Hmm. Well, I guess I have learned something new. And I guess in terms of where we were going, we were indeed continually flying in the same direction, just making stops, but it was so ridiculously exhausting. I guess it's a little bit like it being cheaper to buy a flight with multiple connections than a direct flight - it was cheaper for them to put us on this plane with lots of people only going partway, since we bought the ticket about a month before the trip and not a lot of options were left.

(I am still recovering from the jetlag and I don't think I ever want to see an airport again because I've seen eight in the past 24 hours).