Travel Tuesday: What's in your carry-on?

Welcome back to Travel Tuesday! This week's suggested prompt is "What's in your carry-on?" but as always, please feel free to link up any travel-related post. The more, the merrier. :)

Personally, I rarely check luggage when I travel, so I've learned to fit everything in a carry-on (or two). For the purposes of today's post, however, I'll be focusing on what I put in my "personal item." My most important items always include ample reading material, snacks, a water bottle, lots of chapstick and all my electronic chargers. Here's a sample peek inside my personal item from a conference I attended in southern California a few weeks ago:

What goes through my mind in the security line.

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm (hopefully) on a plane to Oakland right now (ah, the beauty of scheduled posts), but after boarding a plane two weeks ago for the first time in months (seriously, I think I set a personal record for keeping my feet on the ground) and jetting off again today, I had some airport-related thoughts I wanted to share with you.

Source: highondreaming.tumblr.com via Candi on Pinterest

There are those who are savvy travelers, and those who are not. Now, I like to think of myself as a savvy traveler, but I'm sure I make mistakes, too. There are some mistakes I do not make, though. For example, I know how to use a kiosk to self-check-in and how to get through the security line quickly. I also know which types of people to avoid. Here's my basic pre-boarding procedure:

Travel Tuesday: Week 6

Welcome to another edition of Travel Tuesday! This week's (suggested) topic: How do you spend your time on a plane? How does that vary from short flights to long flights? Or do you prefer to make long trips overground? As usual, please link up with your travel-related posts below, even if they're a different topic than the prompt I provided.

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First, let me just say that I am no stranger to plane travel. I lived in three different states before I turned 8, and my cousins and grandparents are spread pretty widely across the U.S. Therefore, multiple long plane trips a year (meaning California to North Carolina and/or Pennsylvania) were routine when I was a child. I also chose to go to school 2,000 miles from home, and my sister, boyfriend and brother all attend school in different states. So any time I want to visit them, I also fly! Whew.

Friday's Fancies: Week 5

In honor of the Oscars coming up on Sunday, {av} planned a lovely "Hollywood Glam" Friday's Fancies this week. Unfortunately, I'm not the "glam" type, and I don't watch the Oscars, so I decided to deviate from the planned theme for the first time (which {av} encourages!) and show you what my typical travel outfit looks like. (I apologize in advance; it's not very "fancy.")

Source: twistedsifter.com via Mary on Pinterest

I decided on this theme because lately, I've been suffering from a slight case of cabin fever. I've gone almost seven weeks without any having any pending airline itineraries, and I don't know when I'll have one next! Growing up, my family was constantly traveling to visit family across the U.S., and in college I was often planning weekend trips to visit my sister or boyfriend in other states. Now that I'm in the "big-girl world," however, I don't have the luxury to skip Friday classes and hop on a Southwest flight somewhere, so I'm just biding my time until the next travel opportunity presents itself. And finally, behold my typical airplane outfit (and accessories, of course):

Nine movies in 24 hours.

Saturday/Sunday, July 23/24

At the Amboseli airport, waiting for the flight back to Nairobi.

Finally, after 23 unforgettable days in Africa, it was time to return home to the U.S. It would take me 24 hours and 15 minutes, including a 16-hour flight over the North Pole. Actually, if you want to count from the time we left Amboseli, it took 38 hours and 45 minutes - plus the two-hour drive from San Francisco to my home. That's right, we had a 14-hour layover in Nairobi, which we spent at a little cafe at the airport because we really didn't have anywhere to go in the city. I did get to try Pineapple Fanta, however. That was exciting.

 

I have now tried Citron, Fiesta, Apple, Pineapple, Orange

and Strawberry Fanta. It's kind of a game for me now.

