Teacher Trekker

Traffic & Travel

It was December 23 and probably one of the busiest travel days of the year. Despite that, I was able to obtain a cheaper priced ticket compared to other dates that week. I went to work that day and came home to pick up my luggage. Somehow I got slowed down and only left the house at 4:45 p.m., but I wanted to leave at 4:30 p.m., and looking back I probably should have left at 4:00 p.m.

It should take only around 30 minutes for me to get to the airport, but there was a sick amount of traffic everywhere on the way. Every local street and highway system was bogged down with slow moving traffic. As the clock ticked, I sat in bumper to bumper traffic. I really thought I was going to miss my flight. There was an accident where South Conduit Boulevard, the Van Wyck Expressway and the Southern State Parkway all intersect. Once we passed the accident, it was smooth sailing for the remaining 10 minutes to the American Airlines Terminal at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. By the time I arrived, it was 6 p.m., almost an hour and a half after I left my house. Always add extra time for traveling to the airport, since it’s better to arrive early and wait a bit rather than miss a flight.

Wasting Too Much Time in the Airport 

Before I went inside the terminal I saw a taxi driver dressed as Santa Claus helping his fare get their luggage out of the trunk of his sleigh. Its interior was even decorated with lights and ornaments. I had to take a quick photo, because that’s not something you see every day. Only in New York!

Once inside the terminal I made my way to the self check-in machine. There was only one, but no one was using it. The check-in lines were actually quite long, but since I was carrying my backpack with me, I did not need to check my bag. For some reason the passport scanner wasn’t working, so I had to manually enter all of my personal data. It was annoying, but more convenient and faster than standing on the regular check-in line. My boarding passes were printed out, and I made my way to the security gate.

There were a few minor issues once on the line to pass through the security checkpoint. There was obviously a slow moving line and that can be tedious. I was doing social media work before the flight, so I didn’t really mind. One thing did happen, but I attempted to brush it off. I was happy to be in the airport on time considering the hellacious traffic. However, the woman behind me who cut me when I went to get buckets for everyone, since there were none left by the table totally got me upset. The rest of the buckets were over 20 feet away near the metal detector. I went out of line and picked up around 20 buckets for myself and the next group of travelers. When I came back to the line, she was ahead of me and didn’t want to let me go in front of her. Fine I told myself. Then I noticed something. She spoke English. She had an America passport. When I addressed her, she acted clueless. Once at the body scanner, which they made everyone go through, I told the TSA agent what happened, and we had a laugh at her expense. Everyone around me was appalled at her rudeness. I was doing this woman and everyone else a favor, and she took advantage. Otherwise, I had no issues at the security gate.

Once through the security gate, it was later than I realized, but I went shopping and somehow spent way more money than I wanted to! First, I went to the duty free store for champagne for New Year’s Eve. I ended up buying champagne, moonshine for my friends to try, snacks for the trip and sadly tobacco products. (No one is perfect! Everyone has a vice! What’s yours? Do you want to talk about it? Email me!)

Losing Track of Time Goggle Shopping

Next, I went to the Oakley store and ended up buying two pairs of snowboard goggles. One was for a friend and the other for me. I could’ve spent much more, but I was able to restrain myself. Finally, I wanted to stop at Hudson News to grab a few other things before boarding, but suddenly it was 7:15 and I had a 7:35 departure. Where did the hour go? I asked the flight attendant if I could stop at the store, and he said I didn’t have any time. Actually, there was a group of people on standby at the desk attempting to get on the plane. They weren’t getting my seat! Seconds later, as I was picking up my duty free purchases, the flight attendant was paging my name. Relax, it’s 7:17, I just checked in, and I’m right here. I’m 6 inches from boarding the plane. I made my way to my seat.

Boarding Time

Boarding the Airplane

The plane was jam packed. Every seat was filled, and it appeared as if everyone was waiting on me to board so we could leave the gate. That wasn’t actually the case, but when every eye in the plane was on me, it certainly felt that way. I walked down the aisle with my bag, and yes it is big, but within storage size limits. It actually didn’t easily fit down the aisles with people in their seats. I attempted to politely get to row 26 as gently as possible, but I was still mashing my bag into arms, knees and the occasional head. There were many apologies along the way.

Everyone looked at me like I was nuts. It was Asia all over again. I opened the only compartment that was closed and bags flew out like the snakes out of a can gag used by bad clowns and magicians. I caught the door and prevented the volcano from erupting, but I was too short to stuff the jacket that was preventing the door from closing. I asked the tall Australian man next to me to help out, and he didn’t understand I needed him to stand up and tuck the jacket in at the top of the door as I closed it. No one wanted to help, so I jammed it shut wedging the jacket between the hinges and safety latch. I asked for help. I didn’t want to be rude and crush someone’s jacket, but no one was helping, not even the person who owned the jacket, so I don’t feel guilty in the slightest. Did I mention I had my backpack on the entire time?

