Traveling with Others

It happens to all of us…you know...the weird and wacky things that happen to us when we travel with others. Thankfully, these are not life-threatening or serious, and usually can be looked back upon with a sense of humor and a good laugh. Although at the time they are happening, humor can be a bit in short supply.

Take my trip to London and Warsaw last week…again, with everything going on in London, it could have been a lot worse. I do recall having a few of those out-of-body experiences where I vacillated between moments of frustration, kiddy laughter, and a need to sit in the nearest corner and jot my thoughts down for the blog.

Let’s start with the simple premise: traveling with others can be demanding and challenging, but never dull. For married couples/people in committed relationships, we can learn to cope with the pet peeves of travel styles that are not in sync…one person’s need to overpack, the other’s inability to ever pack the right things…one’s desire to want to sleep in and relax, the other’s desire to hit the ground running and see all the castles in a 100 mile radius (which one is me?). Traveling with friends can also be dicey, but after a few “test runs” or practice trips, I can quickly determine who will be compatible travel companions. Trips of significant duration are only taken with friends who have adequately passed the practice trip assessment test. Experience has taught me that the quickest way to ruin a friendship is to embark on a two week trip without figuring out your friend’s travel preferences. Traveling with co-workers is an entirely different matter altogether.

The thing is, you can’t pick the co-workers you travel with…sometimes, it is simply the luck of the draw. And I kept telling myself this last Wednesday as I was making a mad dash though Heathrow Airport because my office traveling companions prefer to be the types that hurl their bodies across the jetway into the plane just as it begins to taxi out on the runway. I, on the other hand, am the “let’s get to the airport early, check in, have a leisurely coffee, stop off for a bathroom break, and re-read War and Peace all before boarding the plane” type. For some unknown reason, my team mates and I were all booked to travel to the airport together in one car. Yet, a small percentage of our contingency felt the need to continue to tweak and fine-tune our presentation up the last possible moment. Now, being a stickler, at times a perfectionist, and even a bit anal retentive, I understand the need to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s but something about leaving for the airport with less than 55 minutes before take-off was just about enough to put me in a straight jacket.

I’ll spare you too many more details. Bottom line, I left in an earlier car for the airport, and was able to make my way through the baggage check-in line just in time for the rest of my team to arrive at the airport and cut in line at the very moment I was greeting the British Airways ticket agent. As you can imagine, we were all extremely popular with the travelers waiting in line behind us. Unfortunately, pay-back came only too soon, as we were forced to sprint the entire way from passport control and security, dragging our briefcases and suitcases behind us as we were “too late” to check them in anywhere else but the gate. By the time I actually collapsed into my seat, my arms and legs had no feeling in them, sweat was poring down my face, and conversation was virtually impossible. Thankfully, the flight attendant understood sign language and was able to fill my drink request.

The other issue is this: I am not an EU citizen, and as such, am usually instructed to queue in a separate line for passport control from all my EU colleagues. Immigration officials simply waive them through, where I, on the other hand, am lumped into the "all others" group which includes people who are non-EU citizens as well as those who have passport issues, forgot their passports, have no appropriate visa, or are from countries in which the EU places major travel restrictions upon. Upon witnessing my challenge, my EU colleagues gave me really sage advice, “Perhaps you should leave for the airport a little earlier next time.” Gee, now why did I not think of that?

After a pleasant and uneventful flight to Warsaw, our team arrived at the company offices in Poland without issue. Except to say that the tweaking and fine-tuning of the presentation commenced once again, meaning that dinner was pushed back till about 10:30 pm. No problems from me if there is work to be done, but by this time we were debating over font size and color of the graphics. A small coup d’etat was staged with the four of us having finished our work departing for the hotel in search of food. This is where the race car taxi driver entered the story (see blog entitled Warszawa, dated Thursday, July 21, 2005 for further details) depositing us post-haste at the doorstep of our hotel...white knuckles and all.

The good news is that our presentation went well, we raised a glass in celebration of our hard work, and we shared a good laugh through it all. Still, if it just the same with them, I’ll go back to my “arrive at the airport 2 hours before take-off” approach….call me a creature of habit .