San Jose, be nice to me.

Travel Drama 08. You ready?

So, I’m headed to California in a few weeks for the Mt. Hermon Writers Conference. And yes, I totally plan on blogging. [Though some attendees mentioned NOT bringing a laptop. I said, “Hi. I’m Annie. Apparently you haven’t met my oxygen tank, MacBook.”]

Being that I am a teacher, and standardized testing is around the corner, this is poor timing. But to honor you, state of Georgia tax payer, I’m trying to miss as few days as possible. The conference begins on a Friday and concludes on a Tuesday.

So I’m teaching a full day on Thursday and then getting on a plane headed to the most intimidating experience of my life. For most conference attendees, arrival time is Friday morning. That’s when normal air travel will occur. Sister here, being the cheapskate I am, will only choose a flight that fits in my free Delta SkyMiles package. And that flight leaves at dinner time on Thursday.

Convenient for my pocketbook. Inconvenient for my schedule.

I arrive in San Jose at 9:05pm Thursday night. The last shuttle to the conference center is at 7pm. Whoopsie. Things I should have researched a little bit more…..

The airport is 45 minutes away from the conference center, so a taxi ride, aside from being WAY SCARY, would also be pricey.

Yo no quiero pricey.

And the registration desk closes at 10pm. So even if I rode in a stranger’s car for 45 minutes, I probably wouldn’t be able to check in.

Late night + taxi ride + not knowing anyone in the city + registration desk closed = Lifetime Network Movie that I do NOT want to be a part of.

So the nice conference lady (that I have been emailing so much this week that I think we are bfries or enemies) says that I should stay in a hotel on Thursday night and get the shuttle Friday. She didn’t like my alternative options, such as her driving to pick me up at the airport herself. (Just kidding. Shannon, don’t panic. I didn’t really ask anyone from Mt. Hermon to pick me up at the airport. Not this year, at least.)

Because I had a sudden stalker fear that if I tell too much of this story it could get creepy for me when I’m actually in California, suffice it to say that though staying in a hotel scares the bedbugs right off the sheets of my soul, I’ve never been one to turn down a continental breakfast. So it looks as if things may have worked out.

But oh the drama. The emails. The concerns. The flight changes. The reservations.

The internal stress that I was making someone irate all the way across the continent.

That is pressure, people.

And yet somehow, amidst all the stress, I resisted to urge to relieve my local Publix Grocery Store of every Cadbury egg in stock.

You can hold your applause. I haven’t survived Mt. Hermon yet. And Easter candy season ain’t over.

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