Amateur Hour

Amateur hour: that´s what I would have called our attempt to get to Australia, had I been an independent third party.  The day began with a scramble to pack.  With all of the construction going on at home, we had things strewn throughout the house and basement and as a result, I couldn´t find the proper luggage, iPod headphones, outlet adapter and numerous other items that I meticulously keep track of.  

After a quick stop at REI to pick up a rain jacket for myself (the first step in blowing the trip´s budget), we realized that we no longer had time to drop our car off at my parent´s house and ride BART back to the airport.  Instead, we drove straight to the airport, incurring $200 of parking costs in stride (and the tally grew).

With plenty of time to spare once we hit the airport thanks to the change in transportation plans (3 hours to be exact), I had visions of a nice dinner and a few cocktails before boarding the plane.  Unfortunately, due to a slight mishap by the United Counter Clerk, our otherwise simple check-in took a total of 1 hour...that is 30 minutes per person, and no exaggeration.    She originally thought it was due to my newly issued passport (stamp free until this trip), however upon further research, it was due to United trying to check us in prior to issuing visas and a completely inadequate system. Unfortunately I couldn´t explain this to the 15 people behind us waiting to check-in in the “priority” line.

I was pulled over for additional screening by TSA once we were finally checked-in. And to top things off, while I can normally pick out a good read in the bookstore, I bought one so horrible that it had to be left on the plane after finishing only 25 pages.

In the end, the only thing that looked “pro” about the start to our trip was my new purse, bought only an hour before the charade began.    But we made it onto the flight, Martin was upgraded to sit with me and we were ready for our now-much needed 2 week vacation!