I have hardly been to the airport a few times now (for boarding flights that is) and every other time, the tiresome process of immigration, luggage check in and security check in, blah blah just wears me down totally. Back when I was a school kid and hadn't been to an airport as of then, airports were supposedly huge hallways with infinitely long escalators and large elevators where you can get to click pictures with celebrities Although it's an altogether another issue that I have never recognized any of the celebrities I personally saw till date (BELIEVE ME! Their faces on and off the camera are a major contrast).
But Airports, for me now really are about waiting in long lines for all sorts of formalities and having to ask at least 10 people for directions, especially if you haven't been there before and all the more especially if you are in one (like The Miami International Airport) where the employees do not know the directions to certain important points in the area and getting completely exhausted by the end of all this only to ironically having to take an 8-12 hour flight or maybe more beyond that. Not to mention the overly-expensive food and drinks at the airport food courts.
Hardly few visits and I have so many experiences and stories. Some of these suggestions may be obvious, but they are not-so-obvious when they actually happen to you. London Heathrow Airport, one of the prominent stops on USA-India travel- I saw more Asian people than the English.It was almost dawn when I landed and I don't know if it was the half-asleep-half-awake condition (Yes, I'd rather use these four words than the one word "hypnagogia" because the latter sounds like some kind of illness to me) but I do remember asking the official where to head to next (without telling him I had a connecting flight, perhaps? So what! He should have asked). I ended up standing in the immigration line for almost half an hour till my eyes suddenly caught a board in the corner with the words "connecting flight" and the respective direction. So, in the airports, especially for the first time goers,
Had it not been for the three hour gap between my previous & next flight and if bad luck had struck me enough for a very long security line, I could have missed my connecting flight. So, make sure you are going in the right direction and if you are not sure, ASK. Ask 10 or even 100 times. You would rather look like a paranoid fool than miss your flight and get stranded in a country where you don't have a visa to.
Chances are you have to stand in a huge box with your arms spread wide and if you are to go in there, you will have to take off all the metal accessories. Since I was already too tired, I took off only a few that were too obvious (Yes, I do wear a lot of those in general). But when I entered the box, it made an annoying sound and the 5 foot 11 inches broad-shouldered security woman in her British accent gave me a 5 minute lecture on the importance of taking all the metal accessories in all international airports during security checks.
I had checked up the list for both countries. Check it for every international travel & check YOUR bag. If you are carrying an old bag, make sure you've thoroughly emptied it. An American co-passenger told me he once ended up paying $500 for an orange which he had got as prasadam from a temple in India, but had forgotten about it altogether.
Make sure you are ALERT not to leave these two "gold pieces" anywhere. (They're a lot more precious than Gold when you are traveling-Believe me!) Be paranoid and check every 5 minutes whether you have those two in hand. If you are a relatively careless person, then I recommend that those two strictly be in your handbag, even if you have to take it out multiple times (Yes, you have to show those two every now and then to some or the other airport official)
Once you frequently begin to do a to-fro international travel, it will still be tiresome and full of hassles, but you are at least familiar with everything. Try not to have two flights with a gap of really long hours, otherwise you might have to sit and write down some crap, like I just did! A malayalee aunty just came and sat next to me after learning that I was Indian and has started to talk something in Malayalam. I can't make out fully what she is saying, but I could try, right? (The little that I can understand is because I know telugu). Besides, there seems to be no other way other than trying to understand an unknown language to kill the time till my next flight. I already took a trip of the entire airport. Gosh! I really don't like the airports!
But Airports, for me now really are about waiting in long lines for all sorts of formalities and having to ask at least 10 people for directions, especially if you haven't been there before and all the more especially if you are in one (like The Miami International Airport) where the employees do not know the directions to certain important points in the area and getting completely exhausted by the end of all this only to ironically having to take an 8-12 hour flight or maybe more beyond that. Not to mention the overly-expensive food and drinks at the airport food courts.
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| The Washington Dulles Airport-One of the finest I have seen. With large direction boards & help desks at critical locations, it's very convenient to go from one corner to the other |
Hardly few visits and I have so many experiences and stories. Some of these suggestions may be obvious, but they are not-so-obvious when they actually happen to you. London Heathrow Airport, one of the prominent stops on USA-India travel- I saw more Asian people than the English.It was almost dawn when I landed and I don't know if it was the half-asleep-half-awake condition (Yes, I'd rather use these four words than the one word "hypnagogia" because the latter sounds like some kind of illness to me) but I do remember asking the official where to head to next (without telling him I had a connecting flight, perhaps? So what! He should have asked). I ended up standing in the immigration line for almost half an hour till my eyes suddenly caught a board in the corner with the words "connecting flight" and the respective direction. So, in the airports, especially for the first time goers,
Watch out for the signs & direction boards. Not all the airports have large sized direction boards and signs, but they will certainly be there!
Had it not been for the three hour gap between my previous & next flight and if bad luck had struck me enough for a very long security line, I could have missed my connecting flight. So, make sure you are going in the right direction and if you are not sure, ASK. Ask 10 or even 100 times. You would rather look like a paranoid fool than miss your flight and get stranded in a country where you don't have a visa to.
Wear as less jewelry/accessories as possible.
Chances are you have to stand in a huge box with your arms spread wide and if you are to go in there, you will have to take off all the metal accessories. Since I was already too tired, I took off only a few that were too obvious (Yes, I do wear a lot of those in general). But when I entered the box, it made an annoying sound and the 5 foot 11 inches broad-shouldered security woman in her British accent gave me a 5 minute lecture on the importance of taking all the metal accessories in all international airports during security checks.
Make sure you have all duty-free items and NOT end up paying huge fines in customs.
I had checked up the list for both countries. Check it for every international travel & check YOUR bag. If you are carrying an old bag, make sure you've thoroughly emptied it. An American co-passenger told me he once ended up paying $500 for an orange which he had got as prasadam from a temple in India, but had forgotten about it altogether.
DO NOT LOSE your passport and boarding pass at any cost.
Make sure you are ALERT not to leave these two "gold pieces" anywhere. (They're a lot more precious than Gold when you are traveling-Believe me!) Be paranoid and check every 5 minutes whether you have those two in hand. If you are a relatively careless person, then I recommend that those two strictly be in your handbag, even if you have to take it out multiple times (Yes, you have to show those two every now and then to some or the other airport official)
Once you frequently begin to do a to-fro international travel, it will still be tiresome and full of hassles, but you are at least familiar with everything. Try not to have two flights with a gap of really long hours, otherwise you might have to sit and write down some crap, like I just did! A malayalee aunty just came and sat next to me after learning that I was Indian and has started to talk something in Malayalam. I can't make out fully what she is saying, but I could try, right? (The little that I can understand is because I know telugu). Besides, there seems to be no other way other than trying to understand an unknown language to kill the time till my next flight. I already took a trip of the entire airport. Gosh! I really don't like the airports!
