Crystal's Travel Fail (as always)
So I have this terrible, TERRIBLE relationship with traveling, but every time I go somewhere, it ends up working out okay, and I learn something new. So I guess we'll tell the story first and reveal the moral at the end.
Soooooooooo... as some of you may (or may not) know, I stayed back in Cornell to work in my dorm's office to work over graduation - checking parents in/out and dealing with their questions as we became a make-shift hotel. X__x
I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday at 6pm: my flight plan?
Ithaca 6pm -> Philly 7pm
Philly 8:30 -> Las Vegas 11pm
Las Vegas 8AM (Wednesday Morning, yeah) -> SLC 9am.
So... my first mistake was panicking about all the boxes that I had to have stored so that I was left with only one suitcase of stuff to take on the plane. I can't carry all the boxes by myself (no car and such) so I had to arrange an appointment with the storage company to pick them up. So, stupid Crystal scheduled the company to pick up the boxes on Monday evening... ... I leave Tuesday evening... I still needed to sleep Monday night... but I need to store my sheets/pillows/blankets cuz they're huge and I can't fit them in my suitcase and I can't take 'em on the plane...
So I ended up sleeping Monday night on an empty mattress in my hoodie and I woke up freeeeeeeezing.
(so there's Fail #1)
So Tuesday, I prep my room to leave, and I planned on checking out of my room at around 3-3:30 so I could catch a bus (which costs $1.50 on weekdays) at 3:50 (at a stop about 5 minutes walk [without luggage] away). So I have plenty of time, right? If everything went as planned, I'd get to the bus stop at 3:40-3:45ish, no problems.
Well, my room checkout took longer than I expected because my boss checked out my room (for damages) and we ended up just chatting a bunch throughout. So it was already about 3:40 when I turned in my keys. No biggie, I can still get to the bus stop in time, right?
Well sometime during the checkout process, I realized I should probably check how much cash I have... 86¢ total. (There's Fail #2!) Not enough for the bus ride, or anything else, really. So I tried trucking my way over to the community center about a block's distance(ish) down from my dorm where they have an ATM. Closed - the doors were locked and I couldn't get in to access the ATM. Well, by this point, I've missed the bus, but another one was coming in 30min as long as I could get the money for it... The next closest ATM that I was SURE would be open... Collegetown... about... 3 blocks down? All UPHILL. WITH MY 45-POUND SUITCASE. IN THE RAIN (and I had put my umbrella in storage...)
So after about 10+ minutes of hauling my butt and my luggage up hill and a set of stairs, I got to the ATM, and decided, you know what? screw the bus - I hadn't really had anything to eat all day except for two leftover wings from the night before and I wanted something to eat and drink. So I called a taxi to come pick me up from CollegeTown Bagels (CTB) in about half an hour.
CTB, mind you, is a store down from the ATM and right outside that ATM is another bus stop. So I'm eating a plain bagel pizza and staring out the window waiting for the taxi, when I see the bus that I would've (and could've now since I have cash) gotten on, pass by. (Oh well, Fail #3).
At about 35 minutes after the taxi driver -said- they'd be there, I got a call from him saying he'd be a little late (at this point, it's about 4:55). I was like, okay... whatever, Ithaca has a small airport, if I'm there a little less than an hour before we takeoff, I'm still fine...
Eventually, the taxi came, and we got to the airport at around 5:30pm. My flight was supposed to leave at 6 - and there's a line to check in. Crap.
But I hear everyone talking about how the rain is delaying flights, and sure enough the two flights leaving from our dinky airport were both delayed. So when I went to check in, the lady said, "oooh, flying to Salt Lake? You probably won't make it tonight" and then I mentioned, "well i have some place I can stay in Philly, can you change my flight plan so I stay overnight there instead of here?" and she quickly found a direct flight from Philly -> SLC that left the next morning.
So I got a free visit to my sister which ended up with me having a pillow and a blanket to sleep in for the night instead of spending the night in an uncomfy airport chair and no one to talk to/nothing to do! And the direct flight thing was a bonus.
If I had gotten to the airport earlier than I did, I might not have known about the delay until later, so then my flight plan change might've not happened until I was in Philly and everything probably would've been a lot more confusing...
So.. All in all, I think me missing the bus, having lunch, and the taxi being late all ended up getting me a better travel deal in the end.
So... two morals...
1. ALWAYS KEEP TABS ON HOW MUCH CASH YOU HAVE A FEW DAYS BEFORE TRAVELING. >_< not 30 minutes before...
2. Inconveniences can sometimes be... very convenient. I'm glad I got lunch yesterday, I'm glad I got to see my sister, and I'm glad I had one less layover!
