Okay, I realize this post about my travels back to America is
a tad late… Just shy of a month late, if I’m being honest with myself. At least I didn’t just forget about it! I flew home on KLM/Delta airlines and the
entire process wasn’t the worst I’ve ever experienced – just long. But that could have also been caused by unnecessarily
arriving to the airport a full hour early…
When checking my luggage, they allowed me to check my rolling
carryon for free, as my flight was completely full. I was more than happy to
help free up some space in the passenger cabin. Although that meant
free-handing my laptop around the first two airports, which got a little
uncomfortable. It was a pretty boring
wait for my plane to finally board and take off.
My first layover was in Amsterdam and I took a regional KLM
flight. The plane was late pushing back
because of the stupid strike in Italy for the baggage workers. To be fair
though, when ISN’T there a strike in Italy?
This did cause some concern because my layover in Amsterdam was barely
over an hour and I wasn’t sure how busy the airport would be. I wasn’t the only one with a short layover
and the flight attendants did everything in their power to give the other
flights a heads up about the passengers who would be rushing to get to their
gates on time.
I needn’t have worried, because when we finally arrived in
Amsterdam I had plenty of time to get to my gate. I was a little confused when I found that my
gate was already open when I got there.
Silly ol’ me didn’t know that the customs and security checks were
located at individual gates. Smart and
efficient. It did bum me out that I
couldn’t really explore the airport, because from what I saw, Amsterdam is the
snazziest of them all. Even though I
booked through KLM, my transatlantic flight was operated by Delta. I don't know hey everyone complains about
them because that flight was on point. They had the best movie and television
selection, more snacks and drinks were offered throughout, and complimentary
wine. What's not to love? The flight was
pretty long, so I finally got to see American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks. Along with Ratatouille and an episode of The
Mindy Project. All of that got me
through up until the descent into Boston.
Can I just say that reentering the United States is second
only to packing in my least favorite part of traveling? You have to claim your bags, go through passport
control, recheck your bags, and go back through security for the umpteenth time. I will concede that going through JFK was not
so bad compared to Boston. Don’t get me
wrong, I was happy to go through Boston Logan, because realistically that is
the closest I’ll get to Gillette Stadium and my New England Patriots. OH, and the sports gift shop in the airport
only had, like, three things with the Patriots logo on them. NOT COOL, BOSTON. They made up for it by having a Dunkin Donuts kiosk directly
beside my gate. And the gift shop guy
helped me put my American SIM card back in my iPhone, which very well may have
been the single best thing to happen on my journey home. I immediately called my mom and one of my
best friends, as well as texting everyone that I was in America again!
My
flight back to Ohio was a little delayed, because it had begun to rain and the
line to takeoff was a little busy. It
was no matter, because I just under two hours, I was back with my family again.
P.S. If you didn't think I would take this opportunity to utilize Bridesmaids GIFs, you are seriously disturbed.
