An Infrequent Traveller: Musings on getting around

I have made exactly four sets of airplane trips in my adult life: that is, four trips somewhere and four trips back. Across that decade, several things have changed, and maybe they're more noticeable to an Infrequent Traveller.

Strangely enough, I think airport lineups are getting better. Maybe it was a fluke, but it seemed to me that even the dreaded security and customs lines at Pearson (Toronto) moved quicker and smoother than they did in the past. Is it because passengers are now so familiar with taking shoes off and showing liquids, that things flow better? Or are the agents just moving them through better?

Where I did notice a hangup, more than once, was with the greater number of people bringing carry-on bags, some of those possibly over the size limit, aboard relatively small airplanes. These planes have three seats on the left and two seats on the right, and the overhead compartments are correspondingly deeper on the left. Passengers were having a terrible time finding places for their bags, especially on the smaller side. The airline is obviously aware of this problem, because they were asking for volunteers to check their bags (for free). On the return trip, I took them up on it, because I had a connecting flight with little extra time, and I was happy to have one less thing to trundle through the airport and fight for space with on the plane. (And my carry-on did get to Toronto with no problems.)

Airport food is horrendously expensive, even at the grab-and-go booths. Sometimes you are just stuck with it, so be prepared. But even short flights usually offer free drinks and snacks, so it's not worth paying for airport coffee or pop or bottled water if you're boarding soon anyway. I did buy a sandwich during one stopover, and a fruit salad while running through the Atlanta airport, see above.

It is definitely an advantage these days to have a computer, phone, or other device to keep you current on check-ins and changes. It's also a good idea to have a plan for accessing airport Wifi, if (like me) your life doesn't run with a phone. I put a shortcut to a site called Boingo on my home screen, which helps access public Wifi that doesn't just pop up automatically.

The biggest change, I think, was not in the physical or digital navigation of things but in my own perceptions, and the fact that (even being very Infrequent) I don't get mixed up as much anymore. The first time I ever came back through Toronto, I got hopelessly lost trying to find the shuttle van home. Turned out I was on the wrong floor of the terminal. Now I'm not even sure how I could have done that, because the van counter isn't that hard to find. But I was the kid who got lost coming back from the bathroom on the first day of school, so anything's possible. Moral of the story here: you're not stupid if you get mixed up in a new place; and after two or three times, you are going to feel, if not exactly at home, at least a little more in control.

An Infrequent Traveller, Part Five: Sort of a 10 x 10 Challenge

In a 10 x 10 Challenge, you're supposed to have only ten clothing items for ten days. But The Vivienne Files website sometimes does a mini-wardrobe called Whatever's Clean 13. That's what this is, except that I have only twelve items. If I could fit in a thirteenth, and if it was going to be cold at all, I'd take a lightweight pullover sweater. But it is not likely to be cold on this trip, unless I get into arctic-level air conditioning. Well, maybe the pullover's not such a bad idea.

(Almost all the clothes came from the thrift store.)

Clothing items:

Grey cardigan (for cold airplanes)
Raspberry button--up shirt

Blue linen t-shirt
Violet cotton t-shirt
White t-shirt with silver dots
White lace top (the two white tops can be worn together)
Long navy t-shirt
Long pink tank top

Grey jeans
Navy cropped pants
Navy shorts
Navy print maxi dress, worn as skirt

(Pullover)

Outfits:

1. Grey cardigan, grey jeans, blue t-shirt

2. Navy shorts, blue t-shirt, scarf

3. Navy shorts (or cropped pants), violet t-shirt, necklace, hat

4. Navy print dress/skirt, violet t-shirt, necklaces

5. Navy print dress/skirt, white tops, necklaces

6. Navy cropped pants, white tops, hat, scarf

7. Navy cropped pants, navy t-shirt, raspberry shirt

8. Navy shorts, navy t-shirt, raspberry shirt

9. Navy cropped pants (or shorts), white t-shirt, circle scarf worn as shawl

10. (No photo) Navy pants, blue t-shirt

11. (No photo) Bonus outfits: any top plus grey jeans

(That's more outfits than days than I'm gone, but that's fine.)

An Infrequent Traveller, Part Four: I bought a suitcase

Things turned out totally different from the way I expected, so this is a totally different post than the one I first planned. 

