...I pack frantically at 5am because the night of my return and I decided to have this year's last beer with Jan, who strangely enough was coming back to Bxl after Xmas on a flight 20 mins after mine so we shared an Uber and a beer. Minor scandal: we Ubered to my work to pick up my car and because I had to many bags, when we reloaded them from the Uber to my car we forgot my backpack leaving it in the middle of the sidewalk and reaally scaring the security guys from my building. They fortunately called me and I was able to pick it up.
...I drive to Amsterdam with an intent to leave the car in front of Angela's as usual and am annoyed to find its for residents only now. Quick google search and I drop it at a budget parking facility at the airport.
...the polite Dutch clerk tells me I'm overweight and need to pay €100 baggage fee. Luckily she nicely agrees to wait a little until I repack some stuff into my carry on.
...the flight to Chicago is full and of course I get called over the PA system by name because I decide to make a last minute cash withdrawal
...12 hours later I find myself at O'Hare with a nasty surprise: my bag couldn't be checked through to Santiago because the layover is too long so I need to pick it up - and after 9/11 left luggage and lockers don't exist in the US so here come sweet 16hours at the airport instead of visiting the Windy City
...I spend a pretty restless night stretched in my camping pad in the departures lounge to be woken up by some homeless guys asking for change and teenage junkies looking for paracetamol (!); luckily Starbucks stays open so at least there's food; oh and I see snow for the first time this year - the Midwest was hit by severe snowstorms.
...I realize that true to its reputation Chicago is a Polish city: most of the airport staff I come into contact with have a few Polish words to say to me - nice!
...I am appalled to find out that even though I get up 2 hours before my connector to Atlanta I still
miss it- the security check line is 1.5hours long.
...To my dismay somehow the security scanner people manage to lose my MacBook charger - the laptop goes into the machine with it but comes out without it! Nobody knows nothing of course...
...I am put on the waiting list for the next ATLANTA flight and amid panic and frantically running people (everything's cancelled or delayed) I make it! Hooray!