Sunday, August 12, 2012

Getting home in one piece

Some of you have probably seen snippets of my lengthy travel experience on Facebook. Let me tell you:  it was a long day. 

It all started out in confusion when the person I was meeting to go to the airport with and I mixed up the times we were going to meet. Eventually we found each other at the train station after each of us hauled our luggage through the tube, switching trains (climbing stairs) several times.

Once getting to the airport, I got checked in and my bag barely cleared the weight requirement by .04 kg. My bag was overweight going to London so it took a lot of moving around and throwing out of old things to make the cut. My carry-on items weighed a ton. 

The people at my carrier's counter said that we had a brief delay of 10-15 min. After sitting in the gate for over an hour past take-off time, we boarded. I still am not sure where the problem was.

My layover was going to be short anyways, but with over an hour taken out, I only had about 45 minutes to get off of the plane, grab my bag and go through customs and security. I was really nervous about it but all of the people of the Toronto airport assured me that I would have plenty of time multiple times.

In an ideal world, I would have had plenty of time. But there was a baggage jam, so I ended up getting my bag as my Orlando-bound flight was taking off. Waiting in the long line of passengers in the same boat, trying to get on other flights was eye-opening. It is amazing what stress can do to the individual. At the end of the line, a woman was screaming at the Air Canada employee who was not meeting her requests. Other employees had to be called in. Around me it was much more calm. I was surrounded by travelers who were exhausted from hours of traveling from India, Vienna and Scotland. The girl, a year older than me, coming from Vienna, had a chance of staying alone in a hotel in Toronto because of full flights. She cried when she overheard the airport officials say this. We all just wanted to go home.

Goodbye, Toronto!

I would consider myself fairly fortunate to have snagged a flight for several hours later that night. I had a few hours to burn at my gate, but we boarded right on time. There were a lot of storms and turbulence during my flight but I mainly slept and watched an in-flight movie, What to Expect When You're Expecting. Of the parts I was awake for, I was a little confused. I'm pretty sure international adoptions aren't a candlelight service. I could be wrong, though.

We landed right on time in Orlando. I was anxious to get off of the plane and leave but a voice came over the intercom and said, "Passengers, we have had a situation arise where public officials need to come on board. We need everyone to stay in your seats. It'll take about 30 seconds." 

I immediately plopped back down in my seat as the Orlando Police Department marched on board and arrested a man about 10 rows up from where I was. He was very calm during the whole process, knowing what was coming. I still don't know what he was arrested for even though I have looked. 

My bag came on time and I met up with my mom and we drove to our new house, that I have never been to before. It is something else. Yesterday when I woke up I didn't know where I was, and my mom found me frantically searching for my passport.

This story joins other crazy flight situations of missing flights, getting sick on board and meeting other people. My college roommate said to remind her to "never fly with [me]". I guess I have a history of strange airport happenings. It's one big adventure. 

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