International Travel

Traveling Through Airports

If you've done any international traveling, you'll know what I mean about what a hassle it is now.

Do you ever get the same feeling as me - that being ..... cattle going to slaughter? You know how at the stock yards, they are all crammed into tight quarters and then forced into a winding single file via fencing? I get the feeling of my dignity being striped away from me, and that is in the customs queue - they also degrade you before you get that far.

They search you and your belongings. They interrogate you .... where are you going? how long will you be there? do you have a job? do you have a return flight? what is the middle name of your father's 3rd cousin? (just kidding)

You aren't allowed to take a bottle of water with you, due to its highly explosive nature (you will be sensing my sarcastic attitude by now lol).

Oh and let's not forget the booking process. You get charged and charged and charged! Want a seat next to your partner for your 12 hour flight? - that's NOT included in your ticket price - you have to pay extra for that (x2)! Want to bring luggage with you for your 2 week vacation and have us throw it into the cargo hold with complete disregard? - pay up (X2)!! Want a drink to soothe your shattered nerves (x4 or 5 lol)? - oh but that will be an extra charge.

Your passport is checked prior to boarding - makes sense to me! What doesn't make sense - checking it again when leaving the airplane?! Do they really think we all exchange our passports during the flight, that it was a HIGHLY elaborate scheme to overthrow the country of destination by the 150-200 strangers on board, and we want to get caught with someone else's passport??

We go from being treated like cattle in queues, to being sardines stuffed into tiny seats where we can barely wiggle our fins.

We aren't allowed to have sharp metal objects in our possession, and yet my last flight on EdelweissAir, they gave us actual real, metal cutlery! (careful Timmy - you'll poke someone's eye out with that thing!) Seems like a weapon to me!

"Please turn off your cell phone" ..... seriously?! If my cell being on can disrupt the navigation system of this monstrous, sophisticated flying machine .... we're all in deep trouble!! And if they are such a threat, why do they assume that everyone has actually turned theirs off?! They never check for this!

Have you ever had to catch a connecting flight with less than an hour until takeoff, landing in a strange airport, and the boarding gate is in the next county?! That's a fun one - no stress there!! (insert emoji here, i.e. rolling eyes)

I realize that we can't even trust Aunt Martha since 9/11, and that many of these inconveniences are for security measures, but holy cow - can't some common sense, reason, and dignity be employed? or have they all been sacked?

Don't get me wrong, not all my trips have been "less than desirable". I think there was one (maybe) that went relatively smoothly.

I would be interested to hear your stories - I mean nightmares, about your travel experiences. Have you been treated like a King/Queen, or like a dog?

"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields."

Cheers!

Tom