It Pays To Travel Prepared
Friday, April 11th, 2008This week I am at an organizing conference in Reno, Nevada. As an excited traveler I was preparing by getting all my items packed. My carry-on was packed with the essential items: toothpaste, underwear, make-up, and plenty of reading material. My suitcase was very lightly packed with plenty of room to spare. I actually thought that I may be able to get everything in two carry on bags, but quickly discounted that idea so I would have space to bring conference material back home.
Fortunately, my organizing efforts paid off, but unfortunately my flight was canceled three times and rescheduled four!!! “The Airline” as we will call it, canceled 500 flights that day throughout the U.S. Needless to say, I was stuck in DFW for the night. I was one of the lucky ones who actually got a hotel room.
Lessons Learned:
Lesson 1: Pack your PJ’s. Although I had my essential make-up and toiletries I had not packed my pajamas or a second set of clothing. Not a problem if you’re traveling alone, but I had an organizing buddy who I was sharing a room with. So we got creative and got bought some lovely leprechaun t-shirts at Bennigan’s where we had dinner. Now we had pajamas!
Lesson 2: Pack some munchies. I had packed all my snacks, except for a package of gum, in my suitcase. After being at the airport for 7 and a half hours there comes a time when you want a small snack and you are tired of paying for the usual overpriced food and snacks at the airport. So next time I will pack a few of my own snacks on my carry on.
Lesson 3: Find out the location of your hotel.
After waiting in line to rebook our second canceled flight and to try to get a hotel voucher our booking agent was able to work some magic and find us a room for the night! Thank goodness!! The problem was that she called the hotel, held the room for us, and then told us which courtesy van to look for. We were too mentally drained to ask what the location of the hotel was and when we tried to get on the courtesy van he asked “which location are you going to?” We looked at each other dumbfounded. In the end we made it to the right hotel after calling them both and waiting another hour.
Lesson 4: Have a good attitude.
What struck me the most about this unpleasant experience was the attitude of everyone from the ticket agents to the people in line. Most people were handling the whole thing with patience and a little humor.
So, next time you are set to travel learn from my travels woes and be prepared for all the possibilities.
Enjoy the good life.
Angela Ploetz
Don’t forget this weekend we will turn our clocks forward because of Daylight Saving Time. The change happens on Sunday, March 9th and at 1:59 a.m. you should move your clock to 3:00 a.m. If you are not planning on partying like it’s 1999, then you should just move your clocks forward one hour Saturday night when you go to bed. 
I have had a lot of friends and family members traveling lately and one of them brought this to my attention. As of February 4th, 
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