Be prepared to do either a lot of reading or a lot of skimming, because this is a long one.
My third trip to England. Although I have yet to have a completely smooth trip, this time it is totally and completely my fault. Yes. I, a woman, am taking responsibility and saying that I am not perfect. I forgot my passport and ended up missing all of my original flights.
Here’s the kicker to that situation. When I was cleaning out my purse to transfer everything to another one about a month ago, I deliberately put my passport aside so I wouldn’t lose it/forget it if I ended up taking another purse. I was not thinking, very tired from working three jobs, and got everything else ready in ten minutes before leaving for work. Those might have had something to do with it, but I was still an idiot for forgetting it. Luckily I have the best family ever and my sister sped to meet my aunt and me halfway between Kansas City and Omaha. My aunt was amazing and sped to meet my sister and try to make it to the airport on time (oh yeah, I realized I didn’t have my passport 3 hours before my flight and it took me about 30 minutes to get a hold of anyone). We did make it before the plane departed, but only by five minutes and it was already away from the gate. So, they were able to get me on new flights, but only to London. I pretty much told them if they could get me across the ocean, I could figure out a way to get to Manchester.
There are several situations in life that I think people need to at least have a plan B for if things don’t go the way they are supposed to. I believe that missing a flight is one of those situations. In my case, it’s not something I would have given a thought to if it had not happened. Although it’s not the best situation, it is a lesson for me. Don’t forget your frickin passport!
When I was waiting for my first flight from Kansas City to Chicago, I looked up train and plane tickets to see what would be cheaper. Flying within England is cheaper and the actual travel time is faster. Which was good for me because I’ve never been on a train before (that’s on my list of things to do before I’m 30) and I would’ve been completely lost. So I found flights that ended up being $72. That I could handle (with a little help from my mom till payday). Since I didn’t have enough time to book before they started boarding, I waited until I got to Chicago. Once in Chicago, I tried booking on my new smartphone, but couldn’t view the full page, so I had to pay $7 to use the internet (grossly overpriced in my opinion, but what can you do? I was still able to access the internet in London, so that was good).
So now I get to wait for my flight to Manchester to start boarding. It’s delayed, of course.
Travel tips
Any one that knows me well, knows that I don’t usually have a problem doing things that make people give me funny looks. Waiting for a flight in an airport after having been on planes for the last 11 hours is absolutely no exception. Today my little travel tip has to do with a little thing I call an airport shower. I was feeling very gross after running around the London Heathrow airport carrying my snowboard bag FULL of stuff, my duffle bag with all my clothes for the trip, and my backpack that had things like and ipad, a computer and two camera’s in it, not to mention all the snowboarding magazines I brought over for my boyfriend. Needless to say, I was sweaty and stinky. So, after going through security, I found a Boots shop (kinda like Walgreens). I was able to get some dry shampoo, facial cleansing wipes, and face wash (I already had deodorant and a toothbrush and some toothpaste with me.
You can probably figure out how this airport shower went, but in case not, it’s super easy. I found the nearest bathroom and commandeered a stall for a little while. The facial cleansing wipes I used all over my body. It has cleanser in it, it’s gentle on the skin, and most importantly since I didn’t have a towel, it dried quickly. Since my duffle bag was my carryon, I changed my clothes (including my socks). As soon as I was done in the bathroom stall, I moved to the sink. Sprayed in the dry shampoo, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and popped my contacts in. I always like having a hat with me too, especially since I just cut my hair and hadn’t had the chance to straighten it at my aunt and uncle’s house. Voila, not as smelly and a little cleaner. I did get a lot of strange looks from people in the bathroom, but by that point, I really didn’t care.
Airline Critique
I’ve decided that I’m going to start critiquing the airlines I fly with just to try to help people out with making their own travel arrangements.
Continental - I’ve flown with them most often, just out of convenience. They’re ok. The staff isn’t the friendliest or the most helpful. The in flight entertainment is good though. You get to pick what you watch/listen to and when it starts. The meals are adequate.
United Airlines - First time flying with them. They are very helpful. The staff is polite and willing to help. The in flight entertainment’s not the best, you have 9 channels to choose from and they play the same thing repeatedly. You don’t get to choose when you start watching the movie/listening to music. The meals are ok, but small.
If anyone has critiques of other airlines, please feel free to share!
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