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Saturday October 16th, I missed my flight out of Toronto. No kidding. But it wasn't my fault as there was an accident on the highway and number of people on the same flight had the same problem. The day had started off rather challenging so this was just par for the course; I was determined not to let it get to me. When we got to the airport and tried to check in, we were told the gate was "closed" even though one gentleman flying first class was allowed to go through. Donkey did say the world wasn't level, right? So we were placed on stand-by for the next flight which was an hour later. Supposedly the flight was full, but a wonderful BA customer service rep, after I explained my plight, assured me she would make sure I was on it and she did. Three other teams members left on "the original" flight but we had spoken by phone while I was crawling through traffic and we agreed we would meet up at Heathrow.
The "full" flight was anything but so I had the luxury of being alone in my row. I was alright with that; pushed up the arm rests and made myself comfortable for the 7-hour flight. We left TO at 7:55 p.m. and I was tired. Being a notorious leave-packing-for-as-late-as-possible kind of a guy, I had finished packing at about 4:00 that evening. It wasn't the easiest of things packing three weeks worth of stuff in one suitcase
And this wasn't a vacation, it was a mission trip. At least the first two weeks was, and since it involved mostly training of ministry leaders I had to take somewhat business casual clothes for weekdays. The way I figured it, lots of mix and match and laundry on the week-ends should work fine 
. And why don't they have unscented shampoos, lotions, etc., in small bottles? Sheesh. All that stuff took up about 5 pounds of precious weight, not to mention equally precious space in the suitcase. Why unscented? According to people who should know, scented toiletries attract mosquitoes and since Zambia was flagged for malaria, we were encouraged to leave scented stuff at home. We had all received anti-malaria tabs to take while we were there (one day before and one week after) but no harm in taking extra precautions. After all, we also had our mosquito nets!
Anyways, those travel "plastic bags" to pack clothes in? Fabulous! The greatest packing tip we received was to roll the clothes instead of folding them. Works like a charm and less wrinkles too Because of the long flight times to Lusaka (Zambia), we were advised to pack a change of clothes in our hand luggage in case our checked baggage got lost. This was where rolling worked wonders!
The BA flight was extremely comfortable. Two-thumbs up to the attendants for the excellent and courteous service they provided. First class on this thing was really first class. Talk about comfort! "One day, one day" I said to myself. The food (meal, snack, and breakfast) was very good. Choice of entertainment also two thumbs up as with individual consoles, each passenger could choose their own from the options available. I particular enjoyed two movies - "Karate Kid 2" and "Salt." A snooze here and there in between and on Sunday morning at approximately 7:45 we landed at Heathrow.
Going through immigration was a 30-minute exercise and it didn't take long to get my luggage. We had a 12-hour stop over and so we had arranged a day-stay at Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel to leave our baggages, get a shower, and for the first-timers to London, maybe go on a quick tour of the city. I caught up with the rest of the group at the shuttle stop. it turned out that they spent about 90-mins snaking through immigration so they got to the stop a litte before I did. So we shuttled to the Renaissance, rested a bit, got something to eat at McDonalds (nowhere else opened before 12 noon!) and after consulting with hotel staff, decided on a 3-hour private guided tour. For the group of 4, the cost was 100 pounds. Not bad.
<span style="font-style: italic">Pictures to come...</span>
The "full" flight was anything but so I had the luxury of being alone in my row. I was alright with that; pushed up the arm rests and made myself comfortable for the 7-hour flight. We left TO at 7:55 p.m. and I was tired. Being a notorious leave-packing-for-as-late-as-possible kind of a guy, I had finished packing at about 4:00 that evening. It wasn't the easiest of things packing three weeks worth of stuff in one suitcase
And this wasn't a vacation, it was a mission trip. At least the first two weeks was, and since it involved mostly training of ministry leaders I had to take somewhat business casual clothes for weekdays. The way I figured it, lots of mix and match and laundry on the week-ends should work fine . And why don't they have unscented shampoos, lotions, etc., in small bottles? Sheesh. All that stuff took up about 5 pounds of precious weight, not to mention equally precious space in the suitcase. Why unscented? According to people who should know, scented toiletries attract mosquitoes and since Zambia was flagged for malaria, we were encouraged to leave scented stuff at home. We had all received anti-malaria tabs to take while we were there (one day before and one week after) but no harm in taking extra precautions. After all, we also had our mosquito nets! Anyways, those travel "plastic bags" to pack clothes in? Fabulous! The greatest packing tip we received was to roll the clothes instead of folding them. Works like a charm and less wrinkles too
Because of the long flight times to Lusaka (Zambia), we were advised to pack a change of clothes in our hand luggage in case our checked baggage got lost. This was where rolling worked wonders!The BA flight was extremely comfortable. Two-thumbs up to the attendants for the excellent and courteous service they provided. First class on this thing was really first class. Talk about comfort! "One day, one day" I said to myself. The food (meal, snack, and breakfast) was very good. Choice of entertainment also two thumbs up as with individual consoles, each passenger could choose their own from the options available. I particular enjoyed two movies - "Karate Kid 2" and "Salt." A snooze here and there in between and on Sunday morning at approximately 7:45 we landed at Heathrow.
Going through immigration was a 30-minute exercise and it didn't take long to get my luggage. We had a 12-hour stop over and so we had arranged a day-stay at Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel to leave our baggages, get a shower, and for the first-timers to London, maybe go on a quick tour of the city. I caught up with the rest of the group at the shuttle stop. it turned out that they spent about 90-mins snaking through immigration so they got to the stop a litte before I did. So we shuttled to the Renaissance, rested a bit, got something to eat at McDonalds (nowhere else opened before 12 noon!) and after consulting with hotel staff, decided on a 3-hour private guided tour. For the group of 4, the cost was 100 pounds. Not bad.
<span style="font-style: italic">Pictures to come...</span>
I would never fly first class to go on a mission trip but would certainly do so again for vacation. In this case, BA's first class is what I have in mind and I will do it whenever the opportunity presents itself.
The ladies on the immediate left are team members...
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