Flying around the world, only to end up in Asia again

Just some weeks ago, with a cheap mistake fare, my college friend Chiarng and I embarked on a two week journey around the world spanning New York, Milan, Florence, Prague, Sapporo, and Tokyo.

The plan was perfect until we got into a suffocating traffic jam, and missed the check-in at JFK. Entering crisis mode, we inquired airlines what their flight prices are to various destinations as we weighed our options to get out of New York City.

As we still have unused one-way tickets from Japan to San Francisco, our priority was to be in Asia to hopefully salvage the existing hotel and flight reservations in Sapporo and Tokyo. Our salvation came in forms of a $424 one-way ticket to Taipei. A fare cheaper than even a return ticket to San Francisco at the time. …