The friendly (expensive!) skies

I've been in Toronto since the 8th (having a great time) and have much to tell but I thought I'd post a seperate rant about travelling and what I've learned about flying from this trip. . . So I'm thinking that I'll never fly this cheap again. I flew with AirTran Airways, who I've never even heard of. Someone told me later that they're totally shady cuz they contract all their workers and their planes and that they had some big accident that they tried to cover up by changing their name, etc. Anyways. It was the most sardine experience ever. I couldn't cross my legs, or bring my legs up, I could barely fit my backpack in the space in front of me. For 5 hours. Thank god I had a good book and everyone was asleep. Then I got itchy! grrrr. I'm wondering if I should've went for the $40 business upgrade that they were offering at check-in. My layover in Atlanta was 4 hours, from 4am to 8am. I watched a month's worth of saved Best Week Ever podcasts and 'peoplewatch'-ed, easily my most favorite thing to do. Ever. Especially in the Dirty South! I've never seen so many black people in my life. I felt like I saw every kind there ever was. Then I went on my next flight where, thank the gods, I was next to an empty seat. I slept well but woke up to strange fluctuations in cabin pressure. That only I could feel. Then I swallowed hard and it literally felt like i'd swallowed painful air which travelled up the side of my face to my temples. I could actually "poke" the bubble when i touched my hairline. It was the creepiest thing and I was very afraid. I got a little melodramatic inside and thought about how great my life has been so far and that if the gods really wanted to take me right then and there that that would be fine with me. Gosh I'm morbid. . . The pain slowly faded away and just turned into a traveller's headache which is a fine trade off from scary skull bubbles!

Anyways, I'm actually finishing the mini entry from my return flight so that I could share my crazy running-through-the-airport-like-that-scene-in-Home Alone-story. We flew to Buffalo instead of Toronto because of the nearly $200 flight difference. The line at the border crossing coming into the U.S. today was nearly an hour long. We ended up rolling into the airport just 10 minutes before our flights. Although, after speaking to many a airline representative - apparently - even though 99.9% of all flights for the next 48 hours out of Buffalo were filled to the brim, a standby ticket is really not a bad deal because everyone was being held up at the border! Hooray for me because I was able to fly standby an hour later! But boo for me because I had to pay $350 to get home. (AirTran is holding $169 in credit for me to use within the next year) I really had no choice because all the flights were about that price and were on wednesday. What's even more suckier is that my parents and my brothers' flight was CANCELLED. I still don't know what Northwest is gonna do with them actually. Man, travelling sucks. It just does... alas, at least I get to see my Poopykins and my Codykins in about an hour. Even though I had a really memorable time in Canada with my two dozen + family members, I'm really looking forward to a big bear hug and about 30 dog licks to the face.

UPDATE: My parents and brothers demanded a flight straight out of Toronto and got one, but not until 2 days later. My mom's writing an angry email to Northwest Airlines demanding travel vouchers which would be well deserved because the inconvenience comes with a price tag: Joe and my dad have to miss 1-2 days of work each, and my mom actually had a Utah business trip with my Aunt that she has to cancel. Again, boo for travelling!