Today was a travel day. A longish travel day. Nothing went horribly wrong and nothing terrible happened. I know, what a shame I don’t have a great story to share with you. Well, I have a couple little things to share.

First off, I did not sleep well. I was anxious about getting the airport and all checked in and through security and everything. Traveling is a bit of an ordeal nowadays, actually. All the lines. All the checks and rechecks. Going through security and taking off one’s belt. And I am wearing boots today so I had to take those off too. At one security check point I got scrutinized, wanded, patted down and my bag was sniffed by their bomb sniffer. Maybe it’s the long hair that triggered them. Or some random number generator. Next to the massage this was the most action I have gotten in months, though!

After not sleeping, I managed to get my act together and take it on the road at about the time I wanted to. I figured I was supposed to be there three hours early because I was doing international travel. My uber driver wasn’t interested in chatting which suited me fine. And it cost half of what the evil first drive charged me. Grrrr. Anyway, the joke was on me. I could have slept an extra hour at least. As my first flight was Medellin to Bogata – so I was supposed to doing domestic. Which, after checking in and checking a bag, meant that I had to walk from one end of the airport to the other. Sigh.

And yes, I was three hours early. Which meant a lot of sitting. Some reading. (I finally finished When We were the Kennedys)(Good book) Some playing on my phone. Some time with my eyes closed. At least the airport had lots of charging spots! Without a battery pack, I get anxious (there’s that word again) about the phone dying and me not being able to access my data – like my boarding passes and itinerary number, etc. I also ate some of my leftovers (finished the rest for “dinner”)

Did I mention that my flight to Panama was at the absolute furthest gate from the entrance to the Bogota Airport?! The sign said it was a 15(!) minute walk!

Eventually the plane boarded and I got my seat in the back of the plane. It was an aisle seat, yippee! The flight was short – maybe 30 minutes. And despite me having an hour or more for a layover, I found the next plane being boarded almost as soon as I got there (15 minute walk, remember?) So I boarded. Again in the back – but with a row to myself. And another aisle seat. A woman sat across from me wearing a really nice iris patterned over dress thing. She seemed nice. Her husband boarded later and she moved to the window seat. I went to sleep. Or tried to. Both of the planes today had seats that didn’t recline. I think I might have slept for fifteen minutes or so.

Arriving in Panama City, immigration and customs both went quickly. I helped a Japanese woman with some questions that she had. Not in Japanese because nothing came to mind when I saw she was Japanese. Except to say that I didn’t understand Japanese (in Japanese).

Taxi to the city. The guy who roped me in quoted me $20 (they use American dollars here for their currency – but their own coinage) and the driver laughed and said $30. I agreed. I just wanted to get to my hotel.

I should have known from the picture on Expedia…but it was late, etc…

Oh. My. God. I lucked out with the hotel in Medellin! I loved it. Loved the area. Looked forward to being there and such. But this place. They rent their rooms by the hour. The bed feels like it has a plastic matress cover. And they don’t provide blankets unless you ask. Everything is provided on a need basis – so they gave me the TV remote, but won’t give me the remote for the air conditioner unless I request it. Just not happy.

Before coming back to the room, I got a sim card for the phone for my time here in Panama. $9. For a week. Still cheaper than GD ATT and their $10 a day bullshit!

Back in the sex room, I called Expedia and told them I needed to change my hotel. After a chat and a call and more chat they decided that they couldn’t do anything to help me. What? Aren’t they a travel company? This is a no brainer and must happen all the time. Oh well. I will deal with it myself. And I will complain to Expedia when I get back to the States. Grrr.

So I went down to the lobby and spoke with the front desk guy. He said he would ask his manager. The manager told him that I needed to go through Expedia because I had paid through there. I got back in touch with Expedia and they managed to get me out of the stay. The amount credited wasn’t a lot, but it was much better than nothing. And I wouldn’t have minded losing it just to get out of this place! I’m hoping I can check in and drop off my stuff earlier than 3 pm – but I’m not going to worry about it. I packed light and will figure out something to do until 3 pm. Probably some research about what I am going to do with the rest of my time here in Panama City, Panama. One thing for sure – some sort of canal tour! Other than that, no clue. (No circus)

Ok, the door is triple locked, I have finished my book. I will probably watch some stuff online and then try to get some sleep. And head out at a reasonable time tomorrow. Hope you all have happy dreams!