ALL THE THINGS WE FORGOT WE HATED ABOUT TRAVELING!
As I can well imagine you’re anxious to jump on a plane and get the hell out of (insert place you’ve been quarantined). Trust me, I am with you! As far as I am concerned I’ve been trapped on the wrong island- give me the Caribbean please! As for my Caribbean brethren and sisters I know you all are eager to get away too, even just to have a change of scenery! We’re all understandably annoyed that something seemingly so small has transformed our lives in such a dramatic way! For me I thought this was going to be over in 3 months max! Boy were we all wrong, we’ve really had to hunker down and readjust our lives and learn how to breathe again (literally through a mask).
As both my mind and my Google search engine have been fixated on travel and where I can go as soon as it’s deemed safe I stopped to think what am I actually missing? Besides getting to my destination and obviously making memories there are a few things I could really do without.. and here is that list below.
Anxiety over packing and weight limits
Do I or do I not bring my electric tooth brush charger? In fact do I need an adaptor for this country? How many outfits is considered over-packing? On one hand, I should really remove that last outfit… I mean who do I think I am?? BUT then again you NEVER know, anything can happen…what if I meet a billionaire who invited me on his yacht (you guys know I STAY READY). Then I have to do that awful underwear x days calculation, cause God forbid I run out of underwear! Personally I for one wish I knew Hermione Granger’s Undetectable Extension Charm so that I can perform that on my suitcase and pack everything I need.. in fact while we’re at it hook me up with that Apparition Licence – I am over 17! I want to just be able to teleport so that I can avoid the whole airport weighing baggage/ checking-in fake smiling at the ground staff situation praying they give you some wiggle room and they’re in a good mood!
Toiletries & Make-Up
Yes! I gave this the respect it deserved as this needed a separate line to the packing because now I am wondering how do I maintain my skincare / hair care routine when on holiday with travel sized toiletries?? Which means I’ve already added to my weight limit because heads up you can’t! Let’s not even discuss what I have to pack to maintain my natural curls (#blackgirlmagic) and even if I do a protective style for holiday I still have to pack edge controller and that ish doesn’t come in a travel size especially if you want options! Between the toner, the sun screen, the moisturisers (and there are 2 different ones for face and skin) I am already annoyed cause this is all contributing to not only space but weight! On top of that I’m also having to cross check my outfits with my makeup looks just to ensure I can slay comfortably while I am away! Does this beat require setting spray?? (heads up the answer here is yes!)
Security Check At The Airport
Don’t even get me started ..Thanks 911! This is an ensemble dahhlinnggg (aka travel outfit) now I got to take off my shoes and if this ensemble doesn’t require socks I’m now walking on that cold ass airport floor (eww even pre-Covid this is just eww). And as always I get stopped due to the wire in my full cup bra… sigh… (if you know you know! If you don’t know please check on your heavyset chested friends because it’s a process) Great! I ‘ve now received an unwanted upper body frisk.
Boarding The Plane
Now Now Now.. this is my pet peeve! I can’t tell you know much I detest this. Why are you crowding the gate sir??!?! You’re not in first class, nor are u a parent with a small child. You can chill we ALL have a seat this is not the London Underground during rush hour! I swear I am sometimes the last person to board the plane just on principle alone of hating lines and having to queue in the aisle of the plane while every Tom, Dick and Harry is trying to manoeuvre, find their seats and shove their hand luggage into the over head compartment. I think I once told my sister if there’s any reason to have children it’s to get to the head of that line and board first!
What goes up must come down, so this brings us to… Landing!
I’m going to keep this brief but I’ve always known, if my true love claps when the flight lands it was never meant to be. If you’re a clapper trust me we don’t want to know, do us all a favour and just clap virtually in your mind (I don’t care HOW bad being locked up during quarantine is have some decorum!) Sincerely your flight passengers. And .. as speculated and true to form, the SAME people who queued prematurely to get on the flight.. guess what! They’re the first ones up to get off the flight and queue in the aisles ..AGAIN!
Once this is all said and done the 2nd waive of anxiety hits… The return flight packing
This is really my own fault, and I have no one to blame but myself here. I’m the type of person (as you can tell if you’ve been reading) even if it’s a 2 day trip I unpack EVERYTHING and lay it out like the place I’m staying is my home so repacking for me is a scene! And because I’ve already over packed beforehand it’s even MORE stressful cause I’ve 100% bought things while on holiday such as my favourite local alcohol, new favourite snack and or a souvenir or two which I have no room for in my overpacked suitcase. (Yes, I know there’s duty free but you never know if you’re guaranteed to find what you like there, also I love exploring a local grocery in any country I visit because I am a sucker for a good bargain, let’s be honest it’s always cheaper in the grocery… I can’t risk it y’all!) Plus I’m a firm believer what’s in the airport when u leave a destination is more commercial than local. I’ll rather shop duty free leaving my home country than on my way out unless there’s something specific I want duty free. So now I am scrambling to fit items, re pack clothes and in some instances double up on clothing on the flight all to maintain that weight baggage limit!
Now don’t get me wrong, although I am saying all of this I know at the end of the day the minute I can get to where I want to go I’m jumping on that flight!! I just wanted to remind you all (and myself while I am at it) there’s down sides to travelling no matter how eager we all are to get back out there and revitalise the tourism industry. So let’s not get too caught up in nostalgia of the good old days without failing to reminisce about all those horrible flight stories, family arguments on the way there, running late to the airport and almost missing the flight days or even realising your gate has changed last minute and running half way across the airport … oh the luxury! Although, I’m sure none of us will be running late again, in fact, between excitement to get on a plane, the security checks and now the added Covid-19 restrictions of social distancing we’re all so paranoid we will probably be arriving to the airport before the staff! Until then I know you have all your dream holiday detitanations bookmarked on your webpages ready to press go!
Happy traveling everyone, until we meet again.