Group travel

 

Trials and tribulations at the airport

Lately we have been using group travel to travel abroad instead of all the planning necessary when you do it yourself. It is convenient and you meet interesting people also in the group. The downside is that the itinerary is decided, and timing is sometimes not convenient.

Take our last trip to Puglia in southern Italy in October.

The travel instructions stated that we meet up at the airport at 0515, that is very early for us and necessitated an overnight stay in an airport hotel.

Early morning in the airport was chaos, it seems that all charter companies have early morning departures. We rush to find a free check-in automat, no friendly face just a machine that seems to demand an ever-increasing number of personal details before spewing out baggage tags and boarding passes. Pushed out of the queue by impatient persons behind us we found a free space to attach our baggage tags and store our baggage id tags, not in your passport at it tears up the pages but, in a wallet, or handbag.

Then join a long queue for what is called “baggage drop” which in reality is another self-service action to place your baggage on the conveyor and ensure you have used the barcode reader correctly. Will it go or will it not. Stress, stress, stress. I thought this was a holiday!

And we are not finished yet! A slowly moving crocodile of people shedding water bottles passes through a security check-in to join another queue for depositing personal items for security examination.

Off with coats, hats, belts, and wallets, take electronic equipment out of the hand luggage. Must remember a Kindle is considered an electronic item. Do not want my tray to end up in the “investigate further” lane.

For me with two artificial knees, there is always a beep as I pass through the electronic gate, beep and I am guided to another electronic search gate where a particular stance is required with feet apart and hands over your head. I feel like a criminal being body searched but I know it is for my own safety.

All is OK and I can go through and pick up my belongings, find a free space to dress myself, place all my personal belongings back in my bag, check I have not forgotten anything, and I am free to enter the airport.

All I really want to do is lie down and have a rest but this is “holiday” so I guess a coffee and baguette will have to do before we start another round of search for our gate and boarding of the aircraft.

Some start to what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday. I wonder when that will come!