Either way, I'm back home in UT, seeking employment. x3
Soooooooooo... as some of you may (or may not) know, I stayed back in Cornell to work in my dorm's office to work over graduation - checking parents in/out and dealing with their questions as we became a make-shift hotel. X__x
I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday at 6pm: my flight plan?
Ithaca 6pm -> Philly 7pm
Philly 8:30 -> Las Vegas 11pm
Las Vegas 8AM (Wednesday Morning, yeah) -> SLC 9am.
So... my first mistake was panicking about all the boxes that I had to have stored so that I was left with only one suitcase of stuff to take on the plane. I can't carry all the boxes by myself (no car and such) so I had to arrange an appointment with the storage company to pick them up. So, stupid Crystal scheduled the company to pick up the boxes on Monday evening... ... I leave Tuesday evening... I still needed to sleep Monday night... but I need to store my sheets/pillows/blankets cuz they're huge and I can't fit them in my suitcase and I can't take 'em on the plane...
So I ended up sleeping Monday night on an empty mattress in my hoodie and I woke up freeeeeeeezing.
(so there's Fail #1)
So Tuesday, I prep my room to leave, and I planned on checking out of my room at around 3-3:30 so I could catch a bus (which costs $1.50 on weekdays) at 3:50 (at a stop about 5 minutes walk [without luggage] away). So I have plenty of time, right? If everything went as planned, I'd get to the bus stop at 3:40-3:45ish, no problems.
Well, my room checkout took longer than I expected because my boss checked out my room (for damages) and we ended up just chatting a bunch throughout. So it was already about 3:40 when I turned in my keys. No biggie, I can still get to the bus stop in time, right?
Well sometime during the checkout process, I realized I should probably check how much cash I have... 86¢ total. (There's Fail #2!) Not enough for the bus ride, or anything else, really. So I tried trucking my way over to the community center about a block's distance(ish) down from my dorm where they have an ATM. Closed - the doors were locked and I couldn't get in to access the ATM. Well, by this point, I've missed the bus, but another one was coming in 30min as long as I could get the money for it... The next closest ATM that I was SURE would be open... Collegetown... about... 3 blocks down? All UPHILL. WITH MY 45-POUND SUITCASE. IN THE RAIN (and I had put my umbrella in storage...)
So after about 10+ minutes of hauling my butt and my luggage up hill and a set of stairs, I got to the ATM, and decided, you know what? screw the bus - I hadn't really had anything to eat all day except for two leftover wings from the night before and I wanted something to eat and drink. So I called a taxi to come pick me up from CollegeTown Bagels (CTB) in about half an hour.
CTB, mind you, is a store down from the ATM and right outside that ATM is another bus stop. So I'm eating a plain bagel pizza and staring out the window waiting for the taxi, when I see the bus that I would've (and could've now since I have cash) gotten on, pass by. (Oh well, Fail #3).
At about 35 minutes after the taxi driver -said- they'd be there, I got a call from him saying he'd be a little late (at this point, it's about 4:55). I was like, okay... whatever, Ithaca has a small airport, if I'm there a little less than an hour before we takeoff, I'm still fine...
Eventually, the taxi came, and we got to the airport at around 5:30pm. My flight was supposed to leave at 6 - and there's a line to check in. Crap.
But I hear everyone talking about how the rain is delaying flights, and sure enough the two flights leaving from our dinky airport were both delayed. So when I went to check in, the lady said, "oooh, flying to Salt Lake? You probably won't make it tonight" and then I mentioned, "well i have some place I can stay in Philly, can you change my flight plan so I stay overnight there instead of here?" and she quickly found a direct flight from Philly -> SLC that left the next morning.
So I got a free visit to my sister which ended up with me having a pillow and a blanket to sleep in for the night instead of spending the night in an uncomfy airport chair and no one to talk to/nothing to do! And the direct flight thing was a bonus.
If I had gotten to the airport earlier than I did, I might not have known about the delay until later, so then my flight plan change might've not happened until I was in Philly and everything probably would've been a lot more confusing...
So.. All in all, I think me missing the bus, having lunch, and the taxi being late all ended up getting me a better travel deal in the end.
So... two morals...
1. ALWAYS KEEP TABS ON HOW MUCH CASH YOU HAVE A FEW DAYS BEFORE TRAVELING. >_< not 30 minutes before...
2. Inconveniences can sometimes be... very convenient. I'm glad I got lunch yesterday, I'm glad I got to see my sister, and I'm glad I had one less layover!
Either way, I'm back home in UT, seeking employment. x3