Travel lessons

Things I learned(or re-learned) on my first day of traveling:

Sometimes even the simplest of online tasks, like checking in, can falter, and it's in those moments that the talents of an agent at the airport can make all the difference. For whatever reason, I could not get both Mario and I registered for online check-in, and so I was in possesion of an assigned seat on the plane, while he was not. And Lynx Air, being a budget airline, was very adamant in stating that seat assignment would be RANDOM. I had little hope when we arrived at Trudeau Airport, and approached the check-in counter, that we would be sitting together, but I held my breath as the very friendly and efficient clicked away at his keyboard. He hands of the boarding passes with a smile and as I examine them, I notice that not only have I kept my seat, but Mario is right beside me! I could have hugged the agent, but settled for giving him the biggest(and most relieved) smile I could.

Finding a quiet corner in the airport

Sometimes the budget airline really IS the best option, if you realize the fact that it is REALLY is no frills, and prepare yourself accordingly. When the flight to Las Vegas popped up at an incredible $229, we knew there would be plenty of opportunities for paid extras, and weighted out the importance of each. No cabin luggage or checked luggage allowed, so the first order of business was to upgrade that so we could at least pack clothes. But there was also no food, no entertainment, no reclining seats(is that really a bad thing?), even less leg room. I make sure we eat a meal at the airport(fresh and filling poke bowls with salmon and veggies), plus I pack plenty of granola bars, trail mix and chewy licorice to keep us happy. I download a couple of movies onto my laptop to watch, have a good music playlist on my tiny, ancient iPod, and Mario has his trusty Lord of the Rings volume to occupy his time. Plus, there is no much to see out the window, I spend a good deal of the flight taking pictures! And a bonus? Budget airlines seem to attract less travellers, at least for now, and our flight was only 2/3rds full, so we ended up having the entire row to ourselves, leaving us plenty of space to stretch out.

Check out this hyper-skinny seats!

Sometimes even the most researched decisions can end up being wrong. We were aware that there wasn't much difference in prices between a taxi and an Uber from the airport, but it turns out that was only for lifts to the hotels on the strip, and nowhere else. We hopped in a cab and were greeted by a friendly little Indian man who moved to Las Vegas 23 years ago, and told us all about watching the city expand to its current incredible size, about how the taxi industry has changes with the advent of GPS and Google, and how things were affected but the recent flash floods in the area. He was warm and welcoming, but not enough for the fare that ended up being double what Uber had quoted. But we decided that any arrival to a big city inevitable led to us paying a little extra for services, and we had enjoyed the ride, as well as the fact that we got to the rental company right on time for our campervan pick-up.

So excited to have the van back!

Sometimes we forget that travel days are long. And tiring. Even after a speedy collection at Indie Campers, where we needed no instructions on how to work our beloved campervan. Even after an efficient and successful trip to Walmart for an entire week's worth of food, a power inverter, a bluetooth speaker, and many plastic fruit bags for our trash. Even after finally getting on the road, we realize that it's been a LONG day, made even longer by the fact that our bodies are functioning in a timezone three hours in the future, and opt to head just a little up the road to a Love's Travel Centre, for the night. It is certainly not as quiet or adventurous as the free camping we had planned, but that is another two hours of driving, and neither of us will make it that far. It takes all my energy, in the sweltering heat of the Las Vegas night, to fold down the bed and put the sheets on it, and dinner is a gallon of ice tea and some Cheeze-its, and then we crash and hope that sleep will take hold fast.