Now everyone really thought I was nuts, and it felt like my bag was growing in front of them only causing them fear and panic like my bag would attack them or impact their day and trip. People need to worry more about themselves than others. I saw an open space, but I couldn’t get there. A rude older gentleman made me back up to get to his seat. Hey buddy, I’m trying to get situated here! Walk around, it’s not going to kill you and apparently you could use the exercise.

I made my way back to the half open storage locker and quickly unclipped my bags and tossed the green backpack up into the bin without a problem. Everyone looked so amazed. I tossed the rest of my duty free purchases and my jacket in the bin. I then took my black bag and made my way to my seat. Before closing the compartment a flight attendant asked whose bag “that” was. It was the unit I stored my gear in, so I assumed it had to be my bag he was referring to. Nope it was the woman in front of me that kept reminding me 100 times to be careful of the glass perfume bottles inside her bag as I put my bag into the compartment. I said, “See, my bag isn’t as big as you all thought it was” and a few people got a chuckle out of it. One solo female backpacker who checked her pack started a conversation with me during the flight about how I pack and fly with my backpack.

We waited a long time before we got our food. It was okay. My salad was wilted and inedible. The bread was cold. It was your typical coach meal. The best part was the brownie. My soda came as I was finishing up my meal. But they sure came around fast to pick it up. I watched two films: The Divine Move and Mazerunner during the flight. If you like foreign films, I would recommend The Divine Move. At some point I turned on the air vent that blasted cold air on me, and I fell asleep. I woke up to everyone around me eating the breakfast snack. I tossed the pastry and trail mix in my bag. The plane landed at Heathrow Airport at 2:00 a.m. NY time or 7 a.m. London time.

Early Morning Landing at Heathrow International Airport, London, England

Adventures in Heathrow Airport

Make sure to pay attention to the information board when disembarking to determine which terminal you need to travel to in order to pick up your connecting flight. Once I made it to the terminal, I didn’t wait on any lines. I was just following everyone else and somehow ended up on the fast-track lane for my connection. Once I realized, I kept saying a previous fight representative sent me to this line. I also said a few times I was with the person in front of me. I was able to avoid a number of lines and got preferential treatment at the security gate. The line wasn’t long, but the security staff was slow. What should’ve take 5 minutes took ages! Eventually I got told my flight wasn’t departing in less than an hour, so I was sent to a regular security line. I was still able to save over 30 minutes of standing on line, so I wasn’t complaining.

I was at security for 15 minutes waiting to pick up my sealed duty free package. It was untampered with. The package wasn’t opened; however, the security agent was moving slower than a snail and was not in a good mood. He actually “took a break” after a gentleman and I asked him to work faster. His supervisor came up to us and gave us the typical “we’re all just doing our job” rhetoric. l was still confused. Why did my duty free bag need to be checked in an additional security machine? Why would an unopened bag with unopened bottles be a threat? It still had the receipt on it. I persisted and then was threatened with detainment. For what! They’re moving like snails! Put my stuff in the machine and speed it up. When I mentioned that the one worker took a break and refused to help us, two things happened. He got yelled at and another security agent put our liquids right through the machine. Oh it wasn’t a problem! Yeah no kidding!

Ready for my connecting flight to Zurich!

I was in a bad mood and still had an hour to kill before my flight. I was stressed. Really, there is place to smoke! Between JFK and Heathrow; two of the most important airports on the Atlantic coasts and neither have a smoking area. That’s just ridiculous, and also a good indicator I shouldn’t be smoking! I stopped at a restaurant and got something to eat. I had to order it to go, since they were moving slowly. I devoured a chicken sandwich and “chips” (French fries) as quickly as possible prior to boarding.

There were no issues on my connecting flight. British Airways provided complimentary newspapers. After reading some financial news, I went on to the British sports tabloids. I could write circles around these guys! The articles were tabloid paparazzi quality stories that were more opinion than fact. Regardless, it was light reading. I caught up on all the latest English Premier League news, rumors and gossip. We got served quickly. Since it was less than a two hour flight, we were only given a small bacon croissant sandwich. I was full, so I tossed it in my bag for later. At some point I fell asleep and took an hour long nap before landing.

My first views of Switzerland.

Arriving in Zurich, Switzerland

I woke up to the sound of screeching rubber. It was 10:43 a.m. Touchdown Zurich! After I tied my bags together, I disembarked the plane and easily passed by 30 people ahead of me. How is it that I had the backpack and was walking faster than all the people without any luggage? Crazy! I made my way to an electric train that took us to the main terminal. I counted 14 open Customs checkpoint lanes. I had no issues at all. I was the second person on line and did not see anyone from my flight. There is a lot to learn about how I use my backpack as a carry-on bag. Sure I have to walk more with luggage, but the amount of time I save is well worth it. I had nothing to declare, and there were no additional security checkpoints like back in the states. After approximately 20 minutes I was leaving the Zurich International Airport with my friend on the way back to her hometown.