From Canada to Connecticut

I was trying to catch up on my blog by going in chronological order but there's far too much to write about and I don't want to forget the details of recent events, so instead I'm going to write about both past and present events and adventures. I'll be sure to have the dates on each post to avoid confusion.

The morning of Sunday, July 28th, I began my journey back to Connecticut. My wonderful friend Ginelle was kind enough to pick me up from Sarah's place in Winnipeg at 5am to take to the airport for my 7:30am flight out. Ginelle knew how anxious I was about getting to the airport and the whole process of getting back to Connecticut because I told her the last few times I took a cab in the city that late (or early depending how you look at it) I had very interesting/creepy cab drivers... so creepy that I questioned whether they were taking me to the airport or not. Having Ginelle drive me, I felt much better about getting to the airport safely, plus she is a very punctual and reliable person, not to mention an impeccable driver. I always feel safe and calm when she is driving so I'm very appreciative that she drove me to the airport that morning (thanks, Ginelle!).

Once at the airport, everything continued to go smoothly.. I was the only one in line to go through security so it was really quick and easy, and the customs gentleman was the friendliest one I’ve had yet. It was a great start to my journey back to Connecticut, in addition to the pleasant drive to the airport with Ginelle earlier. I was feeling good. Before boarding my flight, which was on time (yay!), I also enjoyed a bagel and coffee from Tim Horton’s.. which was a little sad because I knew it would be the last of Tim’s coffee for a long time.. (however, I think we are going to New York City next Thursday and they have a few Tim Horton's there!).



Flying through the clouds into Chicago

The connecting flight was in Chicago which meant I didn’t have to go through security or customs again like I would have if my connecting flight was in Canada. This was especially nice because I had a fairly long layover which meant plenty of free time to explore the enormous airport, as well as time to relax before my next flight. I’m still astonished at how massive Chicago’s airport is in comparison to Winnipeg's tiny little airport. Chicago O'Hare is basically its own city! I found out that it's the world's second busiest airport and this does not surprise me at all. One time, I had to walk basically from one end of the airport to the other and I remember I almost missed my connecting flight because it unexpectedly took me over 25 minutes to get there not only because of the really long walk, but also because it was so crowded. It felt like I was having a nightmare and we, thousands of sweaty tired travels, were trapped in a never-ending airport maze that just kept going and going and going..

Nothing too exciting happened during the layover. I was aware of the enormity of the airport and knew how long it would take to get to my gate so I just moseyed about the airport with coffee in hand as I checked out the variety of shops. After I was bored of that, I went to my gate to patiently wait for my next flight and read a book. I felt a little uneasy because I don't currently have cell service in the US, and I didn’t feel the need to spend the extra money to get a few hours of Wi-Fi access at the airport. It’s a really vulnerable feeling to not have the freedom to text or to use the internet, especially in an unfamiliar place like Chicago (however, I was a bit less uneasy than I would normally be in this situation since it wasn't my first time at this airport). I often wonder how people a few decades ago managed to survive without internet, cell phones or smartphones. I barely remember those days.. pay phones? Paper maps? Talking to strangers..? Weird.

My second flight was from Chicago to New York City. Reese was driving in to meet me to take me back to Connecticut, a two hour drive away. The flight left on time and everything was going according to schedule until about an hour and a half into the flight. This flight was only supposed to be an hour and a half, so when the pilot came onto the intercom I thought he was about to tell me that we were landing. The pilot, instead, informed us that there was an intense storm over New York and we were unable to land. To allow the storm to pass, we had to fly around in the sky, I think in circles, and go through A LOT of turbulence for an extra hour until it was okay to make our descent into NYC. I wasn’t too pleased that the flight time had doubled, but when we landed at LaGuardia Airport, I was just happy to be safe on the ground and alive. I really dislike flying and don't plan on going in another plane for a long time (unless we go to the Air and Space Museum in CT!).


