai Airport to the Abu Dhabi bus station involved a one-hour metro ride followed by a two-hour E101 intercity bus. The Dubai Metro was crowded, with a diverse mix of people and many passengers sitting on the floor in the articulated sections between cars. But it was safe and well air-conditioned, so it wouldn’t have been too bad if I weren’t so exhausted. The line for the E101 bus was long, very long. The bus runs every half hour and has assigned seating, so the queue was longer than a single bus could accommodate. A small incident happened while I was in line. The person behind me left the queue for a moment (I forget why, maybe to ask a question). When he tried to return to his original spot, people behind him started complaining, and eventually, security had to escort him away from that spot.

The bus ride to Abu Dhabi was quite comfortable, and I managed to fall asleep for a while. Upon arriving at the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station, I went inside to find a way to buy a bus card. However, a sign at the counter, even in Chinese, stated that only cash was accepted. I tried the ATMs inside the station again, but still couldn’t withdraw any money. Just as I was standing there, stressed out but still curiously watching a reverse vending machine for plastic bottles, I suddenly felt like something was missing. Holy crap, where was my suitcase?! I hadn’t taken it off the bus! My heart rate skyrocketed, and I was already picturing myself talking to the police. I sprinted back to the drop-off point. The bus was still there! My suitcase was also still in the luggage compartment, waiting lonely for my return. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least things hadn’t gotten worse.

I thought a bank’s ATM might support cardless withdrawal, so I searched for a nearby bank on the map. But I failed again; my VISA card couldn’t get cash from the bank’s machine either. Perhaps I was tired of trying, or perhaps the near-loss of my suitcase had worn me out, but I gave up on getting cash for a bus card. I knew I could use Uber in Abu Dhabi, which didn’t require cash, although it was a premium service and much more expensive than a regular taxi. So I decided to take an Uber to the hotel. Looking back, the Uber only cost 34 AED. It was definitely not worth all the anxiety and running around. Check-in at the hotel was smooth, except that I couldn’t understand the front desk clerk when he said the word “breakfast,” no matter how many times he repeated it. The hotel room was spacious and should be very comfortable for a solo traveler. I thought it was great value for the money.

Challenge Two: Presenting Alone

My poster presentation was scheduled for the afternoon of my second day. I had very little time to prepare. What’s more, I didn’t even have my poster yet. Around 10 AM the next morning, the researcher from BIGAI in Beijing who had brought the poster for me contacted me. I got dressed and went to the conference venue to meet him. With his help, I completed the conference registration, and then he left. I briefly explored the venue, observed the morning poster session, located my presentation spot for the afternoon, and then attended some sort of lunch meeting. By the time the meeting ended, the line for lunch was already wrapped around the venue. And yet, this incredibly simple lunch had run out by the time I got to the front. Since my presentation was coming up, I didn’t have time to find food elsewhere. I just started putting up my poster and preparing to present.

The presentation itself went more smoothly than expected. After all, it was just a three-minute speech, so not much could go wrong. The poster session, however, was much busier than I had imagined. Many people came to see it, and many asked me questions. As I explained my paper over and over, I became more fluent and confident in my presentation. Two visitors left a strong impression. One was a female scholar working on Causal Reasoning. She came by twice. On her second visit, she said she hadn’t quite understood the first time and asked if I could explain it again. This time, I asked if she spoke Mandarin. She confirmed, so I switched to Chinese and gave her a detailed explanation. The other was a young-looking male scholar from Japan. He leaned in close to my poster, studied it for a long time, and asked me many questions.

Unfortunately, halfway through the poster session, I discovered that the version of the poster my school had printed was not the latest one I had sent. The QR code was wrong, there were other issues, and the font for the title had been changed to something that looked very unprofessional. However, one visitor commented that my title font was interesting and unique.

Towards the end of the session, two Chinese students were walking around, adding people they were interested in on WeChat. They mentioned they were students here. Since they were “locals,” I asked them if I could survive without cash. They told me it was mostly possible, but they had never bought a bus card themselves. They apologized, saying they didn’t have any cash on them that day, or they would have helped me. As the session was wrapping up, I was taking a selfie when a passing scholar offered to take a picture for me. I gladly accepted, and he took a great photo. I was very grateful. He also briefly looked at my poster and asked a few questions. In fact, this whole poster presentation experience gave me a huge boost of confidence in myself and my research.