Mom was flying straight to Switzerland for work, so we parted ways in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. I had a semi-quick layover in Dubai, which gave me the following impressions: Shiny! Western. Unbelievably hot. I felt like I was in a kiln the moment I stepped onto the jetway, despite the fact it was 4:50 in the morning. In the airport, I saw a familiar green straw, so I wandered about the terminal for a few minutes and - sure enough! - there was a Starbucks in the airport. I didn't get in line, though, because I didn't know if they would accept my gift card.

Next stop: Kenya!

Tuesday, July 19

Today we transitioned from Rwanda to Kenya. At the start of the day, I only had four things left on my to-do list with Mom:

1. Avenir
2. Bourbon Coffee
3. Artists' market
4. Ride a motorcycle taxi

We had decided not to visit Avenir or the artists' market because we were able to shop at both the open market and Ineza, and Mom wasn't too keen on the idea of me riding a motorcycle taxi in Kigali. So that left Bourbon Coffee, which they had at the airport. Bourbon is like the Rwandan version of Starbucks, but they have the best African coffee! It's made with chocolate and ginger, which was strange the first time I tried it because I'm only used to having ginger with sushi, but it was so, so delicious. After coffee, we breezed through security (no need to remove your shoes or separately screen your liquids here) and boarded our flight to Nairobi.

 Kenya Airways wasn't quite as glamorous as Ethiopian Airlines,
but it was still nicer than most American carriers.

After arriving in Nairobi, we got a taxi to our hotel and settled in. It was already almost 5 p.m., which meant daylight was winding down quickly. On the drive to the hotel, I had gotten the disenchanted impression that Nairobi was like a dirty version of New York City, with a lot more people on the sidewalks and worse drivers. But we wanted to experience the city a little, so I put a camera around my wrist and we walked a few blocks around the hotel. It was kind of fun for me, because I love weaving through people and finding the quickest way to get through a crowd. (You should see me with my suitcase in a busy airport; it's like a game for me!) Fifteen minutes outside was enough, though, so we returned to the hotel for dinner and went to bed, anticipating our 5:30 a.m. wake-up call to fly to Amboseli.

Me in front of the Kenya National Archives, which was within view
of our hotel room window.

24:35.

Friday, July 1 - Saturday, July 2

That's how long it took me to travel from Atlanta to Kigali: 24 hours and 35 minutes. With the six-hour time difference, that means I left at 5:45 a.m. and landed at 12:20 p.m. the next day.

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

 

My trip began when my lovely (former) fellow intern drove me to the airport early Friday morning. When I had called United to confirm my reservation on Thursday, they told me I needed to check in at the airport a minimum of 90 minutes before my flight. Because my flight was at 5:45 a.m., I arrived around 3:45. But the ticket counter didn't even open until 4:30 a.m. Gee, thanks United representative. I guess the 90-minute rule is bunk, though, because I didn't get to the counter until almost 5 a.m., and they still gave me my boarding pass. Success!

My flight from Atlanta to Washington-Dulles was short and uneventful; I was able to sleep the whole time. (That's one benefit of getting only two hours of sleep the night before a trip.) I had a four-hour layover in D.C., during which I obtained my remaining boarding passes and checked my carry-on. (Ethiopian Airlines has stricter restrictions for carry-on luggage, so my suitcase wasn't small enough for the cabin.) There were five other Mizzou students on my flight, so we slowly congregated at the gate until it was time to board. I was glad to get to meet the other students before we left the States, because I had to miss the classroom sessions in Columbia while at my internship.

At 11 a.m., it was time to board the plane for our 13-hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Let me just say that foreign airlines are so nice. A Mizzou student who did the Rwanda program two years ago told me she doesn't like any American air carriers after flying internationally. I think after this trip, I would have to agree. (I'm excited to see what Emirates Airline will be like on my flight back to San Francisco!) The seats on Ethiopian Airlines reclined farther than usual, the food was much better than expected (and actually quite good), the stewardesses were very polite and very pretty, and the movie selection was amazing - and free! I watched The King's Speech (finally!), The Resident and A Good Year. The rest of the time, I was thankfully able to sleep.

