I arrived at Sea-Tac airport after the dinner hour from Fairbanks, Alaska. I had a layover of about three hours, and I was a bit disoriented by an airport that seemed to have more than doubled in size since my last visit. It took two trams, three escalators and what seemed like a mile-long walk with a carry-on and my overstuffed “personal item” to arrive at my continuing flight’s gate in a different terminal. The waiting area was crowded with passengers waiting to board an interim flight.
I walked on, hoping to find a spot to relax and have a bite to eat.
When I spied an inviting airport bistro, I was “all in,” despite a large number of empty tables. I found an open bar stool and asked for a menu, only to be told by a busy server that the kitchen had closed 30 minutes earlier.
Aha! I sighed, understanding the reason for the empty tables.
I ordered a glass of my favorite red wine, only to be told it was sold out. I accepted an alternative. A fellow traveler arrived to occupy the stool next to me, and he also asked about food. Then he ordered as well, settling on his third choice of a draft ale!
We raised our glasses in a mutual toast to safe travels and no dinner, speaking briefly about the irony of being unable to order food or drinks of choice in a place that catered exclusively to travelers. There wasn’t even a “grab and go” food venue in sight on a weekday evening at one of the top dozen international airports in the country. It was not quite 9 p.m.
We were both destined to fly on without dinner, but an hour’s worth of interesting conversation ensued, until it came time to pay our bills. Suffice it to say that my single glass of “acceptable” wine, not including gratuity, cost more than I pay at home for a full bottle of my favorite red. My newfound friend was equally surprised by the price of his two draws from the tap. Shaking our heads, and wishing one another well, we made our way to our gates, eager to board our separate flights, his to the east coast, mine to Dallas.
The point of this story is not that the situation would have been any different had I been traveling with my partner. Together, we would have been equally tired, hungry, and dismayed by the prices. But we would probably have consoled ourselves with laughter, and resolved to never travel again without a nutritious breakfast bar or a package of cheese crackers.
So, I simply reiterate the advice I offer to travelers young and old: Stay flexible, and don’t forget to pack your sense of humor! But now, I will routinely tuck a snack into my carry-on — a bag of peanut butter M&Ms perhaps, or some salted nuts. And I will most certainly ask the price before ordering anything!
My equally important recommendation: Always talk to strangers! made that Seattle experience bearable. Actually, the ability to talk about our shared frustration helped alleviate the hunger and the time passed quickly. Sharing makes even difficult times bearable. Connecting with another human being always lightens the emotional load.
Two weeks earlier in Dallas, a friend had dropped me at my airline’s curbside check-in counter. I had booked my flight with the airline credit card. One of my expected perks was a no-fee checked bag and I planned to take advantage of it to simplify my passage through security as well as to lighten my load at a layover airport. To my surprise, however, curbside check-in was unavailable for my international flight to Vancouver, B.C., and the “free bag check” only applies to domestic routes. Once inside the terminal, I paid the fee, handed over my bag, made my way through security and on to the departure gate noted on my boarding pass.
I settled into a seat; boarding was scheduled about an hour later. A woman with a distinctly British accent sat next to me. She had arrived from London, and was traveling to Vancouver to visit her daughter. We touched on a variety of other topics, including the coronation of King Charles III, with television coverage beginning shortly after midnight Vancouver time.
“I am not a monarchist,” she said. “Are you?”
I thought about that for a second. “No,” I offered. “I am not a monarchist,” thinking to myself that was a concept Americans gave up on two and a half centuries ago. But I added that I had watched the coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral some months before, and planned on watching some of the coronation coverage as well.
She volunteered that she had no intention of watching the pageantry taking place in her home country, and we spoke at length about the monarchy and its role in the modern world, about life in our respective nations, about Canada, our families, our travels, and our hopes for the future. We didn’t solve any world problems, but we learned we had more similarities than differences and we enjoyed our time together, until we heard a “final boarding” announcement over the public address system.
It was only then that we realized we were among only a handful of passengers waiting at that particular gate, and that there were no airline representatives there.
To our dismay, we checked the adjacent schedule board and discovered we had been waiting at the wrong gate. We grabbed our carry-on bags and totes and made a dash through the concourse, arriving at the proper gate to be greeted with frowns — then smiles — just as the ground crew prepared to close the airline door!
Breathless, we exchanged glances as we made our separate ways to our assigned seats and waved goodbye. Were we so engrossed in conversation that we simply missed the announcement of a gate change? I am still confounded, but I am grateful for that opportunity to connect so deeply with a complete stranger, and I will always remember how quickly the time passed and how intertwined our lives seemed. Sharing a unique moment in time with another person is, to me, the best travel reward that I can imagine.
I am happy that we didn’t miss our flight, although even that might have been worth it! I believe wholeheartedly that the most memorable experiences begin when two strangers smile and say hello.
After a few hours of rest, I awoke in the middle of the night to view the news coverage of the coronation. I wondered if perhaps she had relented after all. Somehow, I hoped she was watching too.
Note: This is the second in a mini-series of posts about solo travel. I plan to continue to write about my solo experiences, as the spirit moves me and with no particular schedule in mind. I do hope though that you’ll come along with me and that you enjoy the world through my eyes. Also, I’d be pleased if you share comments about your experiences in various parts of the world. Click on the Follow button to receive email notification of future posts.
