Getting to Melbourne should be easy, right?

I stopped breathing and my heart dropped when they scanned my passport and told me that there was no visa registered under my name. I managed to stumble out: ‘But I have the confirmation right here’. After an investigation of those papers he told me that my visa is registered under my married name, my passport shows my maiden name. ‘ That is a problem miss.’

I figure that the Dutch rules are somehow different then the majority of the world. You can decide which name you use after your marriage. Even your husband can choose to use your name. Anything is possible. But I guess that is confusing to the rest of the world let alone that computers can deal with it. Your maiden name is always the first name in your passport. That is the name that is put in the systems. This is what causes the confusion.

I already saw myself flying to Melbourne, arriving there after 24 hours and getting sent back immediately. No worries miss, that will not happen. We will not accept you on the flight if that is the case. So at least I am sure that I will not be flying for 48 hours. That is reassuring!

The check in guy called his supervisor who gave me a sympathizing smile. At least that is how it felt. After what seemed like hours the check in guy, who stood his supervisor, told me it was going to be alright. So, now I am sitting in Dubai airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Melbourne, which is in more then 3 hours.

The Hamburg – Dubai flight was perfect, I had 3 seats all to myself, so I could actually get some sleep! They only did not serve breakfast, so I am now walking around the airport with a hungry belly although it is still in the middle of the night back home. Here the day has already started. Guess I am already adapted to the new timezone….