Travel Stop #1 - Alaska

So my trip to Guam got cancelled and I ended up in Eielson, AK. Military HOP flights are subject to change without notice and that's exactly what happened. The tentative seats available went from 10 to 4 to 0, so we asked where the next flight was headed and it happened to be Alaska!

I'd never flown on a military flight until yesterday so it was a very new experience for me. While we were waiting in the terminal to see if our seats had been confirmed there was a short announcement stating what we might be be flying with, "medical equipment, cargo, patients and potentially human remains". I freaking deadpanned, human remains. My mom started laughing hysterically at the expression on my face.

These are some of the differences that I noticed with HOP flights

1. Seats are tentative until the flight is confirmed - a.k.a. you can lose your seat at any time
2. There is one option for a meal, it's a box lunch with a sandwich (ham and cheese), fruit, mixed nuts, water bottles and a granola bar.
3. You cannot wear heels or open toed shoes on your flight - you won't even make it past the security checkpoint
4. The seats aren't like traditional plane seats, they're kind of like tarps on the side of the wall.
5. The toilet was really high up - I'm 5"3' y'all keep that in mind
6. We wore earplugs because the plane was so loud
7. At the security checkpoint my bananas got confiscated - I don't know if this is just a Hawaii thing, but they're very strict about transporting foods to to other places.
8. The terminal was a ghost town - it was a little creepy, but very cool!

Things I got to do that you can't go do on a regular flight

1. Lie down to sleep
2. Sit in the front and watch the pilots take off - headset and all!
3. Boarded the flight from the runway, on a set of stairs on wheels - I felt so bougie, I loved it!
4. Got my own personal safety briefing - there were only four passengers on the flight.

This was a super cool experience and I would definitely recommend it! As of today, the plan is to fly to Japan, so we'll see if we make it there.