Right Off Main 
Travel Tales: When plans go awry
I arrived at Sea-Tac airport after the dinner hour from Fairbanks, Alaska. I had a layover of about three hours, and I was a bit disoriented by an airport that seemed to have more than doubled in size since my last visit. It took two trams, three escalators and what seemed like a mile-long walk with a carry-on and my overstuffed “personal item” to arrive at my continuing flight’s gate in a different terminal. The waiting area was crowded with passengers waiting to board an interim flight.
I walked on, hoping to find a spot to relax and have a bite to eat.
When I spied an inviting airport bistro, I was “all in,” despite a large number of empty tables. I found an open bar stool and asked for a menu, only to be told by a busy server that the kitchen had closed 30 minutes earlier.
Aha! I sighed, understanding the reason for the empty tables.
I ordered a glass of my favorite red wine, only to be told it was sold out. I accepted an alternative. A fellow traveler arrived to occupy the stool next to me, and he also asked about food. Then he ordered as well, settling on his third choice of a draft ale!
We raised our glasses in a mutual toast to safe travels and no dinner, speaking briefly about the irony of being unable to order food or drinks of choice in a place that catered exclusively to travelers. There wasn’t even a “grab and go” food venue in sight on a weekday evening at one of the top dozen international airports in the country. It was not quite 9 p.m.
We were both destined to fly on without dinner, but an hour’s worth of interesting conversation ensued, until it came time to pay our bills. Suffice it to say that my single glass of “acceptable” wine, not including gratuity, cost more than I pay at home for a full bottle of my favorite red. My newfound friend was equally surprised by the price of his two draws from the tap. Shaking our heads, and wishing one another well, we made our way to our gates, eager to board our separate flights, his to the east coast, mine to Dallas.
The point of this story is not that the situation would have been any different had I been traveling with my partner. Together, we would have been equally tired, hungry, and dismayed by the prices. But we would probably have consoled ourselves with laughter, and resolved to never travel again without a nutritious breakfast bar or a package of cheese crackers.
So, I simply reiterate the advice I offer to travelers young and old: Stay flexible, and don’t forget to pack your sense of humor! But now, I will routinely tuck a snack into my carry-on — a bag of peanut butter M&Ms perhaps, or some salted nuts. And I will most certainly ask the price before ordering anything!
My equally important recommendation: Always talk to strangers! made that Seattle experience bearable. Actually, the ability to talk about our shared frustration helped alleviate the hunger and the time passed quickly. Sharing makes even difficult times bearable. Connecting with another human being always lightens the emotional load.
Two weeks earlier in Dallas, a friend had dropped me at my airline’s curbside check-in counter. I had booked my flight with the airline credit card. One of my expected perks was a no-fee checked bag and I planned to take advantage of it to simplify my passage through security as well as to lighten my load at a layover airport. To my surprise, however, curbside check-in was unavailable for my international flight to Vancouver, B.C., and the “free bag check” only applies to domestic routes. Once inside the terminal, I paid the fee, handed over my bag, made my way through security and on to the departure gate noted on my boarding pass.
I settled into a seat; boarding was scheduled about an hour later. A woman with a distinctly British accent sat next to me. She had arrived from London, and was traveling to Vancouver to visit her daughter. We touched on a variety of other topics, including the coronation of King Charles III, with television coverage beginning shortly after midnight Vancouver time.
“I am not a monarchist,” she said. “Are you?”
I thought about that for a second. “No,” I offered. “I am not a monarchist,” thinking to myself that was a concept Americans gave up on two and a half centuries ago. But I added that I had watched the coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral some months before, and planned on watching some of the coronation coverage as well.
She volunteered that she had no intention of watching the pageantry taking place in her home country, and we spoke at length about the monarchy and its role in the modern world, about life in our respective nations, about Canada, our families, our travels, and our hopes for the future. We didn’t solve any world problems, but we learned we had more similarities than differences and we enjoyed our time together, until we heard a “final boarding” announcement over the public address system.
It was only then that we realized we were among only a handful of passengers waiting at that particular gate, and that there were no airline representatives there.
To our dismay, we checked the adjacent schedule board and discovered we had been waiting at the wrong gate. We grabbed our carry-on bags and totes and made a dash through the concourse, arriving at the proper gate to be greeted with frowns — then smiles — just as the ground crew prepared to close the airline door!
Breathless, we exchanged glances as we made our separate ways to our assigned seats and waved goodbye. Were we so engrossed in conversation that we simply missed the announcement of a gate change? I am still confounded, but I am grateful for that opportunity to connect so deeply with a complete stranger, and I will always remember how quickly the time passed and how intertwined our lives seemed. Sharing a unique moment in time with another person is, to me, the best travel reward that I can imagine.
I am happy that we didn’t miss our flight, although even that might have been worth it! I believe wholeheartedly that the most memorable experiences begin when two strangers smile and say hello.
After a few hours of rest, I awoke in the middle of the night to view the news coverage of the coronation. I wondered if perhaps she had relented after all. Somehow, I hoped she was watching too.
Note: This is the second in a mini-series of posts about solo travel. I plan to continue to write about my solo experiences, as the spirit moves me and with no particular schedule in mind. I do hope though that you’ll come along with me and that you enjoy the world through my eyes. Also, I’d be pleased if you share comments about your experiences in various parts of the world. Click on the Follow button to receive email notification of future posts.
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About adriennecohen221
A full-time freelance writer for more than a decade, Adrienne Cohen writes extensively about travel, food and drink, cruising, road trips, farm-to-table dining, alternative agriculture, and entrepreneurship. A classically-trained journalist, she is always in search of a good story, and her bylined work has been published extensively both online and in print media.