[Closed] Holiday departure rituals

Always forget something.. Few years ago I forgot to put our clothes bag in the car (fortunately it was only a long weekend trip)

Double lock the front door, unlock the front door to check once again the windows are closed, double lock the front door.

T'is about it 8)

Don't forget to tell everyone on Facebook that you have arrived at the airport

Mrs b unplugs everything possible that we wouldn't normally unplug, yet she trusts the fridge and freezer 🙄

Mostly getting annoyed.

Getting annoyed at Mrs feet and #1 son that they still aren't ready 45 minutes after I told them the time we needed to leave

Getting annoyed at the sheer amount of crap Mrs Feet insists we 'need' to take for a UK holiday. It really would be simpler just to move house for a week or two

Getting annoyed at the idiots in the security queue at the airport who can't get themselves sorted out before you tip your worldly possessions into the tray. Also the idiots that can't work out the liquid restrictions. Yes I'm l;looking at you stupid lady - you can't take 3 x 1 litre bottles of vodka through to airside 😯

After that, I'm then nicely chilled!

Don't forget to tell everyone on Facebook that you have arrived at the airport

Never understood this. Hey everyone!! Our house is completely unoccupied for a week or two. Tell everyone you know and hopefully we can get burgled!!

My insurance is good, I'll get new bikes 😉

It's the Facebook lounge check in that is much more important but that's just general flying...

On the liquid thing and security I do keep thinking the George Clooney film up in the air was more an instructional film for frequent flyers.

On the good insurance side of things, I meet regularly with a lovely lady for the company insurances. We obviously discuss how insurance companies are rated just above estate agents and next to bankers in their morals.

She recently told me of 2 stories that the company had settled which adds credibility to the tabloid headlines.

1) Pay out refused due to the policy holders widely advertising that they were on holiday (facebook and other outlets), house got broken into then had an illegal party in it.

2) Reduced payout to a runner hit by a motorbike, but she was wearing headphones so the payout for compensation for her injuries was reduced by 55%

Check you are insured for what you think you are!!!!

I read the policy docs cover to cover, then checked a couple of points. Doesn't everyone?

I'm calling bollocks on 1 & 2

On no. 2 do deaf or hard of hearing have to declare their condition?

This is not a friend of a friend bruneep, but direct.

2 was about making a choice to reduce her sensors while entering a known risk. Bit like riding at night in black clothes, no lights......

Mrs Feet and #1 son appear to be mine. Are we on a family share?

Time set for departure, fannying around 30 minutes after departure time. They are the same people!!

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I'm not neurotic enough to do pre-leaving checks, but i was once running late and didn't have time to unplug a few things so quickly switched off the fuse box instead. Five days later i return to a very smelly fridge. D'oh!

Now doing the stare the door down and hope there is nobody in the middle seat...

Pint at the airport. Then I know I'm on holiday.

APF

All the usual checks, but played a blinder this year.

Iate night finishing the packing with a 3.30am start - I was in charge of weight distribution in the bags. One suitcase being 5kg over and one hand luggage 5k under, I swapped a few things. Yep - that included shampoo, suncream and many other lotions and potions. Oh how Mrs STR laughed when she proclaimed her innocence that there were 'only clothes in there, oh!'

Overall it was a pain in the arse at East Midlands and only got time for a swift bottle of beer at the departure gate.

Lol I got told off for having tissues in my pocket on the body scanner, to be fair I was a bit vague at that point... They let me off with a warning but those things are sensitive. Diy g&t now though

2) Reduced payout to a runner hit by a motorbike, but she was wearing headphones so the payout for compensation for her injuries was reduced by 55%

Seems reasonable. It isn't free money they gibe out. It comes from premiums. If someone contributes to their accident the payout should be reduced. Running on road wearing headphones? I wouldn't do it.

I'm calling bollocks on 1 & 2

Yep, neither would stand up to any scrutiny nor a challenge via the insurance ombudsman. 1 is victim blaming and 2 is nonsense, like you're not allowed to tell friends and family you're going on holiday and have to lie to everyone at work that you're really WFH that week....

Give the letter box key to our neighbours and ask them to keep an eye on the place.

I noticed someone trying the back door of my neighbours house while they were away so I went round to see what the person was up to. It turned out they were there to do some work. I must have created quite and impression as the tradesman later asked them what I'd have done if he hadn't been able to produce a signed quote for the job.

