holy ancedotal divergence, batman!
back to it.
school ended, i threw the mass of used papers and previously well organized files into the back of my impreza and sped home to spend the afternoon with my mom. we had oringally planned to get our nails done but that somehow turned into a shopping trip for a bag i needed for the trip. now, i had been searching for a functional, but attractive, bag for my trip that would double a as on overnight bag during the trip. as a 24 year-old who is subjected to "oh, sorry! you looked just like a student!" everyday of her life, i needed a break from looking like a 16 year old and wanted to abandon the backpack once and for all during trips. the harried searched between when school reliquinshed it's manic grasp on me and when the store closed were maddeningly fruitless. with the trip just 12 hours away i was totally defeated but decided to ask mom if she wanted to hit up lord and taylors. i arrived, swiftly fell in love with a badgley mischka hobo tote in bright green. having just padded my bank account with the summer balloon check i was NOT feeling particularly thrifty but erred on the side of frugality and headed over to the marshall's to make sure i wasn't being TOO irrational in purchase. i was not - everything was hideous and the only thing my mother and i even vaguely liked ended up being almost 200 dollars, which i am pretty sure was the most expensive thing in the whole bloody store... only my mother and i would be able to find and like the most expensive thing in a discount store... ugh. we headed back to lord and taylor and, while making (probably) embarassing professions of love to a tote bag, swiped by debit card. had a very moments of buyers remorse. Here is a picture... notice the joy!
I am not exaggerating when i say this is the best purchase i have made EVER in the way of bags... as proof, here is a list of things i was able to fit into it for the flight over:
laptop (in case)
all travel documents
toiletries bag
bag with charger, ear phones, and power adapter
reading glasses in case
make up bag (brushes)
make up compact
camera
jewelery carrying case
iphone
wallet
hairbrush
... i mean c'mon... that's insane. i got so bag-centric just now i forgot what i was talking about...
oh yes... the trip.
lugged the baggage down to the car around 4am, got to my parents shortly after, transferred bags into their car and we were off. there was NO traffic, which made the trip almost unnervingly fast... even though this trip was been unofficially planned since last july and the tickets have been in place since feburary being distracted with school didn't give me a bunch of time to literally or emotionally prepare for the trip. not that it's going to be "difficult" or anything, i will just be gone for a while... anyways, again divergence... while my father is literally the best at a million and 6 things, he does drive a bit... jumpy... thought i was going to puke a few times. got out at the terminal gave the parentals big long fer serious hugs (because i am going to miss their awesome faces). dragged my bag into the building and tried to check in at one of those little kiosks... as it turns out domestic and and international self-check in kiosks are seperated. had to walk to the other end of the terminal where there must have been at least 200 people with massive bags standing in what looked like a crowd. as it turned out these were supposed to be "lines" but really it was a cluster-fuck of angry internation travelers. apparently, the terminal is new and they are still working out the kinks with check in. because i am obsessively punctual the lines didn't phase me. i had three hours to kill and the more time spent in lines was less time spent idly waiting at the gate which is way harder for me than lines. got in line behind a vacant looking middle aged spanish man who had NO idea what i was talking about when i told him he had to get into a different line to check his bags (in broken english he told me he was waiting for someone to come and get his bags, i had to explain that, while a nice thought, was in no way happening). i checked in with no problems and then listened to two travelers behind me fight over who was next in line... i then had to walk about 50 feet back in the direction i came to get in line for baggage check. i had been careful with amount of bages so moving around wasn't too bad but i was in front of a man my father's age who was moving four suitcases larger and clearly heavier than my own so every time the line inched forward he had to make at least three trips. as we watched an affluent looking family cut in front of us in line he said something akin to "oh, nice" to which i responded "i'll never understand where people get their sense of entitlement" and he looks at me and curiously says "entitlement?" and so i explain "you know, entitled to do things, like cut in line." he rolled his eyes a bit and didn't respond. still trying to figure out what that reaction was all about. After waiting a good forty minutes, I was two people from the front when they started to call for all the passengers who were about to miss the 6:15 to someplace tropical... can't remember now. now this posed two issues for me...
first: while i would hope my carrier would be understanding if i were late and hold my flight for me if were late to the airport. i struggle with the consistent choice of airlines to give late travelers precendence, having them bypass lines etc. now, if there were one or two travelers who needed to get on the plane because their car batteries had died or there was an accident on the highway to the terminal, i would help them carry their bags. however... when there are, at least, 25 passengers who NEED to catch their plane, i feel like yelling "get to the airport three hours early like they tell you to! that's what i do and i don't have to step on everyone's toes!"
second: the late passengers to someplace tropical at 6:15 were all put at the front of one line... my line... i had to wait while all these tardy travelers picked their way through the crowd to the front of my line, knocking my bag over several times in the process. i then watched each weigh their bags and yell about the disorganization of the kiosks. (apparently, they were the ONLY people inconvienced... how utterly terrible for them).
