Adventures in Space-A: How We Caught a Hop to Guam
We took our chances on a military flight to Guam, and it all worked out (kind of).
January 26 - February 14, 2026
Travis, Air Force Base, CA; Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Planning for the Unplannable
It was the biggest maybe of the trip. Fourteen hours of air travel. Six time zones away. Losing an entire day on the way over. We planned—hoped—to catch a military flight to Guam, which would save thousands off the trip cost.
But as a veteran of the Space-A game. I know this way of traveling is a gamble. The A in Space-A stands for “available,” as in, you get a seat if it’s available. All flights are standby. And you never know if the flight you need will match the timeline you have. As you can imagine, flexibility is paramount.
In the macro trip planning, I arranged our travel so we’d try to fly out of Travis Air Force Base, northeast of the San Francisco Bay Area. The base is home to a fleet of C5 cargo planes that frequently fly to Guam. And in addition, their flight schedule lists scheduled flights to Hawaii twice a month (aka rotators). From Hawaii we could hopefully spend a few days and take our chances getting to Guam.
Major bonus points that my sister lives about a half hour from Travis and could host us if needed.
As a backup, I booked United flights back on frequent flier miles that we could cancel if we got lucky—while also ensuring we wouldn’t get stucky.
With five days in the Bay Area until the regularly scheduled flight to Hawaii, I stacked our week full of plans to see friends.
I should have known better.
On Monday, I refreshed the flight schedule at Travis and saw a flight with 73 seats was confirmed to Guam for Tuesday, aka tomorrow, at 1300. We zipped off to lunch with our friend Amber, then began packing for the trip and preparing the trailer for storage.
Our plan was to hit the road the next morning, drop our fridge and freezer contents at my sister’s house, take the trailer to a storage lot, then continue to the Air Force base.
But when we woke up that Tuesday and checked the online flight portal, we discovered the flight had moved two hours earlier! Imagine the scene from Home Alone where they wake up and find they’ve overslept for their trip to Paris. That’s what our next hour-long scramble packing up the trailer and getting out of the RV park looked like. We skipped leaving the food at my sister’s house, quickly dropped the trailer in storage, then continued to base just in time for roll call.
We got seats on the flight! To Guam! We checked our bags!
How many uniformed service members does it take to check bags?
As we checked in, we found out Crocs—the only shoes Nate brought—were not allowed on the plane. I’d happened to notice a thrift shop nearby on base. We zipped off to the thrift store and found Nate a different closed-toed pair of shoes, then raced back to the terminal.
We went through security. And then we waited.
And waited. And waited. And waited, waited, waited, waited… and did some interesting things to pass the time.
About six hours and one family member’s epic meltdown later, an announcement was made that the flight would not be taking off that Tuesday. After all that. Oof.
So we collected our bags and fridge/freezer contents, loaded up the truck, and drove to my sister’s house for a sleepover—for how many nights we weren’t sure. But we were so thankful to have a warm and fun place to land while we waited to (hopefully) fly.
The next day we did the same routine. Packed up. Drove to base. Got seats. Checked bags. Went through security. Then we waited. Except this time, we were bussed out to the plane.
On the bus to the plane. Shortly after I took this I found out photos weren’t allowed (oops).
And then we took off! Six hours later, we landed in Hawaii! My friend Kathryn met us with her kids. Her husband joined after work, and we got to visit with their whole family for a few hours! They took us on an emergency food run to get dinner at the commissary before the eight-hour flight to come. The kids got to hang out, and Nate and Jack got to play Nintendo together while we waited.
Thank you Butler family!
Jaded after our first cancellation, we kept thinking/hoping we’d get told the flight to Guam wouldn’t go and we’d get to spend more time in Hawaii. But that didn’t happen. The flight to Guam went!
More passengers joined the flight to Guam so we loaded up a fairly full plane, waving goodbye to the Butlers (and to the hopes and dreams of having our own row for sleeping on the long overnight flight to come. Oof).
We made it!
After starting the journey packing on Monday, we landed on Guam at 4 a.m. Friday morning at Andersen Air Force Base. Along the way, we lost an entire day of our lives (what happened to Thursday?).
Siska, a friend from our church in Guam, offered us a place to stay in a furnished home her business was renting. There were three comfortable bedrooms available—a perfect fit for our family.
In the morning’s last hour of darkness, we took a rideshare (Stroll app) to the address. We arrived at the house around 5 a.m., took quick showers, and crashed in a complete fog about what time our body-clock thought it was.
