As I begin this blog, technically it’s still Day 22 as I left off recapping what I did during the day before I headed to the airport in the evening.

It was 8:30pm when I arrived at EZE airport.

My flight was at 10pm and, for the first time in forever, I was less than my usual 2 hours early at the airport.

I’ve always mentioned how coming 2 hours ahead of time has seemed like a fruitless endeavor each time but, even still, I was a wee, bit nervous on the taxi ride in.

What if this time was the time I ran into a long line through immigration or security.

It wasn’t.

I breezed through and, within a half hour, I was at my gate.

Flight 1 – Buenos Aires to Houston

My first flight, the longest of the three at 10 hours, was on United Airlines into Houston.

Honestly, I try not to fly through the states if I can help it, but on this particular trip, this was the flight that was part of my Aeroplan booking.

Not that I’m anti American or anything like that, it’s just that the TSA is just a different breed, ya know.

I got to experience a little snippet of it as I was boarding the flight in Buenos Aires.

Normally you dump out your water, go through security, and refill your bottle for the flight.

Not this time, nope, this time you were forced to dump your water at the gate right before you boarded the flight.

I mean, I’ve gotten used to the whole dumping of the water routine which seems silly as it is but this was a new wrinkle.

Anyway, the flight was full and while I got my coveted aisle seat, it was a constant struggle with my neighbour in the middle seat as he encroached on my space throughout the flight.

I don’t know how it’s possible, but I actually felt squished on an aisle seat.   It was weird.

My special gluten free meal delivered to my seat actually looked pretty impressive – steak with rice and veggies with a fruit cup, rice crackers and a gluten free brownie.

But let me pose a question to you – have you ever tried to eat a steak in a tiny metal dish with a wooden knife and fork?

Yeah, I highly don’t recommend doing that.

I quickly figured out that the knife was completely useless and I’d be eating the steak like a caveman.

As for taste, well the steak was overcooked and bland.   The veggies were good and the brownie was delicious so, I guess, 4/10.

But, wait, there’s more!

After watching a few tv shows I had downloaded and catching maybe an hour of sleep, I was presented with possibly the worst breakfast I’ve ever received on a flight.

What.   The.   Fuck.

Stale gluten free bread with a little piece of ham and cheese inside.

0/10

I swear to God, I will pay an extra $10 for my flight if it meals I don’t have to ever see this monstrosity again.

Don’t you just love how my flight recap is just a review of the food?

Only on findingtodd.com!

I will say that the 10 hour flight flew by (no pun intended) and, before I knew it, we were touched down in Houston.

A long layover

Time to enter the world of the TSA.

Luckily I had a 6 1/2 hour layover here so there was plenty of time to jump through hoops.

I didn’t realize it before hand but this is actually American Thanksgiving week and I only missed the holiday by a couple of days so this could have been alot worse.

Despite only transiting through the airport, I had to go through immigration and get my bags screened again.

It took just over an hour to get from point A to point B where I was at the gate for my second flight.

All in all, it went by pretty seamless but, man, those TSA agents look like their life has left their soul.

No smiles.

Just barking commands.

Once I reached my gate, I found a little spot up against the wall by the window to try to catch some sleep.

By this point it was closing in on me being awake for 24 hours so any kind of rest or sleep I could get would be happily welcomed.

I rolled up my parka and a sweatshirt underneath me and lay my head down on my backpack and pillow.

With earplugs in and a sleep mask, I curled up on the floor while action scurried around me.

I actually fell asleep for a couple of hours and felt pretty refreshed when I opened my eyes again.

After a quick fix of my wake up hair (it ain’t pretty) and a brush of my teeth, I was off into the great yonder of the Terminal A food court to round up something to eat.

And boy, did I find it!

Yup, more food to write about…

Blaze Pizza in Terminal A of the Houston International Airport is actually listed on my Find Me GF app which lists gluten friendly restaurants to visit nearby.

Sure enough, I checked their menu and they offer pizzas on a gluten free crust for an additional $4.

Now, considering this place was inside an airport, their prices seemed pretty normal to me.

For $11.50 (plus $4 for the gf crust) you can get order a pizza however you like it.

And it was a full 8 slice medium sized pizza, not like a slice or something like that.

I ordered my favorite, a Hawaiian pizza with red onion, and 10 minutes later it was ready for me piping hot out of their oven.

I marveled at the size of the pizza.   Like I said, for that price, I felt like I was getting it for a steal.

Now, the moment of truth – will the gluten crust be a hit or a miss.

And it was a huge hit!

Seriously, probably the best gluten free crust I’ve ever had on a pizza.

In an airport of all places.

Go figure.

Flight 2 – Houston to Toronto

After carbing up, it was onto flight number two – an Air Canada flight from Houston to Toronto.

It seemed counter-intuitive to be heading back northeast instead of to the west but, hey, what’s a few more hours in the sky, right?

At noon we were back in the air on the shortest of my three flights at just over 3 hours.

This flight wasn’t full so, after takeoff, I switched to a row where there was no one sitting beside me.

It’s just nice to be able to stretch out and not be cramped into a little cubby hole.

Because I’m an Aeroplan member I was able to connect to the flight’s wifi for free which was a nice, unexpected bonus.

And, you, dear people, were the beneficiaries of that because yesterday’s blog was finished and posted while I was in the air.

Ah, technology.

Flight 3 – Toronto to Vancouver

Okay, on to the home stretch.

By the time I landed in Toronto, it had been 20 hours since I boarded my first flight plus another 8 since I had woken up in Buenos Aires yesterday morning.

Thankfully the layover at Toronto was only an hour and a half.

Going through Canadian customs was a breeze as usual since I do my declarations ahead of time on the ArriveCAN app.

I did a quick scan of the passport on the machine, showed the slip to an agent and, just like that, I was officially back on Canadian soil.

It wasn’t too long until I was boarding my third and final flight of this journey back home.

This was also an Air Canada flight with a flight time of just around 5 hours.

Sadly, like the other Air Canada flight, no food was included which is really a shame.

Come on Air Canada – step up your game.

There were no empty seats on this flight so it was back to a battle of the armrest which is always a fun little game to play.

I passed the time playing Yahtzee on the screen in front of me and catching up on some shows on my laptop.

And then, at 8pm local time, a full 27 hours after I stepped foot on flight number one, I was finally home.

Back in Vancouver.

Back to real life.

Antarctica Trip 2025 has officially come to an end.