Ordering Takeout!

By the time I packed up my poster and returned to the hotel, it was already 7 PM. I ordered takeout (I had never ordered takeout in the US). I ordered a lot, but the total cost, including all fees, was only about 100 RMB, which is incredibly cheap compared to the US. Unfortunately, the delivery guy and I had a bit of a language barrier; neither of us spoke great English. We were both on the phone insisting we were in the hotel’s “Lobby,” but we clearly had different definitions of what that meant. Thankfully, I eventually got my food at 8 PM, my first meal of the day.

I Went on a Shopping Spree

My third day was completely free. I slept in, went to a brief presentation for IROS 2025 Hangzhou at noon, picked up an incredibly simple lunch, and then spent the afternoon wandering through the exhibition hall, looking at all sorts of interesting robots before returning to the hotel. But since this was a robotics conference, a field I’m not really familiar with, I couldn’t understand most of the research posters. The various robots in the main hall and the small drones flying at high speed in the competition area were quite fascinating, though.

However, another frustrating incident occurred: my room key stopped working, even though I had just extended my stay at the front desk that afternoon. I went back to the front desk to report the problem. They did something and told me it was fixed; the key card worked when they tested it at the desk. But when I got back to my room, it still wouldn’t open. I returned to the front desk again. This time, the staff member came upstairs with me, and after failing to open the door himself, he concluded that the lock was broken. He told me to wait at the reception and offered me a free drink. After about an hour, he offered to change my room. Not wanting to argue, I spent some time packing up all my belongings and moved to a new room.

I don’t really remember what I did for the rest of that afternoon. It was probably a mix of sleeping, doing homework, preparing for an evening interview, or playing mobile games. Oh, right, I remember now. I was so bored those few days in Abu Dhabi that I started playing one of those tree-chopping mini-games on WeChat Moments. Around 6 PM, I went out and walked to the nearest Carrefour to start my shopping spree. The main specialties of the Middle East are chocolates (though they don’t actually produce many cocoa beans) and dates. I bought a lot (seriously, a lot; I still haven’t finished eating or giving them all away). I think it’s because I never seem to buy enough souvenirs to go around. A few classmates from my school were also shopping, but the two of them together didn’t buy as much as I did. I also bought some pastries and a box of sushi for dinner. The fruit here is very expensive, which you can tell from the fact that none of it is locally grown. But there was one watermelon that was particularly cheap, and I couldn’t resist buying it. After all, the daytime temperature was still over 40 degrees Celsius. On a side note, when I was chatting with a local guy at the conference and mentioned it was hot, he argued, “What’s so hot about the last few days? It’s been quite cool.”

I spent a total of 661.7 AED. I bought tons of chocolate, chocolate-covered dates, and plain dates. So much so that for the next six months, everyone around me had chocolate-covered dates to eat. Besides this shopping trip at Carrefour, I also bought a lot of chocolate-covered dates at the airport on my way back, as well as two boxes of Patchi, the so-called “Hermès of chocolate.” Since Patchi is expensive, I gave one box away and the other expired before I could give it to anyone. After trying it myself, I thought it was just ordinary dark chocolate. I suspect the appeal of Patchi lies in its wide variety of flavors, but on the day I was scheduled to fly back, only the dark chocolate version was available at the airport. The next day (see The Ultimate Challenge Part Three), that counter didn’t even have Patchi for sale. Of all the chocolate-covered date varieties, my favorite was the coconut flavor. I think all the chocolate products were just okay; they were just chocolate.

How to Prove My Bag is My Bag

When I had packed my shopping bags and was ready to leave, an awkward thing happened as I went to retrieve my backpack from the bag check. First of all, the fact that a supermarket requires you to check your bag is already a bit strange. And it was a manual check with a claim tag, not automated lockers, which was even more baffling. The worst part was when I presented my tag, the staff member handed me a bag that wasn’t mine. I told him it was the wrong one and pointed to my actual bag, but he insisted that I had to take the one that matched my tag. After I repeatedly insisted, he called his supervisor, who then called his supervisor’s supervisor. This senior manager asked if I had anything inside that could prove my identity. I told him my passport was in there. He allowed me to take out my passport, and only after carefully verifying it did he let me take my own bag.