I messed around a bit yesterday, stuffing things in and pulling them out of backpacks and shoulder bags. The circumstances of this holiday are such that I will probably be living out of those bags (vs. unpacking).  I have made a similar trip with just a shoulder bag and a purse, but that time I was counting on drawer and closet space, so I could cram everything supertight. So my problem amounted to this: I could get everything in, but could I get it all comfortably out, and in and out and in and out?

I went with Mr. Fixit to the usual Monday night Cruise Night, which (if you don't know) is also my chance to check out the Salvation Army thrift store. I headed for the luggage corner, and they had two nice carry-on bags for the equivalent of US$10. The bags were the same except for colour, so I picked the red one.

I feel like I have finally joined this century. I too can now pull out a handle and wheel my bag around.

And everything fits.

As a personal item, I am going back and forth between the satchel and backpack (see previous posts). Or the freebie law bag, because, pretty as the satchel is, it doesn't have a shoulder strap. The backpack...I'm worried that it might not be counted as an okay personal item (vs. baggage). Well, I still have a couple of days to figure it out.

An Infrequent Traveller, Part Two: What to pack it in

Some infrequent travellers have proper suitcases stored away. I don't, so when I do make a trip somewhere, I have to haul out the possibilities and try to remember how much I managed to get in them last time. 

 On this trip I am limited to one carry-on bag and one personal item.

The backpack, the heavy shoulder bag, or the nylon quick-business-trip deal? (Two of them are freebies from relatives.) I have an older weekend bag, but when it's packed it just barely fits the maximum size for carry-on, and it gets stuck in overhead compartments, not good. So it's a choice of these three, or (at worst) thrifting a carry-on suitcase when I'm volunteering tomorrow.

The new tote/purse or the old one? 

Makeup bags, grocery bags, Ziploc bags, laundry bags?

Here are the necessaries, more or less. (There are a few things I can't show in public.)

10 items of clothing (the rest I'll be wearing)

Sunglasses, tissues, makeup, pillowcase, Daytimer, reading material (could be left at home), two scarves (or maybe just one)

Toiletries, snacks, vitamins, towel, handy magnifying glass, gum to stop ear popping

Hat, extra shoes (could be left at home if absolutely necessary), brush, water bottle, and socks I use for slippers

So here is the suspense story: will it all go in? (And in what?) Stay tuned.

An Infrequent Traveller, Part One: How to get a big hat in a small backpack

Oh, the things you can learn on You-Tube. "How do you pack a sun hat?"

Here's mine.

I used a rubber band to secure it.

I will be posting more "tips from an infrequent traveller" this week.

From a VIA train, on the edge of Toronto (photo post)

FASTER than fairies, 

faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, 

hedges and ditches;

And charging along 

like troops in a battle,

All through the meadows 

the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

 ~~ "From a Railway Carriage," Robert Louis Stevenson

A is for Airplane (Deep in the Heart of AO Conference, May 2016)

A is for airplanes, airports, and Atlanta, where (both times) I just barely made the connecting flight to and from Dallas. The airplanes were fun; the airports, not so much.

B is for bags: two of them.

C is for comfortable shoes, for which I was grateful.

D is for drizzle, which is what we had Thursday. Also for Dawn doing drill (Swedish).

E is for enthusiasm.

F is for fangirls, and not the kind you'd think.

G is for gravy and biscuits. Also for group photos.

H is for hayride and campfire. Also harmony, four-part.

I is for Instagram, where you can see people's #heartofao2016 photos.

J is for joyfully hugging hello.

K is for keys.

L is for long walks and lineups, but you don't mind those when there's interesting company.

M is for music, and Megan Hoyt's new book about it, which I didn't manage to get a copy of at the conference, but it's on the list.

N is for nature study, sometimes unintended.

O is for organized.

P is for PrimePeriwinkle, who is blogging her way through the conference. Also Prufrock...no, Plutarch...no, Prufrock, I meant Prufrock.

Q is for quiet. It wasn't, much, except for early in the morning and late at night.

R is for ready for business.

S is for swag bags, over 200 of them, filled by our crack team of helpers including one under the age of three.

T is for Texas, as in, deep in the heart of.

U is for umbrellas, which Kathy thoughtfully brought along for the drizzle downpour.

V is for van service, which is how I got home from the Toronto airport.

W, X is for WaXahachie. Also for Wristbands.

Y is for y'all.

Z is for Ziploc bags, to keep your socks and everything else organized.

Heading out tonight

See you in Texas!