5 A.M., Airport Chaos, and the Long Wait

We got up at 5 a.m. to get ready to head to the airport for our flight to Cambodia. I woke up before my roommate and started getting ready. I had packed almost everything the night before, so it wasn’t much of an issue for me. My roommate woke up a few minutes later than I did and was grateful that my watch alarm went off—because his alarm didn’t go off at all. He seemed confused about why that happened, but he was thankful that my alarm worked and that I got up earlier than he did.

But… he still had to pack.

He likes to lay everything out on his bed first and then organize everything where it’s supposed to be. Honestly, I thought that was pretty cool—but I also knew that wasn’t me. I usually just throw everything into my bag and figure it out later.

Well, technically, there are a few things I need to keep in places where I can easily find them—but overall, I knew exactly where those essentials were supposed to go.

I left the room and told my roommate that I’d be downstairs waiting for the taxi in the lobby, then left him to finish packing. Since we had to get up so early, there wasn’t really an opportunity to grab breakfast, so I ate some of my trail mix while waiting. One by one, everyone started showing up with half-asleep faces, bags, and suitcases. Part of me was like, “Uh huh… I feel you. I want to go back to bed.” But the other part of me was excited for this second leg of our trip—to finally get to Cambodia.

What we didn’t realize was exactly how long that journey was going to take.

South Korean taxis are super nice—or at least the ones we booked. To be more specific, they were airport taxis, which are supposed to be nicer anyway, right? I rode with my teammates and sat on the passenger side next to the sliding door. I should also mention that these taxis were the large van-style taxis—extra roomy, with tons of legroom. Since it would take about an hour and a half from our hotel to the airport, comfort mattered.

For most of the drive, it was still dark outside, so there wasn’t really any sightseeing happening. I decided it would be best to close my eyes and enjoy the smooth ride to the airport. Smooth it was. There wasn’t any traffic. The taxi driver was kind of fast. I liked that. My teammates… well, they were a little more nervous about the fast driving.

Every once in a while during the ride, I would pull out my phone and check Google Maps to make sure we were going in the right direction and to see what area we were in—since it was still dark. Then I’d shut my eyes again and listen to what my teammates were talking about while the driver kept us moving.

Seoul’s airport: massive, bright, and impossible to describe.

Seoul’s airport is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Out of all the airports I’ve visited—and I’ve been to more airports than most people in their lifetimes—it’s hard to describe the size and enormity of it. And we’re only talking about the international terminal section.

With all of our team members traveling together, we had to take three taxis. I was in the first one, so we arrived ahead of the rest of the team. When we got there, we entered through Door 7, but our Vietnam Airlines check-in was actually closer to Door 4. One of our team leaders messaged the group on WhatsApp and told everyone to meet us at Door 4 by the huge pillar with the letter “D” on it.

While waiting, we tried to check in using the self-check-in kiosks—but to our surprise, none of us could check in. So we waited for the rest of the team and told them we would need to check in at the main desk instead.

The line for that looked quite long.

There was a sign showing which line we were supposed to be in, but I guess none of us noticed it at first. One of our teammates got curious about the lines and went to check what was going on. That’s when she discovered there was another line for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City—and the reason was airplane maintenance.

Airplane maintenance: the plot twist we didn’t request.

My first thought was, “Oh dang… this is going to be a much longer wait.” And then I thought, “Okay… I really hope this doesn’t take longer than two or three hours.”

So we got into that line and waited about half an hour before we reached the front desk—and that’s when we found out more information that didn’t look very promising.

The flight would most likely be canceled, and we would need to wait until 11 a.m. to see if we could get on the next flight—which would be 10 hours later that night.

With that new information (and some free food vouchers), we decided to go get breakfast while we waited for 11 a.m. One team leader and another team member scouted the second floor and found there were plenty of places to eat while we waited. As a team, we headed upstairs, checked out the restaurant options, and most of us decided we were good with this place called Eggdrop.

Eggdrop: the moment morale improved instantly.

I ordered a double bacon-and-egg sandwich with coffee, and it was exactly what I needed. Some in our group wanted to try a place called World Taste Empire, so they went there instead. After breakfast, we needed more coffee, so we went to A Twosome Place. I ordered this delicious coffee that I can’t remember the name of right now—but I’ll find out soon.

A Twosome Place: coffee, community, and waiting together.

We pretty much chilled there until close to 11 a.m., and then one of our team leaders led us in our group devotion called “Ready to Unlock the Kingdom of God”—and we completed Day 2.

That morning reminded me of something simple but important: travel rarely follows the plan you imagined in your head. You can be packed, ready, and standing at the airport on time—and still end up waiting on circumstances you can’t control.

But even with the delay, I was grateful. We were together, we had food vouchers, and we had the time to slow down, laugh a little, and reset our mindset before the next leg of the trip. Sometimes delays don’t just test patience—they create unexpected space for community, perspective, and prayer.

And if this was only the beginning of the Cambodia journey… then I already knew we were in for a story.

🔁 Catch Up on the Journey

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Thomsen Young