Back At It

On my trip from London to America, I had a pretty horrible plane trip: 1) I was seated next to an entire clan of screaming children from Saudi Arabia; 2) the video screens were out; 3) I finished my book and didn't have another one with me; and 4) my iPod died, taking with it my movies and music. Suffice it to say, it was not the most pleasant way to go back home.

That said, I would certainly live through it again for all the added benefits it gave my return trip home.

When we were getting off the plane, the staff handed out tickets that were redeemable for either 10% of my next flight to America, or $150 off an US flight. Since I won't be home for some time, neither option was really awesome. I emailed the nice people at United Airways and was immediately upgraded to Economy Plus. It wouldn't seem like the added leg room would be all that necessary, but once seated, it was amazing.

I arrived at O'Hare at seven, and after being grilled by the airport staff as to why I was flying to the UK with no return trip booked, I queued up in the security line behind a group of Chinese nationals - teenage Chinese nationals who, evidently, have not ever flown. It took the lot of them a good fifteen minutes to get ready for the security check: forgetting to take off their shoes; forgetting to take off their pullover sweatshirts; trying to cram their bags into the metal detector bins; carrying massive piles of metal on their person; etc. etc. All of this raised, obviously, certain suspicions among the Homeland Security Staff, and most of their bags needed to be checked by hand.

While all of this was going on, a new lane opened up, and I was faced with a dilemma that faces anyone who goes grocery shopping a lot: to leave my lane or stay where I was. I figured, by the time one of these Chinese struggled with the security measures most people are familiar with that the rest would breeze through. Figuring that, I stayed in my lane. I found out quite quickly, though, that I had bet on the wrong pony. Each and every one of these Chinese students needed to be reminded that no, in fact, they could not wear their shoes; and no, actually, they did need to take off their coats. But I had made my choice, and if I had abandoned this line for the new one, I can only imagine how quickly the students would have shuffled through security, smiling and waving with the Homeland Security staff, as opposed to exchanging tense glances.

I made it to the gate, and noted that I was in the fourth seating section. This, I have found, is beneficial. When I am seated early, I spend the entire time wondering who will be seated next to me. Getting excited when the single, supermodel-like women walk by, and cringing with fear when the tired family with eight toddlers gets near. In the fourth seating area, I am the last to be seated, and can only accept what is given to me, rather than get disappointed by the inevitably sizeable person that squeezes in next to me.

The Economy Plus section is in the front economy cabin, and the seats are demarcated with a sky blue head rest cover. I found my seat quickly, and to my surprise there was no one else in the row. How can this be, I thought to myself, are the people who are supposed to sit next to me in the bathroom? Are they all children loading themselves up on free snacks in the breakroom? As the remainder of the passengers filed on, it became less and less likely that I was going to get any neighbors. When they sealed the doors and I was still alone, I was shocked: an entire row to myself. I shifted my carry-0n to the space under the seat next to me and enjoyed the extra leg room it provided. This is going to be sweet!

Once we had taken off, I thought about reclining my seat. This is always a delicate procedure. In economy, when you lean the seat back, the video screen becomes unclear, your seat back is forced into the face of the passenger behind you, and the space on the tray-table becomes limited. Some people don't care, but I know how horrible it is to have that happen, so I tried to get a good look behind me. To my surprise, that seat - the whole row, save one seat - was empty. The woman behind me, being a more seasoned traveler, used to being alone in a row, had turned her three seats into a bed of sorts, and had sprawled out comfortably.

I leaned the seat back to maximum recline.

Over the course of the flight, I eventually built a fort of pillows and blankets, stretching out in my opulence, secretly loving the envy of the passengers crammed in the back with the less leg room and filled rows. Despite this comfort, I was not able to get much sleep. I arrived, groggy and tired at Heathrow.

From there, I needed to take the Picadilly Line to the Leicester Square, and transfer to the Northern Line and exit at Euston St. As I came down the stairs at Heathrow, after walking what seemed like a mile to get there, the train pulled up to the station, and I was on my way. This might not seem like much, but it turned out to be quite advantageous.

It's a long ride from Heathrow, in Zone 6, to Leicester Square, in Zone 1. 19 stops to be precise. Unlike previous trips, though, I had arrive around noon, and the tube was relatively free of other passengers. Because I caught the tube train I did, I arrived at Euston at 12:40. The train to Aberystwyth left at 12:43. This was amazing luck, as the next train out towards Aberystwyth wouldn't leave for another hour, and it has considerably more stops. I hustled to the train and found a seat just as the train was about to depart.

After the short ride to Birmingham International, I made the switch from the Virgin Trains to the Arriva Trains, and took off for Aberystwyth. A word of warning to those traveling from London to Aberystwyth: always...ALWAYS...change at Birmingham International. There is a stop at Birmingham - New St., but there are always going to be more people there. I managed to get a pretty nice seat, and secure a spot for my bag. Something that might not have been possible had I waited.

I made it to Aberystwyth around 6:00 PM BST. I had woken up the previous day at 8:00 AM CST (or 2:00 PM BST). Which means I had not slept for some 30 hours. I felt gross, tired and hungry. But I was happy to be back.