Since I had bought so much stuff, I couldn’t walk back. I called an Uber and went back to the hotel to eat! To prevent my luggage from being lost during the complex transfers, I had only brought a carry-on suitcase to Abu Dhabi and wasn’t prepared to bring back so many spoils. The good news was, I found a giant duffel bag on Amazon available for next-day delivery for only 60 RMB. It was made in China, and the quality seemed decent. I asked the hotel’s front desk about receiving packages and then placed the order.

But my vacation wasn’t really a vacation. I had an interview scheduled for 1 AM local time the next day. (Thinking back now, that’s insane, the intensity was too high). Luckily, it was just an HR call and didn’t involve any technical questions. But at the time, I didn’t know what would be asked, so I still prepared a basic self-introduction, project overview, and my understanding of the company and its relevance to my skills.

A Glimpse of Abu Dhabi

If I were to describe the attractions in the UAE, I would probably write a separate article. I can’t just say they are big and beautiful here, can I? But I will write about my experiences and feelings.

Half Pure White

On my fourth day, I unsurprisingly slept until noon. At 1 PM, still without a bus card or cash, I took an Uber to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. As soon as I got close, I could feel how truly grand and beautiful this mosque was. There are no tall buildings around the mosque, offering an excellent, unobstructed view. From any angle, the only background is the clear, open sky.

Entry to the mosque is free, but you need to book a time slot in advance or on-site. Since I hadn’t eaten, I booked a slightly later time. The visitor center before entering the mosque is actually a medium-sized underground shopping mall. I found a McDonald’s in the mall (the Subway here was inexplicably expensive) and ordered a wrap combo that I hadn’t seen at other McDonald’s locations. After eating, when it was time for my slot, I had to walk through a long underground tunnel to reach the mosque. Since most of the activity within the mosque area is outdoors, the temperature was extremely high. My black iPhone started protesting after a few minutes of video recording, and the camera app shut down. I found a shady spot to try to cool it down, but not only was it ineffective, but a staff member also told me that it was a restricted area. However, he was very understanding, asked if I was trying to escape the heat, and gave me a smile. I spent less than two hours at the mosque. Before leaving, I was immersed in the melodious, serene, and devout religious music that suddenly began to play. I loved this place. My conclusion: it’s the most worthwhile attraction in Abu Dhabi.

Before leaving the mosque, I successfully got some cash from the commercial area in the underground complex by buying some small souvenirs to get change. When I was paying, the cashier asked me in English, “You don’t have smaller currency?” I instinctively replied, “Yes.” This caused him to ask a few more times—a common English mistake. On the way back, since I now had cash, I could take a taxi. I got into a taxi waiting at the entrance of the attraction, and everything went smoothly. When we arrived, I was worried he wouldn’t be able to make change, so I was thinking of just rounding up the fare for him, as it was still much cheaper than an Uber. Luckily, he had coins and could give me the exact change. The return trip only cost me 15 AED. I thought that was cheap.

Half Magnificent

On the day I was set to leave, my fifth day, I decided to visit Qasr Al Watan (the Presidential Palace), possibly influenced by the recommendation from the Korean girl (see Encounters: The Banquet and New Friends). I knew there was a free shuttle bus from the Presidential Palace to Dubai. Carrying my carry-on suitcase, with the newly bought duffel bag full of Carrefour spoils perched on top, and wearing my backpack, I took another taxi to the palace. We spent some time confirming the destination when I got in the car due to a slight language barrier.

Unlike the Grand Mosque, Qasr Al Watan requires a ticket for entry. While I was buying my ticket online, I ran into a Chinese tour group, but nothing happened between us. After all the luggage went through security, the staff proactively informed me that large items needed to be checked. They attached a special luggage tag to my bags and took them away. I kept that luggage tag on my bag until the first half of this year. The scenery at the Presidential Palace is completely different from the Grand Mosque. While the mosque uses its pure white exterior against the blue sky to create a sense of serene purity, the palace showcases incredible luxury with its extremely vast, intricate, and orderly interior. I also happened to catch a band performance inside the palace, which was great.

After leaving the palace, a few other Mandarin speakers and I waited for the free shuttle to Dubai. The bus wasn’t exactly on time, but it did arrive. During a stop to pick up more passengers, the driver disappeared for a while. According to someone on the bus who got off to check, it seemed the driver went for a brief prayer. By the time the shuttle reached Dubai, it was already dark. Since I was carrying a lot of luggage, I didn’t try to explore Dubai. Upon arriving at the airport, I confirmed again that United would not accept my checked baggage early, so I gave up on any plans to sightsee in Dubai. I just wandered around the airport, found something to eat, and bought some more chocolate.

