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Sunday 31 October 2010

Getting to the USA

When I booked my ticket to Washington I booked from London figuring that it would be simple matter for me to get from Glasgow to any airport. What I didn’t take in to account was the timings. Yes I managed to get a cheap train from Glasgow to London but it got me in at 00.30 and my flight didn’t leave until 09.40! Luckily I met a fellow traveller on the train and we were both heading to Gatwick. I knew I would meet some interesting people on my journeys I just hadn’t realised it would be so soon. After many hours on the train from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross, a shared taxi then another train to Gatwick and we arrived at just before 3am. Soon after arriving we parted ways, my impromptu travelling companion was off to Gambia for a medical placement and not long after her I got checked in to my own flight to Charlotte, USA.

I had feared that the USA customs process would be a intimidating but the staff at both airports were mostly friendly and helpful and the unfriendly ones were all at the UK end, though I imagine that had something to do with the earliness of the hour! After passing through immigration I collected then re-checked my baggage before heading to my connecting flight to Washington DC. After a slight delay we were off and soon I was in Washington, baggage collection and a shuttle bus later and I was at my hostel. The staff are friendly and the other guests seem nice but my main concern by now was shower, food then sleep. The guy who checked me in showed me the local Chinese place (where they do indeed serve Chinese in the kind of takeout boxes you see on TV) and then I finally got to sleep, lots of sleep. Now it’s time to explore!

 

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