I had just awkwardly pulled my two fifty pound luggage bags off of the arrival baggage carousal and then Reese appeared out of nowhere to greet me! We left the airport and NYC shortly after and made it back to Connecticut without hitting any traffic on the way, then went out for sushi and called it a day.. a perfect ending to a very long day of an almost perfect day of travelling.

Moving to Connecticut from Canada

February 4th, 2013

My recent flight to Connecticut was the worst flying experience yet. I had been anticipating this flight/move for weeks, full of joy and excitement to be finally moving in with Reese and starting a new life in a new country with my incredible boyfriend. I was startled awake at 3am the night of my flight with a pre-recorded phone call telling me that my flight, which was supposed to leave at 6:30am, was changed to 3pm! I was horrified!

I quickly texted Reese and told him about the switch. He was able to calm me down and I ended up phoning the airline to see if I could get on an earlier flight. Luckily, the airline was surprisingly accommodating and changed my flight to a 6:40am flight with a different airline. All was good.

I got to the airport and made it through security just fine. The plane was leaving on schedule, but as we pulled out of the airport, the pilot announced that there was something wrong with the breaks and that maintenance would have to come examine the issue. Great. Everyone on the plane let out sighs and grumbles and seemed very unimpressed, including me. We sat there waiting not knowing whether we would be taking off shortly or if we would have to get off the plane and board a new one. Again, luck was on my side, the pilot announced that the issue had been resolved and we’d be taking off shortly.

After about an hour, we were in the air and I treated myself to a romantic comedy to pass the time. Arriving in Toronto, many of the passengers were frantic to get off the plane since the delay caused them to be late for their connecting flights. My layover was supposed to be two hours, and even with the delay I wasn’t worried about making my connection since I still had an hour or so to make my flight. I wasn’t worried, that is, until I had to go through the new Toronto baggage system which doesn’t allow you to go through security or customs until your bags have gone through first.

After waiting a half hour or so I was able to pass through customs. No issues there, thank goodness! I had the ‘funny guy’ at customs.. He asked where I was going and why, I told him to visit my boyfriend in Connecticut, he asked how I met him, I told him we met at a comedy club, he was performing.. Then he accused me of being a stalker and told me to have a nice trip. I laughed and gathered my documents and I was on my way. I only had about 5 minutes to get to my flight, and when I arrived they were starting to board the tiny plane.

Taking a plane from Toronto to Connecticut means you take the smallest plane possible. The plane we were on sat 18 people and the pilots also assumed the duty of flight attendants. There was a total of 6 people on the plane which meant you had the option to sit anywhere.. Except me. I was assigned ‘emergency exit duty’ and had to stay where I was.

The flight in general was smooth. Despite this, the lady in front of me obviously didn’t like flying and she was noticeably uncomfortable. I was about to offer her a gravol or even the book I was reading to ease her nervousness but her husband took out the iPad and was able to calm her down with a movie. I tried reading for about an hour but then I began to get incredibly cold and my focus switched from reading to trying to warm up. I looked out the window and was relieved to see the ground and tiny houses, which meant that we would be landing soon.

15 minutes later we began our descent, a very rocky descent! The plane felt like it was swaying quite a bit.. Too much. I was pretty anxious about the landing, but it turned out fine and my anxiety quickly turned into excitement knowing my trip was finally over and I’ve arrived at my much anticipated destination.

Being such a small plane with very few passengers, my luggage made it to baggage pick-up faster than me.. If only I could say the same for Reese! Haha. He did finally pick me up, a bit late but he did pick me up and that’s all that matters. I’ve only been here in CT for a few days, I’ve unpacked and have started to claim space in the apartment. Reese has been very generous and making me feel at home.

My friend Ginelle encouraged me to start blogging as a way to keep in touch and also as a way to pass the time. I’m going to try to update every week or so for all who are interested to hear about what I’m getting up to here in the States.