Our first morning back on Guam, we rode with a housemate, our new friend Betsy (who, of all places, lives in Virginia Beach!), to Siska’s work to say hello and head to the airport to rent a car. While there, Siska let us borrow a car. Friends from church loaned us snorkel gear.
Thanks to my sister, the Butlers, Betsy, and church friends, we safely navigated Space-A across the Pacific and were completely set for a comfortable stay exploring the island.
The next two weeks on Guam were truly magical—completely worth the hassle/lost sleep/uncertainty to get there. The stories and pictures from our time on Guam are here and here.
A part of me couldn’t believe space-A worked to get us out there, and seeing our family, friends, and church family show up to help us was truly incredible. A high point of the trip for sure.
And Then the Time Came to Fly Back
In preparation for this moment, months earlier, I booked commercial flights using frequent flyer miles back to the U.S. so we could for sure be back in time for my sister’s birthday. My parents and several family members were flying in to celebrate, and I wanted to make sure we could be there.
Our last week on Guam, I kept an eye on Space-A flights in case a flight to Travis popped up. One did, and it was a unicorn: A nonstop flight from Guam to Travis AFB the day before our planned commercial flights. This nonstop flight completely skipped the layover in Japan, the flying in to SFO, and the Ubering across the Bay Area. This flight would be us off right back at the truck.
We decided to go for it. We packed up, cleaned up the house, returned the car, and took a taxi back to base.
Waiting for the taxi. Nate absolutely did not want to leave Guam.
When we got to the terminal, only about 10 other people were trying to get on the flight, and we easily got seats.
A few minutes after we got there, a couple walked through the door—and we recognized them. Dave and Kris were two complete strangers Nick and Sadie got in a random conversation with at Dadi Beach on the Navy base our first Saturday on Guam. Dave is a retired Marine who was trying to help his wife get back to South Carolina before her mother passed away. They also got seats on the flight to Travis. And then we waited.
Everything looked good when they invited us to board the bus (yay!). We took the bus out to the plane. But something was broken, so they drove us back to the terminal (boo).
About an hour later, we boarded the bus again (yay!). But before the bus left, something was broken again. So they drove back to the terminal (boo).
Another hour passed, and they invited us to board the bus again (yay!). They took us to the plane, and we got on the plane (yay!). They closed up the door, gave the safety briefing, and started the engines (woohoo!). It looked pretty certain we were taking off on the nonstop flight to Travis AFB, sooooooo before we lost signal, we canceled our backup miles flights.
You can probably tell where this is going—and it’s not to Travis.
About 45 minutes after we canceled our favorably timed commercial flights for the very next day, the flight crew announced that the flight was being postponed for maintenance. (nooooo!).
Back to the terminal we went.
Long story short, our commercial flights weren’t available to rebook until two days later, which put us missing some of the stateside visit time and shortened our jet lag recovery time in San Francisco before family arrived. We rebooked the flights hoping nonstop space-A would still pan out the next day.
It did not.
Our family enjoyed one more bonus day on Guam, hitting up our favorite poke place and snorkeling spots one more time.
Farewell Fisherman’s Co-Op and beautiful Apra Harbor :(
The next day Nate and I flew back commercial. After the 24-hour trek back to the States, my parents were waiting for us in my sister’s town in an AirBNB, which was nicely equipped with these wonderful things called beds.
Sadie wanted to keep trying space-A and somehow (regrettably) convinced Nick to keep gambling. Those two teamed up with Chris and Dave on rides and eventually made it to Hawaii on a C-5 . In Hawaii, they finally bailed on military flights and flew commercial back to S.F. The walking dead arrived late that evening after almost 40 hours of travel without a bed.
Though none of us were ready to leave gorgeous Guam, I think we were all a bit relieved when the Space-A part of the trip was over. Space-A truly is the best of times and the worst of times. The way there was fairly easy! The way back was a total pain and messed with our carefully laid return plans.
And that’s why I’ve always said the A in Space-A doesn’t stand for Available. It stands for Adventure. You never know quite how it’s going to play out until it’s over.
When that nonstop flight to Travis was postponed, Nate said, “We get one more day on Guam! My prayer was answered!”
And I had to smile, seeing as how one traveler’s disappointment is another’s answered prayer.
Extra huge thanks to Courtney, The Butlers, Siska, Betsy, Jeff & Kate, Angie, Chris and Dave, LCG friends, and my parents for being our Space-A angels. We wouldn’t have had this amazing time on island without your help and hospitality.
Roberts on the Road
For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.
With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.
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