Leaving on a jet plane

In a few weeks I will be going to Jamaica!! While I really couldn’t be more excited, there is one thing that I have been freaking out about.

Layovers.

I HATE layovers and usually do everything in my power to avoid them at all costs. I’m the person who doesn’t mind spending extra money if it means having a direct flight. Unfortunately for this trip there are very few direct flights to Jamaica and the ones that were available were just too much money.

So now I will have an 1 and a half layover going there and a 3 and a half one coming home. Ugh. The good news is that I will have some company to help pass the time. It’s not so much the waiting that I mind, it’s that I have a huge fear of my luggage being lost or not making the plane.

I know that it probably won’t happen but here’s the thing. It’s happened to me before. The ONE other layover I’ve ever done and my luggage was left behind. I was coming home from studying abroad and I had a quick 45-minute layover in Dublin. When I was booking it I was so excited that it was only 45 minutes.

Little did I know though that 45 minutes is not enough time when you have to recheck in (again), go through security (again) and run across an entire airport. I running like that scene in Home Alone. Also when I got to the gate the flight attendant and a guard was waiting for me and yelled at me for being so late! It was so creepy because they new my name before I even showed my ticket. I guess when you check in and don’t board a plane a whole bunch of security measures have to be taken to make sure I wasn’t some crazy person trying to bomb a plane. Good Times.

Anyway I finally made it and was happy to be one my way. When I finally arrived to my destination I went happily to retrieve my luggage. After 30 minutes and no more bags left on the carousel I realized that my bags didn’t make it. 45 minutes is also not enough time for luggage to be transferred from plane to plane.

It took 3 days before I finally got them back! Since I was traveling internationally my luggage was detained and completely ransacked by customs. After that whole experience I pretty much vowed to never again do a layover.

Here I am 3 years later and I have to do a layover. Also I just found out that the airline now charges for checking luggage. WTF. I can understand charging for a second bag but the first one?? That’s just wrong.

Now I’m seriously considering trying to carry on. It would give me piece of mind about not losing anything and also I won’t have to pay an extra fee. However I am the worst packer ever! I’m the girl that packs enough clothes for a month for only a week trip.

Which is why I’m asking you for some packing tips!! I’m desperate! Or would you check your bags and hope for the best?

Fear of flying...

Overweight. So as you may know I am going on vacation in less than 2 weeks. While I am super excited and cannot wait for this trip, I am absolutely dreading the flight. Now I debated if I should even make a post or not. You see for some reason I have a paralyzing fear that someone will read my blog and realize who I am. So scared that I don’t even use my real name. Which is ridiculous because the purpose of this blog was to help me figure things out and work through them. How am I going to do that if I won’t even write about the real stuff? So with deep breaths and a leap of faith I will talk about what has been bothering me for weeks now.

So yes as you may realize from my headline I am an overweight person. I’m not huge, but I when I shop I defiantly need to go into the plus sized department. A lot of people would be shocked to find out how much I weigh. Apparently I “carry my weight well”. Whatever that means. Anyway, I am so nervous that when the time comes to fly I will need a seat extender for my seat belt. I have never had to use one before, but I haven’t flown in 2 years so I’m really nervous. Even though I am the same size since the last time I flew, I have gained weight. Which doesn’t really make sense, but it’s true nonetheless. I realize that it won’t be the end of the world and it shouldn’t really be that big of a deal. But I fear for the humiliation that will come with that request.

The humiliation I would get would be from the fact that I will have to ask for this in front of my friends. My friends who are insanely skinny and for some strange reason still think I can shop at stores like the Gap and American Eagle. Their realization that I am so much bigger then them will be more than I can handle.

Also, when I was younger my mom always had to ask for an extender. Each time she did this, I would be embarrassed, for her and for myself. She hated having to ask for one and that look in her eyes when she had to ask was heartbreaking. I would always say to myself that I will NEVER let that happen to me. But here I am, with the fear that this will be the day that it will finally happen. And so while my friends keep talking about everything we will do when we arrive, I am freaking out about the plane ride. I know I should just suck it up, but I can’t seem to let it go. Chances are, I will not need one. But there is a chance, however small it may be, that I will have to get one. I don’t even really know how to handle that situation. Knowing the person that I am, I will probably cry. But than again, maybe it will be the push I need to get myself healthy again. I just really needed to write my fears down, so they can hopefully stop plaguing me 24/7.