Where you book matters.

(Jan 26 5:00am)

It's true-where you book DOES matter. What they don't tell you is, read the fine print when booking flights.

I'll skip the long saga of trying to book my tickets to India, including the not one, not two, but THREE times my bank shut my debit card down for trying to book them. To make a long story short: Bank of America has a really great fraud protection program, they thought I was an imposter trying to book tickets to India.

When I was standing at MCI Airport, in Kansas City, none of that mattered anymore. I had finally booked my tickets - much thanks to Kelly Scott and Judith Reagan and others for the help! I had my tickets, and my "lightly" packed bags and I was ready to go.

Until, that is, the man behind the desk for said "Uh-oh..." followed by "We have a problem."

Come to find out, the policy for my particular airline says you have to have at least ONE hour between connecting flights to check baggage. Between Dulles, Washington D.C., and JFK, New York, I had 49 minutes.

What does that mean?

All of my baggage will have to be carried on. There I stood, 6 a.m., with one duffle bag inside of a giant suitcase, one duffle bag that contained another smaller carry on bag that was going to be my "purse". Immediately I nixed the giant suitcase. Originally I had planned to take this along to pack all of the things I was to acquire over the next 5 weeks.

Down to two oversized bags, my next task was to convince the security guys at the airport that my things could fit in the overhead compartment. You know those obnoxious people you see on movies, and sometimes (unfortunately) experience in real life, cramming their enormous luggage into the overhead compartment, and all you really want to say is, "Seriously? That's not going to fit, my friend."

That was me. Hello, nice to meet you. I'm the obnoxious traveler.

In the end, my bags managed to fit - but all of the liquids I had that were more than 3 ounces had to go. Apparently, I am a serious threat with my shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, mousse, and toothpaste. Let me tell you! After parting with my lovable liquids, all I really missed was my toothpaste. I'm finicky about my toothpaste - I've used the same type for at least the past 6 years that I can remember.

Moral of the story: where you book matters. I sincerely blame this entire incident on the online booking website for not informing me of this discrepancy in time. Sure, as the picture shows you above - they guarantee you the best price. The price you pay in the end, is a small token of your sanity, and a lot of fatigue hauling your 60 lbs of luggage through busy airports for the next 36 hours of travel.

Namaste.