because i arrived at the suggested time (as i mentioned before), i waited quietly and didn't protest as an additional 30 minutes was added to my wait - i had time to burn. 6:15 to someplace tropical was finally processed and it was my turn so i dragged my stuff to the front and said something like "yikes - that must have been fun" to the bag checker who smiled back. i put my bag on the scale and it weighed... 80 pounds... no exaggeration. according to american airline baggage allowances, 50 pounds in the limit for checked baggage... anything above that incurs a 100 dollar charge and nothing over 70 pounds will be accepted. i mini panicked and the woman behind the counter, with no pause at all says "you waited all that time and didn't even make a face, i am going to put this through," slapped an "over weight bag label on it and sent it on it's way. i could have hugged her. being pleasant really does get you way further than being combative... flies like honey, not vinegar, as the adage goes. so i wander a bit and get line for security check which ALSO has an astromonically long line. i wait in that happily unecumbered with carry on bags (managed to get everything into the fab new bag and an extending file folder zippy thing for my papers and such). finally got to the front of the line and as i was holding my passport the correct way and had so little carry on luggage they let me go through the pilot's line... which i am pretty sure is illegal... what is even more illegal is what they let me into the airport. now, i feel like i must say i didn't even realize i had these things otherwise i would have thrown them out. here is a list of the illegal things they let me get through security with:
1. a sewing kit with four needles
2. a lighter
3. a full bottle of pepto bismol
4. an entire bag of toiletries (all liquid - most restricted: nail polish remover, hairspray, travel roll of duct tape)
5. batteries
6. pocket sized pepper spray
7. nail scissors
now, you are probably questioning the reason behind my having some of these items. i grew up under tutelage of roland and janet perreca. they are, among many things, catious, rational people... and a bit morbid. i can't remember when i learned the lesson or how it was communicated but i know they taught me that no matter what the situation you find yourself in, three things will likely help you out... namely: duct tape, a light, a butter knife. now, even at my most oblvious i knew i wasn't getting on a plane with a butter knife (pennies and small scissors usually operate similiarly enough). feel free to make all the mcgiyver jokes you would like here - i am pretty sure my parents could outlive your parents on a deserted island. so that should explain why i had what i had. i thoughtlessly packed them at about 3 in the morning and as i said didn't realize i had them... until i was through security when i sat down in the terminal, noticed a hole in my sweater and thought, oh i can sew that shut now and then as i rifled through my bag realized i should probably NOT pull out some needles in an airport terminal. at that point the contents of my bag flashed before my eyes and realized to MOST airport security staff i would seem a pretty dangerous sort. that apparently never crossed anyone's mind because i was wearing a dress and looked friendly - which is actually quite frightening. taking into account the contents of my bag, i could have EASILY blown up a good portion of the airplane, blinded a few of the passengners and killed a few others. obviously, i did not. it does make me pretty uncomfortable what you can get onto a plane if you don't look like a terrorist. after writing this, i've realized that if there is some sort of system for flagging suspicious web content, this has def. come across someone's screen. if you are reading this - be sure to check out the bags of even the most innocent looking young female travler. even though she was probably just being completely oblivious, you probably should not let ANYONE on a plane with a lighter and hair spray etc. that aside, thanks for not throwing out all my stuff!!
anyways... again massive divergence.
as i was waiting in the terminal, the fact that i had slept four hours in the previous 48 hit me and i could hardly keep my eyes open which was actually really embarassing - everyone probably thought i was drugged up or drunk... neither of which was the case. finally got on. sat near the front which was a gamble because it usually fills up first but i ended up having three seats to myself! the night before, on impulse, i bought this travel pillow which i usually would have written off as "super nerdy" and brought my own. like the purse, it was an AWESOME last minute investment. before the plane had even taxied i blew up the pillow, put it around my neck and was OUT. i don't even remember taking off. i remember dreaming that food was getting served and not being able to tell them i wanted chicken... i woke up, writing the dream off as silly... turned out it was NOT silly. i had slept for five hours straight... through meal service. i was STARVING and with 1:20 minutes left on the flight they gave me a turkey sandwich. I had just enough time to watch an episode of Monk on the in flight entertainment system, eat my sandwhich and put my things away before landing. It was the most PERFECT flight. Also, American Airlines Boeing 777 has THE most comfortable coach seats... cushy and super recline-y!
i got off the plane hauled ass to customs to beat out everyone from my plane. the wait was still really long but no worse than the last few trips. my appearance helped me out again when the guy didn't even look at my arrival card and simply stamped my passport and let me through the border no questions asked... literally... which, like my carry on luggage, is probably illegal. got to baggage claim before most of my fellow passengers and waiting for literally 90 seconds and both my bags came out... next to each other. i grabbed a trolley walked to the central bus terminal and waited 30 minutes for my bus (just enough time to use the bathroom and grab a drink). my bus arrived early, the super nicest bus driver ever carried my bags over to the bus, put them into the storage area. i got onto to the bus, no one checked my ticket, and it was like a super fancy comfy bus with extra leg room. the bus driver pulled out of the station EXACTALLY on time... the ONLY bump in my journey came when we hit 10 minutes of traffic about 20 minutes outside bristol... instead of arriving at 12:25am, we arrive at 12:35am... the bus driver apologized for our lateness and i could have hugged him... 10 minutes is NOTHING! as the bus pulled in i saw nathan waiting for me in the station. i hopped down the stairs and my tummy did somersaults as i waited for the bus driver to pull my bags out of the storage area. i dragged them over into the waiting area before dropping them promptly to give nathan the biggest hug and kiss of all time ever. *sigh* lovely <3. the grabbed us a taxi and we were in his apartment 10 minutes later.
i will leave activity updates for another post because at this point i am sure everyone is bored to tears. in short, easiest trip ever, uncontrollably happy to see nathan, glad school is over.
much more to come in the way of smaller activity updates.
ciao for now,
lauren.
