Travel With Betsy

….does it really need to be this complicated?

There are many things that I have learned to appreciate about small town living since relocating 10 years ago to the little coastal town in California that I now call home. I like the intimate feel of things that makes it easy to know your neighbors, the ease in which one can become involved in the community and the short distances to places of business that make running errands a morning activity rather than an all day affair. In addition, I have a wonderful group of friends that I love, a couple of colleges in my backyard that provide intellectual stimulation and culture, and beaches that are lovely and close by.  The weather is great.  And, I am right in the middle of wine country.

What’s not to like?

Generally, I feel very satisfied.

Satisfied, that is, until my wanderlust hits…which is pretty often…. and I feel the need for a travel adventure.

As I begin to negotiate the challenges of getting in and out….to go almost anywhere…..I wonder if I really am a small town gal. I’m beginning to think that I might be a city slicker in hiding. I’m almost at the end of my Mexico travel adventure and I’m still thinking about the convoluted schedule I took to get here and the complex path I will take to get back home.

I’m pooped!

One would think that getting somewhere in Mexico would be simple from a location in California. We are just north of Mexico after all. In fact, if you live in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco or another of the bigger cities it actually is pretty easy. These airports typically offer nonstop flights and there are lots of them to choose from. And, they are usually reasonable priced.

Not so from my small town.

We have a small regional airport that can get you to a bigger city, but the cost of doing business in our small airport is quite high much of the time. Every now and then you can hit it just right and it turns out to be reasonably priced. But, it’s not the norm.

The other option we have is another airport about 30 minutes down the road. You can’t actually fly from there to any of the other major California airports. But, you can take a driving shuttle to Los Angeles, which gets you to the airport in about 3.5 hours. It’s often the best choice, but it’s complicated.  Nevertheless, this was the route I chose in order to get to my destination in Mexico.

The cost was good and the flight times were good…or so I thought.

When I booked my outbound fight for 1:30 in the afternoon and my inbound flight to get back to Los Angeles at 9:30 pm, I thought I could get the driving shuttle to and from Los Angeles at a reasonable time.

Nope!

My first problem was the outbound flight. In order to catch my 1:15 pm flight and have the required time for security, I would have to get the 5:30 am shuttle. This means that I would have to be up at 3:30 am to get myself moving and onboard the shuttle.

This was not happening!

Then, there is the return trip home. The shuttle company used to have runs leaving Los Angeles up until midnight.  Not any more. Now, the last shuttle leaves the airport at 9:30 pm making it impossible for me to get the last shuttle back.

So, my easy, short and inexpensive vacation has now become complicated, long and costly, as I now have to stay at a hotel near the Los Angeles airport on either side of my trip so that I can catch my flights and then the shuttle back to my small town.  When I calculated the total cost, it was more than it would have cost me to just leave from our small airport in the first place….which by the way was a ridiculous amount. And, now I am spending extra days.

As someone who travels a lot, I find this very frustrating.

It’s really no one’s fault. It’s just the way it works in a small town. Despite all of the good things that are easier to negotiate in a small town, one needs to be creative with many other things in order to achieve priorities. I have become very good at thinking outside the box on things like getting to Mexico from California. But, as I get older, I am becoming less flexible and less creative.

So, I am researching…..

Researching ways to make this easier for my next adventure.

Travel should not be this complicated.

Right?

This entry was posted on January 22, 2018 at 12:13 am and is filed under Solo Travel for Women, South America, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.