I’m pretty sure my suitcase was lighter going back; I didn’t buy much, didn’t keep much from the VIG Swag (and a big thank you to N+J who took the rest of it off my hands & gave it a good home), and about ¼ of the volume on the way to the convention was snacks on a one-way trip. Conveniently, this means that there was plenty of space for my carry-on as well, so I only needed to manage one bag on the trip to the airport.
The sling bag is good for the con, but not so great as a carry-on, I think. It did the job, no issues there, but it was only just big enough, so getting anything out of it means unpacking most of everything else, which got old fast. Next time I’ll use my larger 22 litre carry-on, which is still small enough that many airlines treat it as a ‘personal item’, and pack the sling bag as a day bag.
We all met up for breakfast that morning, before hotel checkout, though I’d already packed up by then; The other side effect of not having a whole lot of stuff with you.
We were wondering whether we’d run into the guy we’d met in the hotel lobby last night, whose plan to catch a bus back to Chicago was hampered by the company not updating their information on where the bus stop was. He’d rebooked on a later bus, but the idea that something would go wrong with that trip too did occur, so it was nice to not see him sleeping on a park bench or something.
I got to the airport earlier than I needed to out of restlessness, so rather than sitting around in the hotel lobby I sat around in the airport, waiting for the check-in desk to open.
A line formed before any actual staff were visible, so I sat somewhere I could see the desk from and waited until there were both people and line movement before joining the end. Still took a while, even by the standard of that airline. ( They’re good to travel with, but they have very slow check-in for some reason )
The Indy to Dublin flight was fine, despite starting in the middle of the ocean if this sign is to be believed, and I got to Dublin at … Actually, I have no idea what time it would have been by my clock, but it was still dark outside. Time for Coffee and French Toast in a terminal café?
Heathrow was just where I’d left it, and my bag eventually appeared, so I could get changed from Flying Clothes into Travel Clothes, and make my way out to Aylesbury.
Leave a Reply