The travel thread

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

My guess is that we all have had our fair share of trips, given that our partners come from other countries.

 

So I'd like to open this thread for whoever enjoys traveling and is willing to share any advice, recommendation or plan, especially now, that traveling implies some challenges and restrictions. 

 

Posts can be about places you've visited or would love to visit, worst and best airlines, luggage, walking shoes and travel gear, best food, craziest experiences...anything about wandering the world.

[TBoneTX 43,058]

The best airline EVER (at least pre-pandemic) to South America is Avianca.

[YecaCruz 374]

My “crazy experience” was back in 2005. 2nd trip to Nicaragua (missions trip). I didn’t realize that there was a live 22/250 rifle round in my backpack. I had a little line of bullets collected on my windowsill and it must have fallen in there. 
I’m going through the Minneapolis security line I was confused as a 15/16 year old why they kept putting my backpack through the scanner. Did I have a huge, suspicious amount of starbursts (to give to kids of course)? They finally pulled me aside and were digging through my backpack and they pull up this giant bullet, lol.
gulp!

My my dad comes over to get a better look at it and maybe help explain while my younger sister is in tears thinking I was going to go to prison. In any case the tsa guys didn’t make a huge deal or anything, thank goodness, and I was eventually allowed to go on my way. 
Later, while waiting at the gate, a team member on our missions team overheard somebody talking about how a girl had one of her bullets left over from a safari that she came back from or something like that. 
Thankfully that wasn’t in an airport like Houston or coming back from Nicaragua! Or after 9/11 😳😬☠️

 

Kids: Make sure you don’t have any bullet rounds in your carryon!

 

about 10 years later I got a letter from the department of homeland security basically stating I was no longer on the watchlist hehehe

 

im excited to read about other peoples stories etc. This will be a great thread to distract me at work!

[Adventine 3,187]

I travelled Manila - Tokyo -  Chicago in March 2021 via ANA. It was eerie transiting through Tokyo Narita airport. There was almost no one there, which is jarring for anyone who has ever been at Narita pre-pandemic. It was depressing to see all the 2020 Olympics merchandise still on display.

 

On the bright side, there were maybe 20 people in economy class on my flight Tokyo-Chicago. My closest neighbors on the plane were 15-20 feet away. I got three whole seats to myself, in an aisle with extra legroom. I could stretch out comfortably throughout the flight. Not much noise or distractions to deal with since there were very few passengers. The food was great and the service from the flight attendants excellent. I slept very well. Was probably the most comfortable economy class experience I've ever had.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Adventine

[TBoneTX 43,058]

6 hours ago, Adventine said:

I got three whole seats to myself

This enables one to raise the armrests and actually lie down to sleep.  Hasn't happened to me in years.  Which reminds me -- I need a nap.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,500]

The airline I've enjoyed the most so far is Turkish Airlines; I was especially pleased by the quality of the food, despite being a short flight. 

 

@Adventine Nothing beats having empty seats around, especially on long haul flights. Makes it way less tiring.

 

I don't know about you guys, but I miss those days when you could pack everything for a flight with no restriction -didn't matter if your suitcase was humongous and heavy, with a 1 liter bottle of shampoo inside-. And you could arrive 15 minutes before departure and still get on board. Those were the days. 

Now I'm fully into packing light, even for road trips.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Allaboutwaiting

[TBoneTX 43,058]

5 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I miss those days when you could pack everything for a flight with no restriction -didn't matter if your suitcase was humongous and heavy, with a 1 liter bottle of shampoo inside-. And you could arrive 15 minutes before departure and still get on board. Those were the days. 

Yes... sigh...

6 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

I need a nap

Took.  Great!