Up to Calgary

１日６月２０１０年

In a few too many ways so far, this trip has been an awakening slap in the face, as to say "welcome to reality!" Every step of the way, from planning to packing to executing the chain of transit, the truth of the ambition is that if you don't personally see to it that every step happens as it should, then you should be prepared to accept the consequences, however serious they could be.

Though we're still én route in the sense that we're scheduled to arrive at our destination on time, there have already been some outstanding failures, a few of which have caused some serious stress though their potential to have been disastrous. Recounting just yesterday morning, the situation to depart to Chicago from Grandville at 1:45pm on Memorial Day, destined for a 6:30pm flight and without a single thought of weather and traffic obstructions was utterly childish, and if the post-Gary traffic had been anything short of fluid streamlines of 85mph, we would have been at the mercy of airport standby before we even left America.

But It could so easily have been avoided.

Upon landing in Toronto after a delayed flight, the real excitement began. We had 40 minutes to grab our bags, clear customs, and book it to the other side of the airport for our connecting flight to Calgary. All was well for about 10 minutes before the lightning storm outside arrested the progress of the baggage carousel loaders, and we were left with the decision to gamble on waiting for our baggage, or filing some Canadian paperwork to report our bags unclaimed and to just send them straight to Tokyo/Narita. We chose the paperwork, and left the baggage area with about 15 minutes to go.

.nowreadyGO!

We bolted through the airport to the next checkpoint, and unloaded out pockets in to the metal detector bins.

7 minutes.

Security A: "Shasheesh, is that backpack clear?"
Security B: ".... Uhhh.... I dunno."
Adam: >:(

6 minutes.

Secutiry A: "Shasheesh, turn the conveyour belt back on!"
Secutiry B: "Uh... Oh, ok!"
Adam: *Facepalm*

5 minutes.

I put my camera, ipod, etc. back in my pockets. About 100 yards to go.

4 minutes! The race is on!

We sprint towards gate 142, dash across the moving walkways, hobbling ever slower due to the weight of our awkwardly shaped carry-on backpacks.

3 minutes. Becky drops some stuff, and has to run back!!

1 minute. We make it to the gate, but the boarding passes are nowhere to be found. Unleash the expletives! Thankfully we were found on their computers, and with the help of our passports, the flight attendants printed us new passes. And then slunk off~

But it was seriously a sweaty, panting chunk of stress. Looking back at to the incident at the baggage area, we were unprepared to make a decision about leaving the baggage or waiting for it, but our requirement to act quickly really spoke clearly to me. I'm not an adult until I can make high-pressure decisions with a cool head. And because I flip-flopped too long about what to do, we almost missed our flight. Missing our flight to Calgary would have had very serious, very real repercussions, as would have missing the flight into Toronto.

We got lucky. And we need to be a bit more on top of things should we expect to make it through one of the biggest (and non-english-speaking) airports in the world. I'm fortunate, though. I think this is a much-needed wake-up call.

But in transition, I'm glad I'm not traveling alone.