[I wrote this from the airplane, last Wednesday!]

I should have known this trip wasn’t going to be easy – hahahaha! With the ups and downs of the last couple weeks leading up to our flight, I should have picked up on what investigators call a “clue”. But at this point, who cares – because we made it on time (barely) and we are on our way to Ireland. All tightly bundled together in our airplane seats that don’t recline!

As I sit here and write this post, I realize none of this matters now. Looking back, we will all laugh and joke about this family trip we did overseas. It won’t matter in the long run because we were together, having a grand ole time. But to prove you can’t make this shit up, here is what we were working with!

First issue would be the “Dad passport thing”. We had to work out the fact that he didn’t actually have a passport until the day BEFORE we left. Yes, I’m being serious! Between dragging his feet, his conspiracy theories and the whole passport processing procedure, we were cutting it close. Almost too close! I definitely met my all-time high frustration levels dealing with this…and my dad – bless his heart! But thankfully, he got everything in order after spending the day in DC before we left. Phew 😅

Now as for the actual travel day – geez, what a mess! Maybe flying out of Rhode Island wasn’t the best move. Anything for a deal, right? 🤦🏼‍♀️ Wrong…I may need to reconsider convenience over good deals next time. I don’t have a problem with paying an extra $20 to fly out of DCA versus IAD. But something about this deal had me “hook line and sinker”. Never again Norwegian Airlines!

Side note: Norwegian doesn’t fly out of Washington DC. They also charge you for everything! All seats, water, blankets…I’m glad they didn’t charge me to pee. Watch out for them! If they flew out of DC, it might be worth the deal, but they don’t. They also didn’t have Wifi – they said it was just a “new plane thing”. Who knows! Just beware.

One piece of advice – choose convenience!

That is starting to prove itself more and more as a key factor with all my travel. Is a $200 tickets worth that 8-hour drive through 8 states? I don’t think so (and it’s agreed among my family)!

Originally when I booked the tickets, the drive didn’t seem that bad. After the long haul, though, I completely change my mind. Traffic almost, and easily could have been, the end for us. We were making good time until New York City…and pretty much all of Connecticut. I mean, really? Connecticut is only so big!!! We sat in traffic most of the time we were in that state.

With an added hour, due to traffic, I had the pressure of making up for lost time. Let’s just say I was able to knock off about 30 minutes to that added 60 – shhh! Don’t tell anyone. Plus, I would never want to push my limits like that again. No way in hell!

Luckily, we made check-in on time, breezed through security, managed to pee and grab some overpriced airport food. My brother even managed to chug a beer before boarding – kudos, bro.

Now, from the comforts of our airplane seats, we are reading, writing and soon to be sleeping. Let’s hope the rest of our trip is smooth sailing.