nick has a blog!

I’ve spent the past two weeks in Europe doing a lot of firsts: first time flying, first time out of the country, and first time traveling alone. During my adventures in the various airports I’ve learned a lot of new things about traveling that you don’t read about, so I thought I’d share.

1. Make sure the name on your ticket is the same on your passport. - Nick != Nicholas. I got hassled only once about this when going into the international section at SFO. I had to go wait in another line to get my name changed and then go back to the original line. Bleh! Just do it right the first time.
2. Try to get exit seating. - Exit seating tends to have a lot more leg room that regular seating. On my 10 hour flight from SFO to Munich, Germany, I was cramped and just uncomfortable in the small seating; especially since I have long legs. On my way back from Frankfurt, Germany to SFO, I lucked out and got exit seating, which made that long international flight slightly more tolerable. The person I sat next to said he was able to specify exit seating, so I’m going to look into making sure I get it next time I fly a long distance.
3. For those of you who also need a vacation from your cell phone… - Don’t forget to bring a watch! My cell phone is my watch, so I never wear one. Not bringing one was a mistake because I rely on it to keep myself on schedule. Let’s just say I frequently had to go out of my way to find a clock or ask for the time.
4. Yes you will experience turbulence, no you are not going to die. - This is kind of silly, but I really didn’t know what to expect since it was my first time flying. Sleeping on a plane is hard enough; sleeping on a plane when your heart is pounding is impossible! I really did think at one point that turbulence meant something was wrong with the plane and we were all going to die! Luckily logic and reason came into play and I realized that no one else was panicking, so it all must be normal. After that experience it was mostly smooth sailing.
5. Don’t be a dick. - I missed one of my return flights home (literally by minutes) because my itineray said one airline when it was really another. At the REAL line, I had to use a kiosk that didn’t work at all, so I had to wait in another line. Regardless I was MAD, but I was able to keep my cool. They end up putting me in a Doubletree hotel and even kicked down some extra food vouchers. To contrast this, the woman who was yelling and demanding her hotel voucher only got enough attention to make her shutup.

Those are just a few things that I didn’t know before that I now know. I’m sure most people already know this stuff from experience, but I thought I’d pass down the knowledge anyways. Sometimes it’s the small things that’ll kill you.

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