Are you a good traveler?

We have the worst luck when it comes to traveling. As you know we live in Florida, which requires us to travel a lot to see family and other events. But we dread traveling because we know something is bound to go wrong. On Thursday, Donovan left for a conference which was to be held in Vancover, Canada. He had been invited to be one of the presenters at the conference to discuss work from his dissertation. When he was invited to go several months ago, he asked if it was necessary to have a passport ot enter Canada. He was assured that a passport was not necessary. So when he left to go to the airport, I handed him an envelope that had his birth certificate inside of it. When he arrived at the Gainesville airport the gentleman asked for his passport in order to get all the way to Canada. Donovan said, "I don't have a passport, but I was told I only needed a birth certifcate." He showed the man his birth certificate and went on his way. He left our home at 8:30 am. He arrived at the LAX airport around 4:00p.m. our time. His flight had been delayed out of LAX. At 8:00 pm our time, I received a call from Donovan. He was not able to travel to Vancover, because the envelope he had picked up at our home only had a copy of his birth certifcate and not his orginal birth certifcate. The airline employee in Florida indicated the copy of the birth certificate would be suffcient to get to Canada, but at LAX they refused to let him board the plane to Vancouver. They told him that he could fly to Seattle and rent a car and that he would be able to enter Canada driving with only his driver's license and a copy of the birth certificate "because the laws are less stringent for drivers versus airline passengers." So off to Seattle he flew (albeit quite disgruntled at this delay, further expense at renting a car, and the need to drive a couple of hours once in Seattle). Well, at 1:00am he called and said, "I'm in Seattle, but here thay assure me that I can't go across the border without a passport or an orginal birth certificate." At 3:00am EST, the airlines finally put him in a hotel (where he was able to sleep for a little over 2 hours and get a shower), and then he was back at the airport to be able to get on a flight to get back to Gainesville. He arrived at the Atlanta airport at 1:40 pm and was told his flight to Gainesville had been cancelled. After spending six hours in the Atlanta Airport, he was able to get on a puddle jumper by being on standby and fly to Gainesville. He arrived last night at 9:00pm. He was exhausted and doesn't want to see an airport for a while.

Last year, we flew back to Utah for Bryan's wedding (Donovan's brother). It takes us 12-13 hours to get to Utah from our house. We have to drive two hours to the Orlando airport. (It's much cheaper to fly out of Orlando.) There are no direct flights on Southwest from Orlando to Salt Lake City. So we generally have a connection or a stop over. Connections with four kids is not fun. When we arrived at the Orlando airport last year, we had forgotten Jyllian's birth certificate. If you have a child under the age of two, you must present proper documentation to prove she is not two. They were not going to let Jyllian on the flight. The ticket agent asked if we could call our doctor and get shot records. I called the Dr's office, and they were able to fax a copy of the shot records. This delayed us quite a bit, so we really had to hurry to catch the flight. Well, as you know going through security is not so fun. I had taken a carry on with some valuable contents inside. My thoughts at the time returned to a trip to Boston Donovan and I had taken in Feb. 2007 when the airlines had lost our luggage. That luggage eventually did catch up to us a day later, but I didn't want to be without my stuff for the wedding on this trip to Utah. The carry on bag for this trip contained my video camera, my digital camera, two portable DVD players, all of my Mary Kay and Mac make-up, DVD's, all of my earrings and my wedding outfit. So in Orlando, we were so stressed and in a rush not to miss the flight, I left my bag in the security scanner. After I realized, I didn't have the bag Donovan rushed back to get it, but it was no where to be found. I cried the whole way to Utah and all night. We arrived at the Lott's house at 1:00am which is 3:00 am our time. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. I cried all night over that bag. Donovan said, he had never seen me so upset over something that much. I did receive a call Utah time 8:00am. The bag had been taken by security because it had been left. I did get the bag but it cost me $75 to have it shipped to Utah. Thank goodness, I have so many wonderful sisters. They let me borrow their make-up and clothes. Right after the wedding I went to Kohl's and found me another new outfit for the reception. (Thanks for the outfit Anne.) The things we go through for family and to support them, and often they don't even realize it. This was a good learning experience for us. We all realized that we need to be grateful for what we do have and not put so much importance on material possesions. We are a happy and healthy family, and we have each other. I guess that is all that matters.

Donovan and I traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 2000. Yep, we forgot our birth certificates, but we didn't even know we needed them. Luckily, we had checked in early enough, and Donovan's wonderful mother who was at our home in Las Vegas caring for our kids drove to the airport and gave us our birth certificates. I hope you are all better travelers than we are (although I admit that as travelers we are not too great of a standard to surpass). Here's some advice I'll offer (even if you didn't ask for it) because I care about you. Always remeber to get a passport if you plan to travel outside of the United States (no matter what anyone else tells you). My wonderful mother-in-law asked if we wanted passports for Christmas. I told her that was the best idea. It will be a gift well worth it. In 2009, no one can enter or leave the country without a passport. An orginal copy of your birth certificate is no longer valid. We would love to hear about any wonderful/awful experiences you have had.