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Tag Archive for baggage check-ins

Flying Solo

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Renee Spindle

Yesterday was a fun day. Travel Man arranged for me to fly up to meet him in Oakland, California so we can spend some much needed time together this week. He’s a great guy.
You see normally when we are traveling together we’re most often taking a mini-vacation (I define this as 4 days or less). When we do travel together I really don’t think about much except packing my clothes and following him to the airport. Yesterday was a bit different though.

For this trip I will be with Travel Man for a few days while he is working in Northern California. So here’s how my morning went to get the travel day started. I drove myself to the airport, parked in long term parking, checked my bag curbside (always better to check a bag than carry on!), got through security fairly quickly without using the preferred frequent flyer lane (because I’m not with Travel Man), and got my iced tea and a magazine. Phew!! I know I can do this on my own, it’s just a good reminder for me when I do. We most often fly on Southwest Airlines for the great reward perks. If you are at all familiar with Southwest’s seating you know that there is no assigned seating, just assigned boarding designations. So, my Travel Man was not with me to get on the plane ahead of me and save us our seats together. I would be picking my own seat. This part of my trip is a new experience for me. I got a window seat of course as it’s always my favorite thing to look out the window when travelling. I was the kid on family vacations that never slept in the car. Always watching out the window and taking in the sights, and I’m still that way.

Travel Man was flying into Oakland from Buffalo, NY via Chicago. My flight was a short “up/down” (defined by me as less than two hours of fly time), Ontario to Oakland. I am pleased to report that there were no glitches in the travel matrix yesterday, and our meeting in Oakland was pulled off successfully. We were able to take the short drive to San Francisco and see both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge. It was a bit of a stressful drive through the city, but a beautiful day for taking in the sights.

I’m a lucky, lucky girl that I am able to travel to where my husband will be working for the week. His schedule’s a little crazy right now and any extra time we can glean together is a blessing. I keep reminding myself that it’s definitely a bit of a different lifestyle. My Travel Mans’ mode of commuting from city to city is an airplane (or as we jokingly say a “flying tube”). It’s a different kind of life, but it’s our life. It’s important for us to make the best of it, and our precious time together. That’s my life lesson for the day.

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Top Ten Reasons It’s Great to Travel with a Road Warrior

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Renee Spindle

As I told you all last week I had occasion to take a working road trip with my Travel Guy. It occurred to me on the way home that there are quite a few perks to having an experienced, seasoned traveller by your side.

10) He’s the ultimate suitcase packer. He knows how to fit EVERYTHING he (or should I say I) want to take into one suitcase. This is especially important for me because I ALWAYS like to travel with an extra outfit, just in case. I have gotten so much better at packing a suitcase over the years, but he remains the expert.

9) He always gets to the airport in plenty of time. He always leaves himself enough time so there’s no frantic rushing through the security check point or through the airport, ever.

8) He travels a lot. He accumulates tons and tons of reward points and perks for various airlines, hotels, and car rental venues. We are especially lucky in this regard. Nothing makes my Road Warrior happier than being able to share the reward points with a family member who needs to take a flight somewhere, or get a hotel room for a weekend trip.

7) All of the points he accumulates on a regular basis allow this gal to travel with him for mere pennies. I am one lucky, lucky gal.

6) Check-in at the airport is an event, possibly even close to a marathon. We always have bags to check, no dealing with carry-ons for these travelers. Since the Road Warrior is a frequent traveler we most often avoid the long line for baggage check-in, with the A-lister’s line (a Southwest Airlines perk). People definitely give us dirty looks for going to the head of the line. I just think to myself (a little selfishly), “That’s right people, I’m with this guy, and yep we got to go the head of the line”. And then I think to myself, if other people travelled as many air miles as my Road Warrior does they would want to go to the front of the A-list line too!

5) Getting through the security line is our second event of the day. We have by-passed the baggage check-in line, and if it’s available we take the by-pass line for the security line. Once again, exasperated stares from the “normal” passengers waiting in the “normal” line. The Road Warrior does a little personal cheer on the inside when he gets to do this. Oh, and just a side note from the Road Warrior’s wife. He carries a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket. It’s his way of protecting his rights while travelling through the security check point.

4) He’s so familiar with most of the airports in the U.S., he can recommend places to eat, places to plug-in your electronics, the best bathrooms, and the most comfortable seats to park in while you are waiting.

3) He loves to people watch, and so do I. We’ll try to guess people’s back stories, or the reasons they are travelling through the airport. Sometimes, we just simply make up stories about the people we see. It’s a good way to pass the time.

2) He travels with all of the necessities; Kleenex, Tums, Clorox wipes, for those sometimes yucky airline trays (he stays healthy this way!), aspirin, free drink coupons, a good movie to watch, and magazines. The backpack he takes on the plane with him holds a ton of stuff (that’s a story for another day).

1) For me the most important reason that it is so great to travel with my Road Warrior is it means that we are together. We spend lots of time apart, so our time together is quite precious. I would not want to travel with anyone else.

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