A Six Hour Flight And The First Mustang

So we boarded our six hour domestic flight from JFK to San Diego. Having been on a seven hour flight less than 24 hours earlier, this was something neither of us were particularly thrilled about. We very rapidly learned that even though the flights were similar in time, they were not remotely similar in comfort. Whilst I absolutely cannot fault the staff on the domestic flight, by midway through the flight they were pretty much throwing the complementary pretzels at us due to the stress of two people having to look after the entire plane. Pretzels by the way, were the only complementary food we were given on this flight that rivalled the length of some long haul flights I’ve been on in the past. Nonetheless, the complementary pretzels and and soft drinks were a source of much comfort when I discovered just how poorly I had planned for this round the world adventure. Shortly after take-off they announced that on the overhead TV screens (yes long haul flyers, you heard me correctly – Over. Head. TV. Screens) they would be showing the new ‘Ghostbusters’. Whilst not desperate to see this film, I figured it would kill some time so looked around for my headphones which I could not find. It was at this point we were delighted to hear that headphones could be purchased for a mere five bucks… I silently cursed myself twice – once for forgetting to pack an item that had been on pretty much every ‘packing for your round the world adventure’ blog I had visited weekly since April 2016 and secondly for not picking up the complementary pair of headphones I had been given on my flight less than 24 hours previously. Out of sheer stubbornness alone, I decided against purchasing the headphone and set about enjoying my complementary pretzels instead.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally landed in San Diego and headed towards the car rental department. After signing several forms that the very helpful desk agent informed us were to agree to not drive into Mexico (the border is just 15 miles south of San Diego Airport), but quite frankly we could have been agreeing to giving him our first born child for all we know; we headed upstairs to pick out our car. We had, and so had everyone else it would seem, paid a little extra back home to cruise round California in a Ford Mustang. There were a few to choose from and after umming and ahhhing for what felt like a decade, we finally settled on a nice black one (which according to Rich was much better than the identical nice black one parked beside it). Having picked our car, we were in for our second ‘you were definitely not prepared for this round the world trip’ moment of the day. Back in the UK we had semi-smugly been telling people we were ‘suitcasing’ round the world instead of backpacking and we realised pretty rapidly at this point why this may have been a stupid decision. Whilst our suitcases were great for pushing round the airport, not having to lug on our backs and made us feel like we weren’t completely running away from being adults, they also didn’t fit in our car. We resolved this problem by putting one case in the boot and the other on the back seat which meant every time we changed destination for the next two weeks, we had to drop the roof, attempt to throw whichever suitcase was the lightest (not always Richards FYI) over the top of the car and then ensure everything was securely strapped in so as not to lose our valuables somewhere along the Californian freeway. It got pretty old pretty quick. So finally after signing away our life savings to the guy in the rental place, picking the ‘best’ Mustang and playing a bizarre game of Jenga with our luggage we were ready to hit the road and get to our hotel. Rich has been driving for over a decade and had previously driven around Europe so we weren’t too concerned about him driving us around the states, but it was his first time in America so we had spoken to Daddy dearest about this and asked for any tips he might have. “Always stop dead at stop signs and remember they drive on the other side of the road.” He probably also should have added “ensure you know exactly where all the controls for the car are BEFORE you leave the rental centre and Kelly is a pretty rubbish navigator so have a rough idea of where you’re going before you leave”, which potentially would have meant a smoother first ride than us driving down the highway with no lights on and me screaming “that’s the exit, the one we just passed”

Needless to say by the time we got to our hotel we were definitely ready to give up on the day and try again tomorrow.

#Love #Flying #RTW #Couple #CarRental #RoundTheWorld