523 Words
India/General - Op-Ed - Trip Prep 101
I travel quite a bit. This, apparently, does nothing to help my ability to actually get ready for a trip or return from one.
I am about to board West Jet to Toronto. A simple enough excursion and WestJet is always great with on-board humour.
"Please have your boarding pass and photo I.D. ready," the announcement is clear. I open my wallet to where my passport always sits. The jokes have already started, because clearly, it is not there. I shut my wallet, and open it again, hoping for some sort of magical appearance.
This would not be such a big deal if I were just going to Toronto. But, I am going to Toronto to board Etihad Airways to fly, via Brussels, to Abu Dhabi. I will spend two nights there and then on to Delhi for a three-week trip. A passport might be handy.
I do what any competent woman would do. I call my husband, Kevin. I am not yet in tears but it occurs to me I could get there…with or without a passport. We decide I should just board WestJet and see what can be done at the other end.
Mr. Wafik Mishriky, manager of the Etihad Airways counter in Toronto, is wonderful, "Even if I let you through, and even if you got through Canadian security, you'd be turned back at Brussels…let's see what else we can do." Etihad's next flight that coordinates with my dates in Delhi is on Wednesday.
It's Monday. I phone my brother-in-law. "Be there in a flash, Coll." So, instead of two nights in Abu Dhabi, I spend two nights in Mississauga. Meanwhile, Kevin couriers my passport to the Toronto airport as Etihad re-books my flight.
The rest of the trip is as amazing and intense as only India can be. And, whether scouting for tigers or floating down the Ganges past the cremating bodies, my passport is kept securely in my money belt the entire time. I know this because I check. Frequently. And perhaps because I'm feeling that the passport is all that matters, I'm lulled into breaking another traveling tip no-no on my return home.
At Delhi, I do not check the baggage tag or ask where the bag is going. I am going to Abu Dhabi for an overnight stay before flying on to Toronto. I'm thinking this is a clever way to reduce jet lag. I fail to realize that they have quite helpfully checked my bag straight through to Toronto.
I arrive into the steamy nighttime heat of Abu Dhabi in the same clothes I've traveled in since 5 a.m. I have enough gifts in my overstuffed carry-on to open a small shop but zilch to wear and nothing resembling toiletries.
Did I mention that I travel quite a bit? Trust me when I tell you to be compulsive in checking on your passport, to find out where your bag is going, always carry a change of clothes and stuff as many toiletries as you can in that stupid Ziploc.
Take it from me. I am an experienced traveler.
Fly with some great airlines: www.westjet.com www.etihadairways.com |
