My most recent trip was quite an adventure in traveling.
Knowing I would be in Washington DC on a Monday through Friday with no obligations other than tourism and sight-seeing, I toyed with the idea of trying to pack everything I needed in my carry-on luggage. That's quite a challenge for me, so my husband agreed it would be fine to check a bag.
Now, travels much more than I do and seldom checks a bag. He has his system down of when to get to the airport in plenty of time, without wasting time at the airport. Even when we've traveled together, we've never had any trouble when we chose to check a bag.
Until this trip.
Our nonstop flight was scheduled to leave at 7. Boarding is 30 minutes before that. We got to the baggage check kiosk about 6:15, and when my husband typed in our flight information, we learned it was too late to check a bag. Others in the line faced the same dilemma. When we made it up to the counter for help, about all the agent would say is you're supposed to get to the airport two hours before departure. Yes, we know that. It just never seemed necessary.
So, what do you do when your flight is about to leave and your luggage can't go with you? By time we could consider putting the luggage on a later flight, it was too late for us to catch our nonstop. The agent's first option for us was the expensive prospect of rebooking. Nope, we weren't going to do that. So, she checked opportunities for flying standby. A couple looked promising. We agreed on an itinerary with a connection in Charlotte, NC, and sent our bag on its way. We headed home for three or four hours before returning to catch our new flight.
Frustrating as it was to miss the nonstop (the reason for which I accepted full responsibility), I was glad it would only cost us half a day of sightseeing. Instead of arriving about 10:30 a.m. in DC, we were to get there about 8:30 p.m. That would still be plenty of time for a good night's rest before starting the sightseeing on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to DC at 8:30. First weather delays in Charlotte and then a mechanical issue pushed our second flight's departure back three hours. So it was after midnight before we got checked into our hotel in Alexandria. So much for a restful night.
Even though I started Tuesday tired and never really retrieved a sense of rest, I enjoyed touring Mount Vernon on Tuesday, the taking the Metro (via an eight-tenths mile from the hotel to the station) to the Capitol area Wednesday and Thursday while my husband was in meetings. Friday, we took Uber to the Newseum before returning to the hotel via Metro (and that .8-mile walk) to retrieve our luggage and catch the shuttle to the airport!
I learned that I enjoy leisurely paced touring much more than trying to pack a lot of viewing into a limited time. Spending several hours taking in the history and nature of Mount Vernon was quite appealing, as was my day spent exploring outdoor monuments, art and gardens around the National Mall and Tidal Basin.
Less enjoyable to me was time in museums, Museum of the Bible on Thursday and the Newseum on Friday. There's just too much to see and not enough time. I hope I can remember that the next time I am interested in visiting a museum. I may need to allow more time than most people. If I don't need it all, then I can find plenty to walk and see outside. The thing I learned about me is that if there's too much to see and I feel rushed, I really don't remember anything of value.
The DC trip ended up offering several opportunities to experience the pitfalls of not planning ahead. It was still a good trip. I learned a lot about myself. And I learned more about Washington. I'm ready for another trip!
Knowing I would be in Washington DC on a Monday through Friday with no obligations other than tourism and sight-seeing, I toyed with the idea of trying to pack everything I needed in my carry-on luggage. That's quite a challenge for me, so my husband agreed it would be fine to check a bag.
Now, travels much more than I do and seldom checks a bag. He has his system down of when to get to the airport in plenty of time, without wasting time at the airport. Even when we've traveled together, we've never had any trouble when we chose to check a bag.
Until this trip.
Our nonstop flight was scheduled to leave at 7. Boarding is 30 minutes before that. We got to the baggage check kiosk about 6:15, and when my husband typed in our flight information, we learned it was too late to check a bag. Others in the line faced the same dilemma. When we made it up to the counter for help, about all the agent would say is you're supposed to get to the airport two hours before departure. Yes, we know that. It just never seemed necessary.
So, what do you do when your flight is about to leave and your luggage can't go with you? By time we could consider putting the luggage on a later flight, it was too late for us to catch our nonstop. The agent's first option for us was the expensive prospect of rebooking. Nope, we weren't going to do that. So, she checked opportunities for flying standby. A couple looked promising. We agreed on an itinerary with a connection in Charlotte, NC, and sent our bag on its way. We headed home for three or four hours before returning to catch our new flight.
Frustrating as it was to miss the nonstop (the reason for which I accepted full responsibility), I was glad it would only cost us half a day of sightseeing. Instead of arriving about 10:30 a.m. in DC, we were to get there about 8:30 p.m. That would still be plenty of time for a good night's rest before starting the sightseeing on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to DC at 8:30. First weather delays in Charlotte and then a mechanical issue pushed our second flight's departure back three hours. So it was after midnight before we got checked into our hotel in Alexandria. So much for a restful night.
Even though I started Tuesday tired and never really retrieved a sense of rest, I enjoyed touring Mount Vernon on Tuesday, the taking the Metro (via an eight-tenths mile from the hotel to the station) to the Capitol area Wednesday and Thursday while my husband was in meetings. Friday, we took Uber to the Newseum before returning to the hotel via Metro (and that .8-mile walk) to retrieve our luggage and catch the shuttle to the airport!
I learned that I enjoy leisurely paced touring much more than trying to pack a lot of viewing into a limited time. Spending several hours taking in the history and nature of Mount Vernon was quite appealing, as was my day spent exploring outdoor monuments, art and gardens around the National Mall and Tidal Basin.
Less enjoyable to me was time in museums, Museum of the Bible on Thursday and the Newseum on Friday. There's just too much to see and not enough time. I hope I can remember that the next time I am interested in visiting a museum. I may need to allow more time than most people. If I don't need it all, then I can find plenty to walk and see outside. The thing I learned about me is that if there's too much to see and I feel rushed, I really don't remember anything of value.
The DC trip ended up offering several opportunities to experience the pitfalls of not planning ahead. It was still a good trip. I learned a lot about myself. And I learned more about Washington. I'm ready for another trip!
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