Encounters: The Banquet and New Friends

On my fourth day, the evening I visited the Grand Mosque, I attended a conference banquet. I think I had hesitated about whether to go, as I’m not good at these kinds of events—in fact, I’d never been to one. But again, considering this might be my first and last academic conference, I decided to go.

The conference organized transportation to take attendees to the hotel. The banquet was held in the hotel’s outdoor plaza, where a small stage and numerous round tables were set up. I messaged some of the students from Beijing whom I was more familiar with, and they replied that they hadn’t come. So, I picked an empty table and sat down, figuring someone would eventually join me. After a short wait, a group of Mandarin speakers asked if they could sit there. I agreed. Sure enough, they started making small talk with me, asking about my situation. They were a group of scholars from Shanxi University, mostly of professor age, with one student who was likely the first author presenting at the conference. His name was He Wang. Two other Chinese female students, currently in the UK, seemed to know this group and also joined our table. One of them then brought over a Korean girl who was studying in Korea. We chatted a lot at the table. I don’t remember everything we talked about, but I’ll describe a few moments that stuck with me.

1. The student named He Wang told me that earlier in a conference group chat, people were looking for a “Professor He Wang from Peking University” who was about to give a talk. He thought they were calling for him and responded in the group, only to realize it was a mix-up.
2. When we shared our experiences in Abu Dhabi, only the student from Shanxi University said, “It’s so expensive here,” while the students from the UK and I all said, “It’s so cheap here.”
3. The barbecue was grilled fresh, and each batch was gone as soon as it came out. So we all went to the barbecue station together to grab some meat.
4. On the way back, since the Korean girl and I were going in the same direction, she invited me to share the Uber she called, and I accepted. We talked a lot on the ride. She was surprised by how difficult my journey from San Diego had been. We talked about how I had transited through Korea once, how I didn’t know the scholars from Shanxi University before, and about her work in autonomous driving. That day, I had visited the mosque while she had gone to the Presidential Palace, and we recommended the sights to each other. Before we arrived, she asked if I would be at the conference venue the next day, as I vaguely recall she might have had another presentation. I regretfully said no, as I was leaving for Dubai around noon the next day. That was also the first time I realized that while I’m good at answering questions in social situations, I have absolutely no habit of asking them.

The Ultimate Challenge Part Three: My First Taste of a UA Mechanical Failure

As I was carrying my last-minute haul of various chocolates purchased inside the airport’s secure area, I was notified that my flight was delayed due to a mechanical failure. I could see the United 777-200 in Star Alliance livery right in front of me, its right engine cowling wide open. Interestingly, nine months later, this very same Star Alliance 777-200 would break down again at Beijing Capital International Airport while operating flights UA888/889. United’s delay notifications are quite interesting; they not only provide detailed reasons for the delay (they’ve recently introduced a large language model to improve the text of these reasons) but also, when the duration of the delay is unknown, they state that “a new update will be provided at the currently scheduled departure time.” I watched the stubbornly motionless engine cowling as the delay time was extended again and again. Finally, after a four-hour delay and the distribution of some small pastries and drinks, the flight was officially canceled. While waiting in the departure lounge, a woman who appeared to be from the Middle East sat next to me, and behind me, I could hear what sounded like some Europeans or Americans. When the meager food was being handed out, I asked the woman next to me if she could watch my bags, and she kindly agreed. Meanwhile, the people behind me were raving about China’s five-year plans, saying it was the right way for a country to develop, unlike the methods of certain Western nations.

In fact, after just a two-hour delay, I already knew I would miss my New York/Newark to Los Angeles flight. I started chatting with customer service, requesting to be rebooked on a flight from Newark to San Diego, and the agent readily agreed. However, the way the UA agent communicated was quite amusing, so much so that I took a screenshot and complained, “Is this how a customer service agent should talk?” When assessing whether I could make my connection, the agent said, “I don’t think 1 hour is enough.” When addressing my checked luggage, they said, “You must reprint your bag tag in Newark.” When I replied, “I am willing to do so,” they shot back, “you have to!” But once my itinerary was rebooked to San Diego, the final destination of the whole ticket was automatically updated. This meant that when the flight was later canceled, I could rebook myself onto any flight to San Diego.

