airport workout

Flying home a day early to keep an appointment with my surgeon was frustrating (although I did work overtime to make up the lost day of work placement). What was even more frustrating was arriving at the airport two hours early. This should ensure I am at the correct departure gate with time to spare, correct?

Instead, what happens is that on any given day, each plane scheduled to arrive is auto-assigned a gate number. As planes are late landing, delayed taking off, or required to sit at the gate while they're being repaired (landing gear or engine problems? YES PLEASE ground it until it's fixed!), the numbers shuffle so planes that haven't yet arrived are told to prepare for a different gate.

By the time my flight arrived, it had been through four gate numbers and instead of the calm, collected me that entered the airport, it was a rather confused and hurried me that made sure, several times, that gate # the fourth was in fact the landing place of my flight home.

Lesson learned: arriving early doesn't always save you time and hassle.

Secondhand...traveling?

I'm fortunate to have a big family, which includes many aunts. Despite being a bratty child, these relatives have always been kind to me, and a recent stay with one aunt in Ontario landed me a pair of shoes. It's not the first time this has happened - a visit to another aunt in Alberta led to a ransacking of her closet (done by her, of course) and many new items of clothing in my suitcase. I'm starting to think that my aunts save up all their no-longer-wanted clothes, shoes, and accessories to pass on to me - and I'm totally fine with this. Whatver I can't use, I pass on to friends or family back home.

Any room for me at the inn?

I'll be spending a month out of town after school is out of session. I'm really looking forward to it, but I've run into one little hiccup. The family connection I'd planned to stay with rented out his condo and moved to the U.K., so I'm in search of alternate accommodations. I'm wary of hostels, since I need to put down roots for more than just a few days, and I'm also wary of hotels, because they aren't really set up for long-term accommodations and tend to cost a lot even when they are.

My discovery of something in between, called "apartment hotels" has really made the difference. These are set up for a long-term stay, with some including kitchens and looking almost like condos. The rates are a bargain if you stay for a solid month, or pay to stay for a solid month, sometimes as low as $60/night.

The other important discovery I've made is university dorm living. In the summers, most students have left their dorms to head home or travel or work somewhere other than the university's locale, so these areas are available for rent to travelers. One place I'm looking at has a rate of $38/night if you stay for a month in the summer.

I was concerned that without a couch to surf on, I'd end up in an exorbitant hotel far from the areas I'd planned to visit. But it looks like there really are affordable, apartment-style accommodations out there for travelers. And that's a big relief.