Hey guys. So, this Boston. Err… this Boston (it’s Baltimore). Ha! This April, I’m traveling to Boston (Baltimore). Unfortunately, because flights to Boston are not reasonable in April, I will be traveling without David. Traveling alone in an airport is, unfortunately, confusing and not always easy, so I wanted to share with you guys some of the things that I do in order to make traveling a little bit less stressful.
For me, the first thing that I do whenever I am going to be taking a trip, is I make sure I start making a list of all the things I need, like two weeks before I have to leave. So right now, I’m working on getting everything packed. Get everything packed in advance and make sure to check your checklist so you don’t accidentally forget anything. Take the checklist with you so you don’t forget anything when you’re leaving the hotel – that’s a really good tip, too.
The other thing that I strongly, strongly recommend, depending on your airport … if you are flying out of a major city hub. I will be arriving for my flight at least two hours early. If you’re in a smaller airport, you might not need to do this, but arrive early with plenty of time to get to your flight, figure out where you’re going, and get through security. I always find that airports are kind of confusing and a little bit overwhelming, and I am not the best at navigating places that are unfamiliar. I tend to always be kind of turned around and a bit confused looking in the airport, and that’s always unfortunate because security seems to always think I’m up to something, and really I’m just <<totally confused>> because I can’t process what the security people are saying because the airport is so loud and it’s echoing and it’s so big and there’s just so much going on.
Security always give me a hassle. So, to make security easier, suggestions would be: If you have a laptop, go ahead and take it out of your bag before you get to the security gate. Wear shoes that are easy to remove and put back on to go through airport security because they are going to make you take your shoes off. Try to avoid metal on your clothes anywhere – anything that might set off the detector. Try to wear clothes that are – this probably wouldn’t be the best shirt – I’d probably wear something that was a little tighter fitting, that shows I don’t have anything in my clothes … not giving the TSA people any reason to bother you. I flew to Chicago last April, and it was cold, and I wore my big lace-up winter boots. I’m glad I had them in Chicago, but it was a really big pain in the butt in the airport. Metal lace-up boots – not so much.
If possible, book a direct flight. Because I always get turned around and lost and confused in airports, I really don’t need the added pressure of having to change planes, in a strange airport I’ve never been to, on a time crunch to get to the next airplane. It’s like Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario when they’re underwater … Tick tick tick tick … “You’re going to drown. You’re going to drown! Get to the gate. Get to the gate!” No. I don’t need that in my life when I’m trying to travel. Whenever possible, if you can book a direct flight, or a flight that does have a stop or layover but there is no plane change, that just would be a really big tip there.
The other thing that is kind of specific to my region, but I like Southwest Airlines. Out of the airlines I have flown, they’ve just been the best to deal with – customer service is pretty great, and I like that if I get there and get on the plane, it’s first come first serve seating, and I don’t usually have trouble getting the window seat. It’s just my favorite airline so far. I haven’t flown on a lot of airlines, just to clarify that. Pretty much all of my flights that I’ve ever taken have been for work. Even the pleasure flights have been with work, if that makes any sense to you. But traveling for work with my teammates and coworkers has really let me learn from seasoned travel professionals how I can make my own travel a bit easier.
So, guys, these are just a few of the things that I will be doing in order to get myself from Austin to Baltimore safely, and hopefully without much difficulty.
Do you have travel tips? I’d love to hear them. Oh – earplugs – that’s another one! Oh my gosh, there’s more!!! Give me your tips in the comments below because I’ve got this trip coming and travel … just the travel part … getting there and getting back. Flights. The airports. That really makes me nervous. So, I’d love any suggestions.
Thank you, guys, so much. I’ll talk to you next week. Have a good one. Bye!
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