If you've been over here recently, you'll know I had a slightly hellish time traveling last week. I didn't even fill you in on Friday's trials! In honor of traveling and what a pain in the ass it can be, this week's Salti Talk is all things travel! I give you a list of pet peeves and things that you need to keep in mind when traveling, you share with me your advice and pet peeves as well!
For Travelers:
1. When walking down the middle of a terminal, keep in mind the world does not revolve around you. Don't stop in the middle of everyone else's paths to check your phone or your itinerary. Move to the side. Also, even if you're not in a hurry, there are plenty of other people who are and would appreciate you getting the hell out of the way.
Note: As in the picture above, don't assume no one is behind you. Be courteous of those that don't give a shit about what you think is so fantastically awesome! If you happen to see Yao Ming walking around and want to stop and oogle him, that's great, but MOVE OVER! Make room for others to pass through.
2. Again, while walking amongst large crowds, stay to the right... or whichever side of the road is driven on in the country you're located. It's common courtesy and just makes sense. (Drive on the right = walk on the right and vice versa.)
3. Have your ticket/boarding pass and ID ready to hand to the TSA agent when you go through the Security line. Don't get up to the podium with your license stuck in your wallet. We're all in hurry here, honey.
For the Airports/Airlines:
1. When there are more than 5-10 people waiting in line, Security needs to have more than 1 person checking identifications. It would make the process much smoother.
2. You're not doing a very good job of checking the items that go through the xray scanners. I got to my hotel and realized I'd left a tube of lip gloss and a roller ball of perfume out of the "quart size bag" I'm allowed to take liquids in with me on the plane. Either they saw them in my purse and didn't care, or didn't see them at all. A little unnerving if you ask me! What other kind of stuff is getting through that isn't getting caught?
3. If you're hiring people who are so unbelievabley unhappy in their lives and their jobs, know that will be reflected in the way they treat travelers and other customers every day. Y'all need to rethink either your hiring or your training practices.
4. Airports - when there has been an airport-wide malfunction that will affect ALL flights coming in and going out, indicate this to your passengers waiting for their flights. Don't leave the information on the flight info screens to say everything is on time after you've had an airport-wide radar malfunction. Indicate how late these flights are estimated to be. Quit lying to us! Quit trying to appease us by only giving us little pieces of the truth!
And now it's up to you guys, my readers:
Here's where this becomes interactive... I'm going to post this now so y'all can get to reading it, and then give me your feedback and suggestions. I'll take that and incorporate it into the post, so it will be ever-evolving.
So, tell me what your traveling pet peeves, preferences and key pieces of critical information you use when travling. What are your secrets for certain airports? Which airports are best to use, and best to avoid? Maybe by the end of the week we can send it all out as a PSA to the travel industry!
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***Update***
Here are some tips from the peanut gallery:
Sarcastically Bitter
I HATE when people stand in the middle of the hallway....anywhere. Not just the airport. I don't know about those scanners. But when I went to the USA once, I left toothpaste out (forgetting that it's a "liquid") and ohhh did they give me crap for that!
My tip: Get to the airport for your flight early (unless you are changing planes). It saves you alot of hassle of running around. You can beat the huge lines for checking in and security. Or at least they won't be as big!
My city's airport is nice. You go in one line and it leads to maybe 5-10 security scanner aisles, which is more convenient and can get people through quicker. Mc Carran airport in Vegas I found was a little difficult. We could not find our shuttle for the hotel. They need signs. However, they have a great taxi set up there! Oh and Gatwick airport in London, I think they were renovating, but part of the airport is nice, and the area we arrived at was all 70's decor!
Shevon
How about the inconsiderate people with the biggest possible "carry on" who don't want to pay $25 to check their luggage? Then they hit you in the head, arm, shoulder when they try to get their gargantuan item down the aisle.
Or, they get their bag checked at the entrance to the plane because the airline determines it is too big. I say they start charging them right there. They are already wasting my time. Why not take 5 more minutes from me and collect from the cheap ass?
Jessica
The walking/moving and then sudden stopping drives me bat shit. I've crashed into people at the bottom of escalators because they stopped to look around right at the bottom. Morons.
I think this also applies to public transit - where there are multiple signs telling people what side to walk or stand on. BAAAAH!I could go on and on about the lunacy of TSA...
Jaime
I hate people who act all outraged when they have to remove their shoes to go through security. especially the morons who wear flip flops to the airport. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO WALK AROUND ANYWHERE IN NEWARK BAREFOOT???? idiots.
Cass
I hate when people are walking so fast and about knock me on my ass because they are rude and can't get out of my way when I am in just as much a hurry as they are but have shorter legs.
I hate when people stop to talk on their cell phone after walking briskly with me following, thus causing a collision that they think was MY fault and then proceed to give me a dirty look.
