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" Hey Guys! So when choosing a college so far away, I was aware that traveling back and forth between school and home was going to be a challenge. However, as someone who has flown a lot in the past, I never thought I would have as many problems as I did the day before Thanksgiving. On that fateful Wednesday I had a 6:25 am flight and had planned to leave my dorm at 4 am. Because my flight was so early, I let a guy talk me into pulling an all nighter with him (Curse his good looks!). That was my first mistake. On my way to the airport, I started to get really nervous. I&amp;#039;ve flown a bunch... but never on my own! When I arrived at Reagan International Airport at 4:30, I had a lot of confusion over which desk I was supposed to visit to check in. After finally finding a sign that directed me Continental, I waited in line for 20 minutes only to discover that my first flight had been cancelled and I was going to have to be rerouted. Crap. The guy behind the desk told me that everything was full. The next flight he could get me on wasn&amp;#039;t until 1:30 pm and I wouldn&amp;#039;t get home until 11:50. That was 11 hours past when I was supposed to! Since flight he booked me on was on a different airline, I then proceeded to the United desk where a representative printed me out two boarding passes. At this point, I was unbelievably frustrated and fighting back tears. I sat down and called my mom and just started crying in the airport (I was tired! I had no emotional control!). While on the phone with my mom, I realized that I had two boarding passes that only got me to Denver. Not home. When I asked United about it, they said the last flight wasn&amp;#039;t theirs and sent me to US Airways, but when US Airways ran the flight number, they found out the plane was run by United. When I returned to United for the third time, the greeter took it upon herself to help me figure it out. She then asked the desk representative to help me find an earlier flight. The fact that my eyes were slightly blood shot and my make up was smeared from crying may have had an effect on that. Eventually, the woman found me an earlier flight, but I would have to drive 30 miles to another airport! At that point though, I really didn&amp;#039;t care. I took a shuttle to Dulles Airport and was able to leave at 9:50 am and made it home by 4:30! Honestly, it was the most traumatic flying experience I&amp;#039;ve ever had, but the ladies at United saved my life! I gave the greeter a hug when I left! In the end I made it home and learned two valuable lessons. Number one: Do not pull an all nighter... no matter how cute the boy may be! Number two: Take everything one step at a time, because at the end of the day all that matters is that you are safe, and you are home. That&amp;#039;s worth all the traumatic flight experiences in the world. Even so, I hope this doesn&amp;#039;t happen again when I come home at Christmas... Do you have any traumatic traveling experiences? Share them in the comments below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a16795/traumatic-thanksgiving-traveling/>