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Murphy’s Law is real. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Before I even left, I reminded myself to expect something to go wrong. If you expect some sort of difficulty, then it’s easier to just deal with it with a sense of humor and move forward. I left on time (which was a miracle itself), so something else was bound to happen. I had booked my flight (a week and a half earlier) through Airline A, which I have come to learn is primarily international. I was supposed to fly from DFW to Chicago, and then take an evening flight from Chicago to Munich, Germany. I would land in Munich the next morning, have a few hour layover and then fly to Bari that evening. Good plan, but that’s not what really happened.
So I got to DFW airport and realized that my flight to Chicago is not actually on Airline A, since it was domestic. Apparently there was some small line in the confirmation email that I skimmed over... lesson number one = learned. Some worker at an information desk (yes, that’s right, I was at an information desk before I had even left home) told me that I was supposed to fly to Chicago on Airline B. I headed to Airline B’s counter to check in, and there was no one at the counter. The girl in the front of the line told me that she had been waiting for over 30 minutes and no one could get ahold of a representative. I called Airline A and they told me (after a 15 minute hold) that I am actually supposed to fly to Chicago on Airline C. At that point, I’m rolling my eyes but don’t even care because at least Airline C had someone working at their counter. I went to Airline C’s kiosk to check in, scanned my passport and I was told that there was no reservation for me. Of course. I waited in line to talk to a representative and was told to wait in another longer line where I finally talked to someone who acknowledged that I was supposed to be flying to Chicago on their airlines. Hallelujah.
My luck changed back though when she told me to put my checked bag on the scale. It was 67lbs. Now, in all fairness…I thought I was flying Airline A, whose checked bag weight limit is 35kg (about 77lbs). I put all my heavy shoes in my rolling carry-on (which I will come to regret later), weighed the bag before leaving the house and was congratulating myself on actually being underweight. I was trying to avoid a scene like previous ones in New Orleans and Cabo where I had to open up my bag in front of everyone and repack shoes and hair dryers into carry-ons and friends' bags. However since this was Airlines C that I was now flying, their weight limit was 50 lbs. There was no way that I was even going to try to redistribute 17 lbs worth of clothes at that point. That was just a losing battle before it even started but the surrender cost $200. (Sorry dad!) At that point, I was thinking that this was the difficulty of the trip and I was just getting it out of the way early. Wrong.
I finally made it to the terminal and the flight was delayed for bad weather. I didn’t even care because it gave me time to enjoy a glass of wine and make some phone calls. There was one phone call in particular that I am very thankful to have made. My younger sister who lives in Florida has always been the adventurous one. Seriously, this is the girl who quit her job six months after she graduated college and decided to take a road trip of the US east coast. She drove from Dallas to Key West, then all the way up to Maine and finally back to Dallas. She couch surfed, slept in her car, called friends and family we haven't talked to in 10 years, and rolled with the punches for about four months. That's just one of her many adventures. I have always (endearingly) called her a hippie, and I stand by that but more than anything... she is brave. She's not afraid to make changes, make mistakes, and go where ever the wind takes her. She's always thinking about her next adventure, so for Christmas I got her a leather bound passport cover and had it branded to say "well, why the hell not?" It really was fitting because that seems to always be her attitude about opportunities, which is a quality I admire. That attitude has lead her to some pretty great places and to some pretty wonderful people. Talking with her before I got on my first plane was a good reminder to be brave, to expect the unexpected and to always answer with "well, why the hell not?" That was better preparation than all the google searches, Italian practice or packing I had done.
Anyways, the flight was delayed multiple times while I sat at a restaraunt, but I finally boarded. As soon as I got situated, the flight was delayed again for 2+ hours so we had to get off the plane. This particular delay now meant that I was going to miss my flight from Chicago to Munich. I was beginning to wonder if I would even leave Dallas that day. After (another) long line, the counter representative told me that the best he could do was to reroute me straight to London (in another 4 hours), then to Munich for an overnight layover and then to Bari one night later than expected. An overnight layover by myself in a foreign country whose language I don’t speak? Well…why the hell not?
So I got to DFW airport and realized that my flight to Chicago is not actually on Airline A, since it was domestic. Apparently there was some small line in the confirmation email that I skimmed over... lesson number one = learned. Some worker at an information desk (yes, that’s right, I was at an information desk before I had even left home) told me that I was supposed to fly to Chicago on Airline B. I headed to Airline B’s counter to check in, and there was no one at the counter. The girl in the front of the line told me that she had been waiting for over 30 minutes and no one could get ahold of a representative. I called Airline A and they told me (after a 15 minute hold) that I am actually supposed to fly to Chicago on Airline C. At that point, I’m rolling my eyes but don’t even care because at least Airline C had someone working at their counter. I went to Airline C’s kiosk to check in, scanned my passport and I was told that there was no reservation for me. Of course. I waited in line to talk to a representative and was told to wait in another longer line where I finally talked to someone who acknowledged that I was supposed to be flying to Chicago on their airlines. Hallelujah.
My luck changed back though when she told me to put my checked bag on the scale. It was 67lbs. Now, in all fairness…I thought I was flying Airline A, whose checked bag weight limit is 35kg (about 77lbs). I put all my heavy shoes in my rolling carry-on (which I will come to regret later), weighed the bag before leaving the house and was congratulating myself on actually being underweight. I was trying to avoid a scene like previous ones in New Orleans and Cabo where I had to open up my bag in front of everyone and repack shoes and hair dryers into carry-ons and friends' bags. However since this was Airlines C that I was now flying, their weight limit was 50 lbs. There was no way that I was even going to try to redistribute 17 lbs worth of clothes at that point. That was just a losing battle before it even started but the surrender cost $200. (Sorry dad!) At that point, I was thinking that this was the difficulty of the trip and I was just getting it out of the way early. Wrong.
I finally made it to the terminal and the flight was delayed for bad weather. I didn’t even care because it gave me time to enjoy a glass of wine and make some phone calls. There was one phone call in particular that I am very thankful to have made. My younger sister who lives in Florida has always been the adventurous one. Seriously, this is the girl who quit her job six months after she graduated college and decided to take a road trip of the US east coast. She drove from Dallas to Key West, then all the way up to Maine and finally back to Dallas. She couch surfed, slept in her car, called friends and family we haven't talked to in 10 years, and rolled with the punches for about four months. That's just one of her many adventures. I have always (endearingly) called her a hippie, and I stand by that but more than anything... she is brave. She's not afraid to make changes, make mistakes, and go where ever the wind takes her. She's always thinking about her next adventure, so for Christmas I got her a leather bound passport cover and had it branded to say "well, why the hell not?" It really was fitting because that seems to always be her attitude about opportunities, which is a quality I admire. That attitude has lead her to some pretty great places and to some pretty wonderful people. Talking with her before I got on my first plane was a good reminder to be brave, to expect the unexpected and to always answer with "well, why the hell not?" That was better preparation than all the google searches, Italian practice or packing I had done.
Anyways, the flight was delayed multiple times while I sat at a restaraunt, but I finally boarded. As soon as I got situated, the flight was delayed again for 2+ hours so we had to get off the plane. This particular delay now meant that I was going to miss my flight from Chicago to Munich. I was beginning to wonder if I would even leave Dallas that day. After (another) long line, the counter representative told me that the best he could do was to reroute me straight to London (in another 4 hours), then to Munich for an overnight layover and then to Bari one night later than expected. An overnight layover by myself in a foreign country whose language I don’t speak? Well…why the hell not?