Nostalgia. That’s a big thing in the digital world right now.
Throwbacks of Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time outfit #FreeBritney and seeing N*SYNC and Backstreet Boys collab together just give you all the feels.
And so when I came across this little ABC’s of Travel questionnaire, it brought me back to my Xanga and LiveJournal days and I figured, why not?
Why not have a little fun on my blog and bring back all the nostalgic feels as I make my way back into the digital media world? Why not have an enjoyable post that will bring me back to my traveling days and get me on the up and up on this blogging thing.
If you’re like me, I live for music. I will constantly be playing some tune in my head and I will constantly have song lyrics stuck playing over and over again. Now I’m no musician, I can only barely play guitar, I only know how to make noise with drums and I can only play Chopsticks on the Piano (and Beethoven’s Fur Elise song, this I’m pretty proud of myself for).
But there is definitely something about music that really makes you feel something. I mean if you go through a bad breakup, or you feel like your world is falling apart, I tend to turn to music to help heal me, to help me get through those tough days. Or to motivate me.
The best way for me to tell you about my first European experience is by starting from the beginning.
We touched ground at Gatwick Airport (LGW) around 13:00. And after the 10 hour red eye from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Norwegian Airlines, I was ready to get off the plane and right into the UK. I had never been more excited to get off a plane in my entire life.
After going through the long line of passport control, we had finally entered Europe! I was bouncing up and down with joy, I mean that literally too.
After a small mishap with trying to take out money from the ATM (remember your cash withdrawal allowance and the current exchange rate) we were on our way to get into town and drop our stuff off at our hotel before exploring London.
We walked to the train stations and immediately were overwhelmed. It was busy, loud and everything suddenly seemed fast paced and without any phone data or Wi-Fi, we had no idea where we were going. After gawking at timetables and truly not knowing what to do, we ended up in the line to hopefully get the right tubes and trains tickets to our hotel.
The guy that serviced us was very kind and gave us all the info we needed and set us off into our train. We had luckily screenshot our directions to our hotel while we had some Wi-Fi and we were then on our way.
Considering I’m a San Diego girl where public transportation is scarce and we drive everywhere. Taking all the trains and tubes was an experience within itself. I’ve been to New York and through the subway systems there, but for some reason having to change trains to express trains to DLRS to the underground was overwhelming.
But we finally made it the underground London Bridge. And I couldn’t have been happier.
After what felt like an eternity on the packed undergrounds and trains, we made it the Premier Inn Hotel in Docklands and were able to settle in to our rather cozy hotel.
It was our first night in London and we had a travel day pass, so we decided to get into town. We went back into the tubes and made our way to London Bridge and decided to wing it.
There was no real agenda for our first night in Europe, but I wanted to get Fish N’ Chips and see a little sights and then get back to our hotel and in bed to try and beat jet lag.
The London Bridge exit was perfect for our first night. I immediately went crazy with seeing the famous red telephone booths and just had to get inside.
It unfortunately smelled like pee and we really didn’t want to stay in there for much longer.
My vacation started on a Tuesday. I had a fairly early morning flight and so my dad was going to take me to the airport before he went to work. My flight was on Continental Airlines, which is now United Airlines and I was flying out of the little airport called Ontario International Airport (ONT).
Spoiler alert: This was the worst flight day I had ever had in my life. Now I’m sure you know what is going to happen now.
My dad was the one who took me to the airport, it was early in the morning and we didn’t really hit any traffic on our way to ONT, which can be a miracle sometimes for So Cal traffic. And considering how much closer this airport was to us, versus Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Diego International Airport (SAN), we thought with how early it was in the morning and the proximity, we can leave a little later and I’d be checked-in, security checked, and on the plane within an hour. Boy, were we wrong.
Now I’ve never been late to the airport in my life and I’ve flown from San Diego to New Jersey quite a bit, so I’m always on time. Plus, I’m a freak with being late to things so I usually end up being super early and have to wait. But I’d rather be late than sorry.
And this day, I was very sorry.
Reminder: Never underestimate wait times. Always overestimate!
I mean it too. It didn’t look too busy on the outside, or even the inside. But the line for security was a mile long and got even longer as I waited. I’ve always gone from SAN and once through LAX and their checkpoints was not as bad as ONT. Seriously, worst security checkpoint of my life and sadly, I know it’s not my last. And here I’ve devised a list of my reasons why:
1. Disorganized 2. Disorganized 3. Disorganized
How you get to the checkpoint is by taking this small escalator up and there you get your id checked and your ticket checked so you can get in line to go through the detectors. They have a small portion of the line where you go through the little maze queue and that’s really the best way to keep people in line, well that maze queue can only have so many people in it before the line ventures off into disorganization.
