How to Go On Vacation
Step 1 - Discover cheap tickets to intended destination
Step 2 - Watch cheap tickets disappear off the Internet
Step 3 - Watch cheap tickets re-appear in the middle of the night
Step 4 - Book cheap tickets on Orbitz
Step 5 - Receive confirmation email from Orbitz
Step 6 - Call travel partner on opposite coast to bounce
Step 7 - Receive "oops, we're sorry, your tickets could not be booked" email from Orbitz
Step 8 - Curse loudly and bemoan the time difference
Step 9 - Frantically re-book tickets directly through airline
Step 10 - Discuss hotel arrangements with travel partner
Step 11 - Relax for five months
Step 12 - Receive voice mail from airline relating cancellation of Boston to Germany flight
Step 13 - Re-book new travel route via Washington, DC
Step 14 - Discover lack of sufficient transfer time (i.e. half an hour) between flights
Step 15 - Re-re-book flight times with new, excessive, layover
Step 16 - Receive wrong tickets in the mail
Step 17 - Annoy airline travel rep confirming true flights the night before
Step 18 - Pack. No really. Pack. Stop procrastinating and pack.
Step 19 - Fly to DC
Step 20 - Escape airport in DC and have lunch with parents
Step 21 - Do not pass Go. Do not re-enter gate area. Go directly to ticket counter to acquire boarding pass.
Step 22 - Pass Go. Get on People Mover and go to Gate. Sit at Gate.
Step 23 - Fly to Germany while sitting next to Cranky Lady (note: travel partner is on other side)
Step 24 - Acquire symptons of Very Bad Cold Hitherto Avoided in U.S.
Step 25 - Fly over Alps. Pretty.
Step 26 - Enjoy Austria despite aforementioned cold. Take day trip to Liechtenstein.
Step 27 - Wake up at 3:45 a.m.
Step 28 - Catch cab to Innsbruck airport
Step 29 - Call mother from Innsbruck airport because it is only 10-something in States
Step 30 - Fly to Germany.
Step 31 - Wait in Frankfurt airport. Post on Livejournal.
Step 32 - Have fork confiscated.
Step 33 - Get frisked by security wand at third security checkpoint.
Step 34 - Airline official confiscates boarding passes
Step 35 - Airline official gives travelers new boarding passes
Step 36 - Board plane and fly to DC
Step 37 - Harbor hostile feelings while flying over Boston
Step 38 - Land ten minutes late
Step 39 - Wait in line for Customs
Step 40 - Go through Customs
Step 41 - Retrieve bags
Step 42 - Miss connecting flight
Step 43 - Re-check bags for flight 5 hours later
Step 44 - Go through Security
Step 45 - Escape airport and enjoy dinner with parents
Step 46 - Return to frickin' airport
Step 47 - Wait at gate and eventually get on plane
Step 48 - Land in Boston and retrieve baggage
Step 49 - Celebrate the New Year in the backseat of a cab
Step 50 - Go home and go to sleep 27.5 hours after waking up
Pictures can be found here, and many thanks to my lovely travel partner for editing, in her words, "the hundred and fifty odd pictures to a slightly more postable amount." There are more pictures on my film camera, and few of the digitals not in the above album appear below
View from the Alpenzoo
Ski Safely!
Innsbruck from Above
A Train Ride Through the Alps
And on Friday I leave for San Diego. When I return the following Saturday, there will be no more planes for a Very Long Time.
Step 2 - Watch cheap tickets disappear off the Internet
Step 3 - Watch cheap tickets re-appear in the middle of the night
Step 4 - Book cheap tickets on Orbitz
Step 5 - Receive confirmation email from Orbitz
Step 6 - Call travel partner on opposite coast to bounce
Step 7 - Receive "oops, we're sorry, your tickets could not be booked" email from Orbitz
Step 8 - Curse loudly and bemoan the time difference
Step 9 - Frantically re-book tickets directly through airline
Step 10 - Discuss hotel arrangements with travel partner
Step 11 - Relax for five months
Step 12 - Receive voice mail from airline relating cancellation of Boston to Germany flight
Step 13 - Re-book new travel route via Washington, DC
Step 14 - Discover lack of sufficient transfer time (i.e. half an hour) between flights
Step 15 - Re-re-book flight times with new, excessive, layover
Step 16 - Receive wrong tickets in the mail
Step 17 - Annoy airline travel rep confirming true flights the night before
Step 18 - Pack. No really. Pack. Stop procrastinating and pack.
Step 19 - Fly to DC
Step 20 - Escape airport in DC and have lunch with parents
Step 21 - Do not pass Go. Do not re-enter gate area. Go directly to ticket counter to acquire boarding pass.
Step 22 - Pass Go. Get on People Mover and go to Gate. Sit at Gate.
Step 23 - Fly to Germany while sitting next to Cranky Lady (note: travel partner is on other side)
Step 24 - Acquire symptons of Very Bad Cold Hitherto Avoided in U.S.
Step 25 - Fly over Alps. Pretty.
Step 26 - Enjoy Austria despite aforementioned cold. Take day trip to Liechtenstein.
Step 27 - Wake up at 3:45 a.m.
Step 28 - Catch cab to Innsbruck airport
Step 29 - Call mother from Innsbruck airport because it is only 10-something in States
Step 30 - Fly to Germany.
Step 31 - Wait in Frankfurt airport. Post on Livejournal.
Step 32 - Have fork confiscated.
Step 33 - Get frisked by security wand at third security checkpoint.
Step 34 - Airline official confiscates boarding passes
Step 35 - Airline official gives travelers new boarding passes
Step 36 - Board plane and fly to DC
Step 37 - Harbor hostile feelings while flying over Boston
Step 38 - Land ten minutes late
Step 39 - Wait in line for Customs
Step 40 - Go through Customs
Step 41 - Retrieve bags
Step 42 - Miss connecting flight
Step 43 - Re-check bags for flight 5 hours later
Step 44 - Go through Security
Step 45 - Escape airport and enjoy dinner with parents
Step 46 - Return to frickin' airport
Step 47 - Wait at gate and eventually get on plane
Step 48 - Land in Boston and retrieve baggage
Step 49 - Celebrate the New Year in the backseat of a cab
Step 50 - Go home and go to sleep 27.5 hours after waking up
Pictures can be found here, and many thanks to my lovely travel partner for editing, in her words, "the hundred and fifty odd pictures to a slightly more postable amount." There are more pictures on my film camera, and few of the digitals not in the above album appear below
View from the Alpenzoo
Ski Safely!
Innsbruck from Above
A Train Ride Through the Alps
And on Friday I leave for San Diego. When I return the following Saturday, there will be no more planes for a Very Long Time.