I have pre-flight rituals. (Sad, I know!)

A quick dash around the duty free. Always try a new cologne, ideally one I've never tried before. Then, Clarins Jeunesse des Mains hand cream on the paws.

That done, it's in to the lounge for a bloody mary (If it's after 1030).

In flight rituals? Even sadder.....

If in a window seat, as I usually am, I have to see;
1 - Another plane in flight. Not just a con trail, a clearly visible plane.
2 - A boat moving on the water.

I have no idea why I do these things!

Mine is mostly getting annoyed at Mrs F and the amount she packs. Every time she proclaims how she has managed to pack all her stuff in one bag but then when I go to pack the car get told not to forget the other bag that has her shoes and the one with her lotions, potions, etc and the one with coats and so it goes on....

Generally have to deal with the wife tidying the house as if it were a show house before we leave. She likes to come back to a neat house! Turn off all the electrics bar the fridge and freezer. Check window and door locks. Drive out path. Stop, double check I have actually got passports etc, drive on.

Once when we were leaving for a month round NZ my wife hadn't packed anything at all at midnight when the taxi was coming at 6 am. She was trying to finish her pHD and actually finished the last bit in the business suite of the hotel in Fiji as I lounged at the swim up bar. Happy days!

a nice pint*.

*it's 430pm here...

Why do you feel you need to justify yourself?

1) You're flying.
2) Regardless of the above you're on holiday.

Pint at the airport. Then I know I'm on holiday

What he said.

Not just a con trail, a clearly visible plane.

You sure not a chem trail?

Justify? I think it was before breakfast in the UK....

Anyway onto the bombay now over halfway and a clock is no indication of time...

And for cfh it's mostly been night flights so being in the aisle means not having to clamber past sleeping people to walk around. First long haul day flight coming up...

I also do the bloody Mary in some vague con that it's rehydration

Once we're done with check-in and through security, a wander round duty free for some aftershave, keep the Mrs company whilst she goes in every shop there is 🙄 then no matter the time of day or night, a pint or two in a bar.

If people are getting a 4am coach or train does that still mean you have a few beers?
Why they serve booze on flights I don't know.
Hardly an ideal combination.

Can I point out the claim for the runner was not a claim on their own insurance, but a third party claim against at the motorist?

There's also more to it than meets the eye. Running with headphones doesn't make you partly liable if a car hits you, all deaf people would be screwed. Being unable to hear an approaching car and moving out into it's path without checking might be a more likely scenario.

It's not the packing, but the being in the right place at the right time that stresses me out!

We are not at home to Mr.Faff

Why they serve booze on flights I don't know.
Hardly an ideal combination.

I have a tick list of things I need to take and just work through that, making sure things like sports kit and boxers are all is their own mesh bags. Ok, pants and socks in one, t-shirts in another, formal shirts in a foldy thing.

Then it gets unpacked at least once and re-packed because there will be something that I need before I travel.

i have an excel list of things to pack on the laptop, mrs ex-p calls me a saddo for having this list. guess who always forgets something.... 😀

earlier this year she excelled herself and left her 'document pack' containing passports, booking and parking info at the park and ride carpark. heard it come through over the drivers radio that someone had left it all on the desk. cue a nervous half hour or so waiting for the next driver to bring them all to us 😀

1. Wife starts packing 3 days prior to departure. Kids are dressed like disaster victims.
2. At 9:10am on the day of departure I will be informed that we should have been on the road 10 minutes ago. This will be the first time that I have been made aware of the departure time.
3. At 10:00 am we will leave.
4. 10:02 We have a massive row because I don’t know where the batteries for the kids’ computer games, spare kitchen rolls or something else that we can buy when we get there is.
5. 10:10 We’re back at home for me to check that the front door is locked and the alarm is on. This is my fault, I always do it. I once found the kids water bottles on the drive where they had fallen off the car roof.
6. 11:30 We start talking to each other again.
7. 11:35 We hit roadworks.
8. 11:40 The kids start fighting.
9. 12:00 The wife puts an Elton John CD on and almost wills me to turn it down or off. I don’t because I am strong (#Rule5). After 50 minutes of listening to this audio-shite I ask to put one of mine on. This will not have been packed.
10. 12:50 Pet Shop Boys. See point 9.
11. 18:00 We arrive. Irrespective of the distance it takes 8 hours, unless it is East Sussex which takes 12 hours.