Tag Archives: travel

Greetings from a Mile High

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I am currently sitting on the plane (yay! on board wi-fi) on my way to Dallas for my first stop. Months of prep work, meltdowns, packing and planning and I left San Jose this morning at 6:20 am. I would like to think that I am a seasoned traveller and that I normally have my shit together. But I will confess – this morning I lacked all of my usual calm, grace and poise (or what little of it I have.)

Kudos to Dad for the curb-side drop off idea. We got to the airport this morning and it was already a zoo. Lots of people lined up at the curb so we pulled the bags out and got in line as fast as possible. Turns out this was a good idea as things were moving slowly at the check in counter and I only had to wait for one person. I checked in my two bags (both of which came in heavy. oops. but I only got charged for one ;D ) and got in the very long security line. By the time I cleared security with my two VERY large carry-ons and two laptops, I had enough time to buy a bottle of water and book it to the gate.

This is where the lack of poise really showed up. My plane was already boarding and I was one of the last people on. But the ladies (one very nice and one…not so much) objected to the backpack and I got what I wanted – which was to gate check my bag and not have to pay for it. 😀 But this also meant frantically digging through the bag to pull out my jewelry – and due to poor planning on my part – a few other essentials like an extra pair of underwear. Which of course means that as I open my bag on the airport floor – my underwear goes flying and I promptly embarrassed the older gentleman standing next to me.

After a minute more of digging – and a frantic search for the passport that was right in front of me – I FINALLY got on the plane. Day pack and overnight bag in tow. Of course at this point my overnight bag is overflowing and I am holding it my arms like a baby so that things don’t go flying again. I managed to shove a few more things in my day pack and squeeze the overnight bag at my feet. But I have the dreadful feeling something got left along the way. Oh well. C’est la vie. Right?

Here’s to hoping that all three of my bags make it through both of my connections and the carrier change to Paris. Where I promptly get to clear customs and start the whole lovely process of checking in all over again. Yay?

Keep your fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed that everything makes it in one piece. Now I gotta go find that flight attendant. Is it too early for a drink?

And the packing nightmare continues…

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As I have mentioned before I hate packing. I stress about what to take for a long weekend let alone how to pack up my life. And today  is no exception. My room looks like a bomb has gone off. There is enough space for me to sit cross-legged on the floor and you can’t even see the bed. But it is actually progress and I knew it was going to get worse before it gets better.

Seeing as I leave in 5 days (and early in the morning) and my mother has been pressuring me for days, I went ahead and packed a bag today. Only to have panic truly set in. I still have my giant rolling duffle bags from college. They have served me well over countless cross continental adventures and two transatlantic moves. I don’t know if its the fact that I am older or I just have more stuff but I am seriously starting to doubt that two suitcases is going to be enough.

Mid-way through packing my first bag I realized that it was going to be an overweight bag and that 50 lbs wasn’t going to cut it. So I grabbed my computer and did my research. I am already going to pay for checking a second bag – I might as well just compound the hurt and pay for the extra weight. So I checked – all three airlines (although I should only have to pay twice) and now my bag is weighing in just shy of the 70 pound cut off.

But what really has me worried is that I feel like I have barely made a dent. Granted the suitcase I did pack has multiple pairs of shoes and a large portion of my toiletries. And we all know those are the heaviest items. But still… I haven’t event begun to pack up my clothing. I guess I will just have to overstuff my carry-ons.

How did I ever manage this in college? I don’t ever remember it being this hard. And I went to school in Boston. I had to pack all of my heavy winter clothing so I didn’t freeze to death. But then again my parents always made the fall trek out to Boston with me. And when I graduated my grandmother carried an extra bag back to California as well. But when I went to London for the year I did it alone. Granted I did manage to score free overweight bags on the way home when I got to the desk at Heathrow. Maybe the nice people at American airlines will take pity on me on Tuesday morning. I’ll try not to hold out too much hope for a miracle.

Basically the moral of this is: I have too many clothes. And shoes. And stuff. And I might have to pay for two overweight bags.

On that note I am going downstairs for a glass of wine – ok maybe my own bottle and a straw.

T-2 Weeks

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Today marks two weeks. The final countdown has officially begun. As have the final preparations. And the nerves.

Yesterday I mailed in the last of my documentation and school fees. This afternoon I booked my final flight – from Paris to Bordeaux. And I booked a hotel room for my first two nights in the city – just until I can officially sign my lease.

The shopping list is rapidly dwindling – as are the errands. The tailor, the shoe repair, the beauty supply store, the hairdresser. Just a few more stops and I will be ready to go.

Now I really can’t put off packing and cleaning any longer. On that note – I’m going to go work on cleaning out my closet.