Airplanes: Travel Woes (and tips)

Well, today was far more eventful than I really needed it to be. Woke up with my family at six AM in California, got Starbucks (best part of my day), drove an hour to the airport, checked my bag, and things went downhill from there.

Security had a REALLY short line - I got incredibly lucky on this trip - but as I'd just finished putting all my stuff into the scanner and was about to enter the full body scan, some of the TSA agents had to stop everyone because the genius in line behind me had just left his stuff on the table well before the conveyor belts so he could get through security before I did. Once the TSA figured out it was his, he had to come back through, push his stuff onto the conveyor, then go through the body scanner again (after I did). Moral of the story: make sure your stuff actually makes it to the scanner. Even if it means going to all the effort to move it yourself. (Have I mentioned I love the TSA?)

After that it was pretty smooth sailing until we were up in the air. One of my pet peeves in airplanes has always been when people get up and go to the bathroom right after the flight attendant points out that the seatbelt sign is still on and everyone should remain in their seats. Seriously, what else would you be getting up for? Unless you're a parent with a tiny child, I don't think there's really another good reason. That's the flight attendants telling you it's not okay to use the bathroom yet. There's frequently turbulence somewhere between 10,000 feet and cruising altitude, so just know the little bell is ONLY to tell you you're allowed to use your laptops.

Fast forward through the rest of the flight. (Props to the parents with the happy one-year-old.) We land in Arizona, I go down to baggage claim... And my bag isn't there. Wonderful. Proceed to baggage services, file a report... Then, seeing another flight arriving from the airport I left from, I decided to wait and see if it was going to magically appear. Lo and behold, someone found it, so an hour after I landed, I finally left the airport. For my first time dealing with lost bags, it went surprisingly well. My parents are a treasure trove of travel info, so calling them might have been the smartest thing I did all day. While I'm tired, a little frustrated, and definitely in need of finishing an essay, I'm back at college, my stuff's all here, and I'm about as insane as I was this time last week. And it's December! (Expect a rant on Christmas carols soon.)

Love you all,

Megan