I didn't need the eye mask, but the mini-toothbrush and toothpaste came in handy!

The airport in Addis Ababa was not as glamorous as the airline, however. Unless we wanted to go back through security, our options were limited to sitting at one of the three gates. So we sat at our departure gate until it was time to board. The flight to Kigali was also short and uneventful; I woke up only to eat (again). Once in Kigali, I got my passport stamped! This was more exciting than it probably should have been because most of the countries I've visited haven't stamped me. The agent didn't ask for my immunization card, however, which was disappointing considering I only got it for this trip. At least I'm protected from yellow fever!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

Finally, we got our bags (it was such a relief to see my suitcase come around the conveyor belt - remember this?) and our adventures in Rwanda began!

Stay tuned for a recap of the past few days. (We finally got Internet in the apartment tonight!)

And this is why I don't check bags....

So, I'm usually not a complainer. (Or at least, that's what I like to think.) But despite all the amazingness that Grand Convention was (more on that tomorrow), there were quite a few things that went wrong this weekend (namely, today). So if you don't like to read complaints (and who does?) please skip this blog and wait for my much more positive report tomorrow. I don't want to lessen your opinion of me.

(Also, as a journalism major, I have to apologize for the irritating amount of parenthetical phrases in the last paragraph. And for this one.)

All photos courtesy of Pinterest

1. I don't like to check bags. There are several reasons for this, but primarily I (a) don't want to pay for checked bags and (b) don't like waiting around for them at the baggage claim. Because sometimes they never come around the carousel. Like tonight.

The story: I packed my carry-on like normal and arrived at the gate in Phoenix, where I was told the flight would be very full, so the airline would be happy to check my bag for free. Because I was the only one in our group who was carrying on, I figured I would have to wait for their bags at the baggage claim anyway and should just check my bag. Bad decision.

Long story short: The carousel for my flight stopped without producing my bag, so after visiting both AirTran luggage offices multiple times and waiting around for approximately an hour, an attendant finally brought my bag over. I guess it got left behind at the gate and was put on the wrong luggage cart, so I had to wait for the next flight to land at that gate before they would bring my bag up. Or something like that. Yay.


2. Sketchy cab driver. Like, really. Of course, I had told the other interns to head home because I didn't want them to have to wait with me for my bag (and of course, my bag showed up about five minutes later), but the rest of the interns were arriving a few hours later so I knew I could catch a cab with them. And this driver was sketchy. He wanted us to sign our charge voucher before we even left the airport. Excuse me? So you can write $200 on there and stick EO with the bill? No thank you. So I was distrustful from the beginning. Also, the child lock on my window was activated, which prevented me from protecting my face as we drove 70 mph down the freeway. My left ear was freezing.


3. Small disappointment. Looking back to Convention, my chapter didn't win the award we were hoping for (whomp, whomp), which put a little damper on the weekend. But speaking of awards, I have to remember that everything has a silver lining. And for all the things I've been complaining about, there are a lot worse things that could have happened....


1. My bag could have not come in at all, and then I would have been in a little pickle before leaving the country on Friday. Or, I could have been on an international flight and stuck in a foreign country without any familiar clothes (eek!).

2. The cab driver could have actually overcharged us. Or kidnapped us and made lampshades out of our skin. Ew.

3. We could have not won any awards at all (and win awards, we did). And we're still up for the TOP LION of Alpha Delta Pi, the Golden Lion, at the next Convention!

So in retrospect, all the little things that went wrong really don't mean anything when I think about all the great things that I have in my life. What if I didn't have the chance to go to Phoenix this weekend? Or what if Alpha Delta Pi hadn't given me a bid? Or what if I couldn't even go to college in the first place?

I'll stop now before I get too mushy, but basically, I am thankful for a lot! Despite the negativity that began this blog. And now I shall sleep.

Good night!