I hate when people don't pay any attention to their kids and people are all trying to avoid tripping over their one year old who is learning to walk in the busiest part of the airport.
I hate flying thru chicago. Nuff said.I hate it when they say they are starting preboarding for those who need extra time with their kids and then 9 million f'ing people crowd the gate so I can't get me or my kid INTO the plane. assholes.
I hate when people let their kids kick the shit outta the back of my plane seat. I have a kid too... get some f'ing control of your kids!
I hate when the guy on the aisle seat falls asleep with his laptop on his tray and then I cant get me or my now poopy diapered kid out to go to the bathroom cause he is snoring and won't wake up.
I will stop now. I can go on like this for days.
I am a nervous wreck when I travel because of all the morons that make me a wreck!
Remember the picture I showed y'all the other day at the end of my post? The one of Cass that I loved so much? Well I found out it was taken with an App for Droid, so naturally, I downloaded it immediately! I've been playing with it for the last couple of days and have been having a blast. These are some of the pics I've got. 
I took this one a few years ago and played around with it on my phone... pretty cool, huh? Takes me back to the '80s!
I think I'm having so much fun with this because I've never played with Photoshop... maybe this is an indication I need to get it! 
Anyway, I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend. I'll be flying home for the weekend, and then get to turn around and do it all again on Monday! I can't wait to have a week or two at home!
I went to the pool Sunday with Noelle and 
I got some new nail polish and I love it! I was obviously in a mood when I bought them because they're all kinda similar. Totally cute, though! 
I did my toes last night... They were scary and I needed something to do. I don't usually go for colors like this, but I just couldn't pass it up... and I think it's pretty cute. I even recycled a few rhinestones! I'm good like that!
I had to take a cab from my hotel to the airport and asked the dude at the front desk to call one for me. I should have called the guy that picked me up last week... This lady was on her phone when she got there, got out of the car but didn't help me with my bags (which was ok b/c she was kind of old and I felt bad for her), and continued to yell at the person she was on the phone with for the next five minutes after I got in..
Moving on to a totally unrelated subject... Are any of you watching SYTYCD? I don't love the new stage and setup, but I'm loving how they've mixed things up this season. It's been really fun seeing the "All Stars" from past seasons come back. And can I just tell you, I love, love, love Lauren. The girl is AMAZING! All the guys are really great, too, but damn, can that girl shake her booty! 
Jasper aka Jackson Rathbone in Italian Vogue
"I gotta tell you somethin', but you didn't hear it from me. Otherwise, you might end up sleepin' wit da fush. Capiche?"
I was flipping through Facebook and came upon an album of Auri's that I'd never seen... so naturally, I stole a few of the pics for myself. Look at Mr. Stud in this one! Isn't he cute?! That's also him in the above picture. He used to be so sweet. Now he's just a devious little shit! I guess that's true of all children, though. I still love him, though!
See ya later, bitches! 
I washed my face, took out my contacts and I'm currently sitting here with my Proactiv facial mask drying on my face. I figure Alabama, with its 90% humidity, is as good a place as any to apply a facial mask that will subsequently slurp all of the savory moisture from my succulent skin. I'm also sitting here typing this topless. (You know I'm on Ambien because otherwise, I wouldn't have shared that!) You liked that, didn't you?
Also, traveling with a vibrator is something everyone who travels alone should do. If there's no chance of bringing a hot babe back to your room for a shag, you've got Senor Vibrato to come home to. Just make sure you take the batteries out before packing it for fear it would somehow get turned on (Ha! Get it?) going through security. To save yourself the trouble, always pack it in your checked luggage. 
I haven't always been able to sleep on a plane. After traveling on almost a weekly basis for months on end, you learn a lot of new tricks and secrets. One of them being, how to sleep on a plane. Apparently I had passed the eff out because when I woke up, I realized that we should have landed about an hour earlier.
I guess we'd been circling for about an hour due to the storm in Atlanta and lots of traffic at the airport. Once I made some time calculations, I figured there was a pretty good chance I was going to miss my connection.Once off the plane with about 20 minutes to spare, I checked the monitors... and my flight had been cancelled. Nice.
I leave on a flight at 9 in the morning, and we're supposed to be to the airport about 2.5 hours before all flights due to the fact that there were so many flights cancelled and delayed tonight. The security points are going to be jammed. That means I have to be up at 5:30ish, Hotlanta time. That's 3:30 am at home. FML!!!
All I have to say is I'm extremely thankful I have a spare pare of undies and socks in my computer bag for emergencies like this. Otherwise I'd have to wash them in the sink and hope they'd dry by the time I had to go! Like that would happen with the humidity down here!
Well, I hope y'all have had a better start to your week than I have.
