Jet-setter 2.0

I know in my post Jet-Setter I already touched on the elegance that is me in the airport, but this trip to California brought me to an all-time low. The big issue: over packing undersized bags. Never again will I bring a backpack as my carry on. I can’t even remember why I thought that was a good idea beforehand. I know wheeled-suitcases are a must for both carry on and check. And yet somehow I ended up with a 30 lb backpack threatening to topple me at any moment. The problem with the checked luggage was one word: wine. I was in wine country, at a wine class, so of course I got a little carried away buying wine. And I also discovered that unlike international flights where only 2 bottles are allowed, you can put as many as you want in the luggage domestically. Now I didn’t go crazy-I only had 3, but just asking one more bottle sent me seriously close to the weight limit on my bag. To be exact I weighed in at 49 lbs exactly (and for those of you who don’t know, the limit is 50 lbs or else you are charged $50 more for going over limit). So of course I was sweating more than usual! And to go with the wine? 2 wine glasses. I know, I know, who would try to pack fragile stemware in with 49 lbs of crap?? Me, of course. I’d gotten the wine glasses complimentary from wine tasting in Temecula with my friend and I couldn’t bear to part with them. (I did leave one of them with my friend, but I did take one red glass and one white glass). In my defense: everything made it.  Not a chip in one glass! Not a break in one bottle! And a taste test last night revealed at least one bottle wasn’t ruined by transport!

The second issue was my fabulous new hat. I know others are not as thrilled with my new floppy hat as I am, but I truly am quite excited about it. But there was no way it was going to fit in my suitcase. So instead, not only did I carry it with me through the airport, that was also where I got the most wear out of it. California apparently gets summer later than us (which I wouldn’t know since this was only my second time making a domestic trip in maybe 15 years) so it wasn’t really beach-y/poolside weather. So the place I wore my hat the most was in the lady’s room where I’d pop it on my head so I’d have my hands free. I’m not sure what people thought as I exited stalls with a floppy beach hat perched on my head, but I figured there wasn’t much lower I could go at that point.

Nurturing my Domestic Side

I’ve been meaning for a long time to get myself to California to visit my best friend from college and when her break after her Medical school graduation coincided perfectly with a week-long wine immersion course it seemed like fate. So I headed out for one week in San Diego and then one week in Livermore. But before I go into detail about those two trips I want to talk a little about my culture shock from traveling domestically. Except for a short flight to Cincinnati two years ago I haven’t flown domestically in 17 years. Also it was my first time flying Southwest, and I do not get what is going on there. Everyone is in polo shirts and cargo shorts. It’s open seating free-for-all on the the plane and everyone is jovial. I guess I get the relaxed atmosphere they are going for, but I can’t trust a man in shorts. I guess I’ve just been spoiled, but here are some of the biggest surprises:

1. No movies

2. No free booze

3. No meal

4. No free bags

5. No movies

6. No going through customs

7. Shorter flights (The nice thing about having flown 18 hours to South Africa is that almost any flight seems short.)