After the flight was canceled, United arranged a replacement flight for a similar time the next day. I tried contacting customer service to find a faster way home, but the agent claimed that partner airlines had also canceled their flights (Yeah, right. Like they all had mechanical failures too?). I thought it over. Among US carriers, only UA flies to Dubai. Finding a flight on an Asian airline departing in a few hours would mean circling the Eastern Hemisphere, and European airlines would likely involve multiple connections and visa considerations. Plus, the most likely option, the Lufthansa Group, has terrible mileage accrual. None of these seemed better than just sleeping at a hotel for a day and waiting for the evening replacement flight. So, I stopped arguing with customer service.

The journey to the hotel was also a long one. First, I had to re-enter the UAE, wait for United’s ground handling contractor (Emirates) to help me cancel my exit stamp, then wait for the shuttle to the hotel, and finally wait in a long check-in line. The hotel actually offered a free one-day/half-day tour of Dubai. I glanced at the brochure while in line and briefly considered going to see the skyscrapers I had missed the day before. But the moment I hit the bed, I forgot all about it. After checking in, I quickly showered, ate, and went straight to sleep. When I woke up, I took another shower, and it was already time to check out, eat, and head to the airport. The buffet provided by the hotel was surprisingly to my taste.

One big advantage of the flight cancellation was that I could stuff all the duty-free items I had bought in the secure area into my checked luggage (the UAE doesn’t seem to be strict about managing duty-free goods) and travel light. Also, because many people had rebooked and left, the plane was quite empty, and I got the two-seat row at the very back of the 777 all to myself. Near the gate, I saw that the Star Alliance 777-200 that had broken down the day before was now operating today’s scheduled flight, while our replacement flight was being operated by the plane that had just arrived from Newark. Nice.

Little did I know then that many more mechanical failures awaited me in my future travels with United. And I certainly didn’t know that I would use this little “rebook to San Diego” trick many more times in the future.

Homeward Bound!

After an extremely long flight, I arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport. Before landing, I had asked several flight attendants for help, explaining that I had a tight connection and asking if I could be moved to a seat further forward. They all said they would check and then never reappeared. I knew I was on my own. So, as soon as the plane came to a complete stop, I quickly grabbed my backpack, apologized my way through the aisle saying “tight connection,” and moved towards the front of the plane. After deplaning, I sprinted all the way to US immigration. Immigration at Newark was surprisingly smooth; the officer asked only basic questions. However, the airport itself is a winding and complex maze, and I had to change terminals. Newark was very busy in the morning, and the security lines were long. Fortunately, I managed to board just one minute before the gate closed, the last passenger on the plane. The flight attendant at the aircraft door asked if I had a seat. After I confirmed, she hurried me inside, telling me my backpack would have to go at my feet as there was no overhead bin space left.

After another long six-hour flight against the wind on an ancient United 757, I finally arrived at San Diego International Airport. Sitting on the shuttle bus from the airport to the trolley station, I realized how beautiful the San Diego coastline was. At 2:00 PM Pacific Time on October 20th, I was finally home. I weighed myself before showering and found that I had lost a full 1.4 kilograms compared to when I left, likely from not eating much for so long. But finally, I could get a good night’s sleep. Good night.

In Conclusion: A “Trial by Fire” of Unexpected Events that Defies Summary

First, I want to summarize the negative, unexpected events of this trip to commend my own strong problem-solving skills:

1. I had to find a place to sleep in New York.
2. My bank card was swallowed by an ATM in Dubai, leaving me unable to get cash.
3. I almost lost my suitcase.
4. I missed out on lunch.
5. My hotel room lock broke.
6. I almost couldn’t retrieve my own bag.
7. My long-haul international flight was canceled.

As I write these words, I feel that this trip is impossible to truly summarize. The entire Abu Dhabi journey was one giant, unexpected event. Nothing that happened was something I had ever experienced before. Almost every hour in Abu Dhabi presented a new challenge; some I was mentally prepared for, while others were completely random. Perhaps the smoothest part of the entire trip was the poster presentation. Of course, that was also my first time presenting a poster; I hadn’t even seen anyone else do it before. As I said in the foreword, I don’t know if the person I am today would have the courage to embark on such a journey again. I salute the me of that time.