Vacation Time: Getting There

6-1/2 months I waited for this… in fact I was so excited for my vacation that I was certain I would be disappointed in how everything played out since my expectations were so high. Well, I am happy to say that my vacation was absolutely wonderful and far surpassed all my hopes. When I took this job I knew I would get one vacation halfway through my tour that would be paid for by the Government. What I didn’t know is the stress, headache, hassle, and waiting that is associated with taking a military flight versus a commercial flight. Different people all told me the same horror stories of taking a military flight, so I opted to pay my own way and know exactly when I was leaving, when I would get there, and didn’t have to spend an excessive amount of time waiting or being ushered from one location to another. It was well worth the money to have an extra day in Denver and avoid all the uncertainties that come with the military flight. However, the airport was still an interesting experience… A co-worker dropped my off around 9pm. My flight didn’t leave until 11:45pm so that should have given me plenty of time to check in. When I arrived I had no idea where to go, so I did what seemed right and followed the crowd that was toting around luggage. I got a good way into the airport when a worker asked me which airline I was flying. When I said “United” he was nice enough to point out that I needed to go completely out of the airport, head to the right, and enter the double doors that say “Zone 1”. I thanked him and was on my way. One would think that signs and clear directions would be commonplace in a location such as an airport, or am I asking too much? Okay, so once I was on the right track and went from one stop to the next I was feeling pretty good about things… until the line that I was in came to a complete standstill. In fact, all the lines came to a halt. It was quite funny to watch the people jump from one line to another by simply butting in front of people with the hopes that line would begin moving again and be faster. I guess manners are a lost art for some people in this country or people feel they are entitled to this rude behavior. At any rate, I wasn’t too concerned about this sudden stop until we had not moved for 40 minutes and there was no indication that we would move any time soon. By this time I had only an hour before boarding would take place and I didn’t know what other hoops I would have to get through before actually boarding the plane. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned, but not panicky at this point. About 10 minutes later the lines began to move again- hooray! Another 20 minutes and I was through to the next stage which landed me in yet another line. This line was long, but seemed to be moving okay, so I knew I would be okay on time. Then I lost my visa! Seriously, I made it through the entire airport and was so careful to hold on to the little piece of paper with Arabic numbers scribbled on it and I lost it! I put my visa along with my ID in my jacket pocket which I even double checked it was actually there before I zipped up the pocket. A few minutes later I heard something fall to the ground and when I looked down there was my ID card. Huh? How did that pocket get unzipped and where is my visa? This is when I hit panic mode! The people in line around me were probably thinking I was an absolute freak, but I know that visa was important and I thought I would need it to get through the last checkpoint before boarding the plane. I looked around, but I could not see the little piece of paper anywhere- it was gone! Turns out I did not need my visa again to get out of the country, and when I got through the last checkpoint I only had to wait about 5 minutes before I walked onto the plane. Let my vacation officially begin! Stay tuned for the continuation of the visa story- who knew it might be important when trying to get back into this country?