Why didn't we book ONE WAY tickets???
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2005
1
20
Trip End
Feb 15, 2005
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The only circumstance, if at least for a moment, bringing me happiness on the first flight taking us home was that we had no company in the third seat of our airline row, resulting in alternating leg-stretching sleeps - a gift like gold on an overnight 11 hour flight.
Without fail, we had a *minor incident right up until our final leg of flying. Casually santering around Amsterdam collecting last-minute souvenirs, we killed an hour of time between our connecting flights. We strolled back into the airport around 1230, plenty of time to catch the 1405 flight to Toronto - until at THAT moment we decided to check the boarding time: 1305. Not to worry, we just had to retrieve my carry on from the storage locker and make our way to gate F. We followed the fluorescent yellow "locker storage" signs, only to find the metal boxes reading 501. We had placed my daypack in locker 601. It wasn't until this moment that we realized those "locker storage" signs referred to hundreds of the metal squares dumped throughout Amsterdams' Schiptol and the Transfer desk that we had locked my pack beside wasn't unique, at least 10 such Transfer terminals existed. With 15 minutes to boarding, I walked (quickly) to gate F while Kevan entered further into the belly of the airport, finding the locker somewhere near A and B terminals and beside a transfer desk barren of loud signs advertising it was directly adjacent to Locker 601. God only knows what the transfer agents think of that breathless Canadian desperate for a small bag and needing to "find it now!"
Kevan was spotted walking toward gate F7, happily carrying my bag around 1306 and we joined the mile-long line to board flight KLM 691, Amsterdam to Toronto.
Only calamity met us in Toronto, with people vomiting or walking in the aisles when the plane landed, not to mention it was raining and grey outside and customs was a long process to endure with explanations for why we'd possibly want to go to South Africa for a vacation.
Despite spending more than 24 consecutive hours on planes, in airports and checking myself into long lines past customs officers, I was able to come up with two conclusions to our travels.
#1. Next time, I'm booking a one-way ticket
#2. To add to the list of must - do's...
book a flight to Africa
Until the next trip...