And hey, you guessed it, the line ventured away from the maze queue into a mile long line of people who ended up having to curve the line because you reached the other end of the airport check-in. It looked like a black Friday line at midnight. It was ridiculous. Everyone was truly so impatient, not to mention no one had any idea that the mile-long line they saw was just the security checkpoint. So there was random cutting and early morning people irritated because the line didn’t move for one whole hour.
Now I usually allocate myself about an hour to get through the security checkpoint, and that’s with being in-line and getting through A-Okay. Well that hour turned out to be just standing in the same spot as I had been an hour ago. The security line never moved.
So there I was nervous as all hell about missing my flight, one of my worst fears is missing a flight, and my departure time was getting closer and closer. I felt like I get anxiety whenever I feel late. And I had pure anxiety and was calling all my family members to tell them I might miss my flight and I didn’t know what to do.
Finally, the checkpoint line moved and I got through, slowly, of course. And I ran. Of course my gate was literally at the very end of the terminal. So I’m hauling ass, my plane was going to leave in 10 minutes and I was trying everything I could to make it.
I wasn’t the only one running too; apparently almost everyone was late to their gate. I got to my gate and the doors were closed and of course the front desk already had a line of people trying to get the next flight out.
I will give props to the workers; they were very kind and courteous and did their best to get me to my next flight. So they told me there may be a spot in a flight that was going to leave in 15 minutes, so I needed to hurry over there and see if they could squeeze in one person. I got there and of course, there was another line. I got put on standby. They told me if one person doesn’t show up they’ll let me on the plane.
I was literally the next standby person in line and bam that darn guy came right at the last minute and I was SOL. They tried once again to get me on another flight and I was put on standby. And once again, I was denied. That was two denials within a half an hour. I was frustrated.
Finally, they told me in two hours there was a semi-full flight that they can guarantee me to get on and thank god for that. Finally, after worrying my family to the point of anxiety attacks, I was finally in the air on my way to Jersey so I can get on my cruise.
I had a layover in Chicago and my connecting was supposed to be right away. Well, lucky me, it got delayed two hours. So I was stuck. I ended up falling asleep in my seat. So my usual 6 hour direct flight to Jersey turned into an all-day event. All the while my luggage was still on the other plane making its way to Jersey before me.
FINALLY, my plane took off and I landed at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and there was my jersey family glad to see me as I was to see them. I was absolutely exhausted from my day of missed flights, denied standbys and delayed connections. Thank god my luggage was okay as it traveled without me for most of the day. And finally I could relax and actually start to enjoy my vacation.
Goodbye New York, time to relax on my cruise.
So moral of the story, ALWAYS allocate enough time (+an hour), to get into your flight.
After that day of headaches I vow to never miss a flight again, especially with my European trip just around the corner. I will be at the airport two hours before I have to, I don’t care. But I would rather be way early, than be so late everything gets pushed back. I was lucky I still made it that day, because if I didn’t make it to EWR by that day, I would’ve missed my cruise altogether because my ship would be sailing the very next morning. And yes, they will leave you, I’ve seen it happen.
Do you have any transportation horror stories? Share below!
So today is September 12, 2014 and yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City and the Pentagon.
Freedom towers under construction.
Here is a picture of the new freedom towers being built back in March 2013, in honor of the World Trade Centers that went down. I took this photo while I was on my cruise leaving for the Caribbean. It was cold and the air was crisp, but seeing these freedom towers brought a tear in my eye.
I’ve lived on the east coast before, and I have some close family that work in New York City, so when the September 11, 2001 attacks happened it broke my young heart at the mere age of 9.
Now, I don’t want to go into full detail of how I felt and how I feel now. That could take years; I just wanted to show a post of how far our country has come since these attacks. While, I’m not going to get into any political debates into anything happening now since then, I just merely want to take a moment to reflect on all the lives that were lost on this day 13 years ago. So many strangers banded together to help each other out, so many people lost their lives to help someone, and to everyone that was there and to anyone that had family there, they are all heroes in my heart.
I decided to post this after September 11 because I believe that while we will never forget 9/11 in America and we will take the time on that day every year to reflect upon the past and our future. I want to show that we will never forget it every day of our lives. I want you to remember to hold your loved ones close and always tell them you love them. And always remember all those heroes that lived and all those heroes that passed away.
God Bless America
But on another note, as of 2011, September 12 has been officially called National Day of Encouragement! I didn’t know of this day until my work gave us a nice piece of paper that we would put on our desk walls.
The paper starts with “The National Day of Encouragement is about inspiring Americans to make deliberate words and acts of encouragement a part of this day first, then a part of every day of their lives.”
