Murphy's Law (of Travel)

Murphy's Law states that anything that can possibly go wrong, does. 

Somewhere out in Bloggerville, someone else has written a similar post, I am sure. But I would like to maintain that Murphy has his own category of laws made expressly for travelers. And each traveler is subjected to his or her own personal travel demon. You know, those things that always seem to happen to you and you alone. Never, ever, anyone else. For example, you might be that traveler who, no matter which line you choose, whether it's at the airport or the border, you will wait twice as long as the person in the same spot as you, two lines over. There is no rhyme or reason to it either-sometimes it's the passenger with the monstrous amount of baggage, or the passenger who apparently thought they could pass smoothly from one border to the other with proper documentation. It doesn't matter-it will happen on whatever day you are taking your journey.

My own personal is....drum roll rhythm please....Murphy's Law of Connecting Flights.  This states in the event of a connecting flight, the first flight will be late in order to ensure that  I can and will be forced to either rebook and/or languish in a transit lounge. Or, I will create a sheer spectacle of myself as I sprint through the airport to find the gate from which the next connecting flight is departing. In that case, this gate will always be, at minimum, two terminals away and boarding will already have begun.  My history speaks for itself-from the debaucle at JFK a few months ago to the time I was forced to spend a night in an hourly establishment (shudder) while trapped in Singapore transit hell.

Case in point: Last weekend, I traipsed off to Florida to for some fun in the sun and female bonding with a best friend from college.  From DC, I had a connection in Charlotte and as per my usual routine, my flight arrived late. The next flight was supposed to be boarding and we were still taxiing. To compound matters, my carry-on had to be tagged on the jetway (along with most of the other passenger's) and stowed underneath. So there would be no frantic sprint out of the plane to my connection. Instead, I would wait, along with the masses, for the grandmotherly gate agent to be handed the bags from the tarmac and  place them  two at a time on the jetway. Mine was dead last. Of course. Upon sighting it, I snatched it as if it was a long-lost child and began my dash. Except I am not exactly in shape for sprinting and neither were my sequined slip-ons purchased on a whim while in Thailand. Cute? Yes. Functional? Not so much. I was winded within 20 seconds and considering my options when I spied the man driving the little golf-cart apparatus. I usually scoff at the notion of being transported to a gate, and poke fun of the passengers who have caught a ride. On this day though, I realized I was going to have to choose between my pride, and getting to Tampa on time. He already had a few passengers and was moving along at pretty good clip, but I seized the window of opportunity as he was whizzing by me to politely ask beseech him to take me wherever he was going.  He stopped and in a flash, I was on the cart and whirling through three different terminals before arriving at my gate. THREE. There is no way I would have made it in my sequined slip-ons doing the Olympic dash.


Unceremoniously, I lunge off the car and panic-stricken, confirm with the nearest passenger that the plane was indeed headed to Tampa. And, as it turned out, the flight was slighly delayed for some unknown reason and boarding had only just begun. All that drama, panic, and cursing of Murphy/my luck/the airlines for virtually nothing.


Of course.


What seems to always happen to you when you travel?


Enjoy a few pictures of the sunny weekend. As you can see, the eventful 10 minutes in Charlotte was the only stressor of the weekend!

50 is the new 100, and ThankYOU, dear Reader!

Yes, I know I just turned 30. But this is so much more monumental. This is my 50th blog post! Waaaaaay back at #1 (click here) , #50 seemed a dream. I know some bloggers like to celebrate at 100, but I am quite content with 50. Here is the long of the short:

It all began over a grumpy summer. As a substitute teacher, summers often turned grumpy and dismal. Why?

No steady cash flow=alot of angst.

My friend Karl had quite enough one day of my aforementioned grumpiness and said I need to stop talking and start writing. I pondered. I decided I had nothing better to do, so I put fingers to keyboard and blog post #1 was born.

49 posts later, I am happily plugging along. You know what I discovered? I like to write and even more, I like the feeling of productivity I have while writing and the sense of accomplishment after.  It's like I just cleaned the house or something. Only the house is not nearly as clean as it would be if I actually cleaned it.

Along the way I have developed a writing style, preserved some stories for posterity, ranted a little, and ultimately, have realized how blessed I am to have stepped foot outside of my world and experienced a taste of life as the rest of the world lives it.

But here is the real focal point of this post..YOU! Would I still write this blog without people reading and commenting? Hmmm.....probably. I like writing too much now to stop. But would it be nearly as interesting? Fun? Engaging? Nope. I like to read your comments, your reactions to my story/thought process. I feel like I have a few friends in random places around the world now, except I just haven't met them. So without further ado, and in no particular order, I would like to give a few props to a few people who have read my stuff, commented, or whose stuff I read regularly. Without you all, I would just be, well......writing a blog and then reading it. Alone.

First up is Reese over at Rambles with Reese. She is living in Italy and her honest insights and variety of postings keep plenty of readers coming back.

Then we have Mary (who just started a cooler version of her old blog :) over at World Curious Traveler. She has got plenty of experience to draw from, ranging from Peace Corps in Namibia to life in Japan, where she currently calls home.

Candice of Candice Does the World just makes me laugh. Really, don't waste time. Just go there and see for yourself.

Sabina is a Solo Female Traveler who writes some pretty darn good (true) stories. I particularly enjoyed her 3 part tale of the Jerusalem jeweler.

Then there is  Emily at Maiden Voyage, who is always finding cool travel contests to enter and is nice enough to share them with us! She is getting married soon, so be nice to her.

Ayngelina at the quirkily named ( in a good way) Bacon is Magic is currently traipsing about Central and South America, firing off short and sweet posts AND pics on everything from delicious vegetarian food, to some amazing salsa dancing she recently encountered in Columbia. Good stuff.

And to my awesome group of  friends and family members who faithfully follow and read...Thanks!

Now, although the above are in no random order, I do need to reserve two special spots for two special readers. Gayle has known me since I was an angst-ridden teenager, who was sure her life was the worst EVER. Gayle has been a faithful reader and encourager and I am so grateful to have her in my life.

Last but not least, there is Adam, also referred to sporadically as "husband." He also reads faithfully and although he doesn't comment, retains the information for future use. For example, I balked at traipsing through the woods with him the other day to find his tree stand (he is a hunter). I used the age old excuse-"But I don't have proper shoes on!" He was pretty quick with the comeback--- "Whatever," he scoffed. "You can traipse around South American mountains in flip-flops, so I think you can handle the woods."

Touche.