Now I love this idea, so here are some quotes that my work decided to give us as words of encouragement.
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby.
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, “I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn
“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you sit there.” – Will Rogers
“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.” – Jesse Jackson.
CHEERS my travelers. Spread your words of encouragement and tell the world about this day. Also hug your loved ones while you’re at it.
Do you have any inspiring encouraging quotes, post a comment with it below or tweet me @lostwithyvonne
Life, it’s a precious thing. I’m sure you all know that. But how much do we truly appreciate life and how much do we truly take for granted. Due to recent events in my life, I wanted to share why I have such a big passion for travel. Well one of the main reasons why (I have many).
To me, travel is life.
While I was not privileged to get to travel to exotic places when I was young, I decided to change that and make traveling my life goal. And I have never been so passionate about something in my entire life.
Already I’ve visited places like New York City, Las Vegas, and some islands on the eastern Caribbean. And for that I am truly blessed. And now, this upcoming fall of 2014 I get to finally live out my dream of going to Europe (More on this on another post).
But what I want to elaborate on is how much I appreciate the life I live and how privileged I am to be alive. While, no, I don’t make money traveling and no I don’t have a particular job that lets me travel the world. But I am living, breathing, and loving everything and everyone in my life.
You see, travel is something that doesn’t come easy. I mean it can for people who have money, but for many others it can be something that they can only dream of. I lived a good life growing up, my family loved and cared for me and gave me everything my heart desired.
And while it took me awhile to realize how important it was to travel and dream big, (I’d like to thank Samantha Brown and Great Hotels on Travel Channel for that), now I realized how much I want my life to be a big adventure no matter how big or small it will be.
Personally, everyone has excuses to not do something they’re passionate about. They also have excuses as to why they think their lives suck and why they can’t do this or do that. Well, in my opinion, those people need to wake up and realize how fortunate they are.
Everyone has their own issues in life and everyone has things that are tough and need to get through. I will include myself in that last statement. I’m not rich or famous, so I can’t just pick up and travel the world on my daddy’s dollar. I have to work for it. Just like everyone else does.
I guess what this post is basically saying is to wake up and just do it. And put a smile on your face while you’re at it. Life is hard. Life can suck. But how about you start thinking how far in life you’ve already come and how much you’ve already overcame in this life no matter what age you are at. Think about the people that are surrounding you in your life and how much they care and love you. Think about how you’re breathing and alive.
Think about positive things. Think happy. Maybe it’s the optimist in me and all you cynics are just scolding me. But try smiling and try thinking about how you’re alive and how you currently live. I’m sure you’ll find something good.
So cheers to happiness and cheers to traveling to add to your happiness. And a bigger cheers to you and the life you live.
Also never be afraid to dream BIG. You might surprise yourself at what you’re capable of doing to achieve those dreams.
I have a passion for travel and tend to get lost in thought a lot. I was born and raised as a southern California, San Diego, girl and have lived there most of my life. I recently lived that Midwestern life in South Dakota. And was once in the deserts of Arizona. But now, I’m high up in the altitudes of Colorado. I’ve had the privilege to travel to places like New York, Europe and the Caribbean. Just to name a few. And I have a million other places on my list.
I’m a writer, and have been writing since I was a young girl. I love to write what’s on my mind (So be prepared to see random posts here and there) My bookcase is filled with journals, notebooks, movies, and books. So of course, I love to read, write, watch movies and make videos…. on the daily.
I received my bachelor’s in Journalism with an emphasis on Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Radio, Television, and Film. I currently work a lot and travel as much as I possibly can with my boyfriend, Alex. So yes, I make full use of my weekends. I want to uncover places no matter how big or small of a travel destination it is and make my mark there and show the world about it. I also love to hear people’s story and write about them. Everyone has a unique adventure they go through and I believe in giving them a voice (It’s the journalist in me)
I also love my dog, Koda. And my kittens, Dolly and Dottie. Friends is my go-to TV show to make me smile. I love to work out and be active. I also LOVE food (conflicts with my work out regime) and trying new things. Disneyland really is one of the happiest places on earth. I love Disney related things (I’m sure you’ll get lots of Disney references throughout blog posts). And Mulan is the most kick-ass Disney Princess out there. Samantha Brown is my travel idol. And I hope to one day step foot on every continent in the world.
I’m honestly just an (ir)regular girl with many dreams to travel the world. And as I live out my dreams, I want to capture it and share it with the wonderful world we live in. And maybe one day inspire people to get out of their comfort zone, get lost in the world and just enjoy the unfamiliar.
Welcome to my Destinations Page! Click on each photo with the destination and it will take you to all my post with that destination! Enjoy my travelers!
