2023 USA – Seattle
27th January 2022
Our flight from Cancun wasn’t until late afternoon so for once we had plenty of time. We planned to get to the airport three hours before our flight but by 11 a.m. we started getting bored so thought we might as well wait around at the airport as at the apartment. It was just as well.
We were driving for 15 minutes when it started raining so heavily that even with the wipers on full speed couldn’t keep up with it. Ten minutes later the roads were flooded and in some places, the water was up to the top of the car tyres. It was very difficult driving but there was no choice but to plough on. My main concern was that the car broke down in the middle of a giant puddle. That used to happen all the time in the old days, but I was hoping that cars had improved and were better sealed against the water which thankfully seemed to be the case. None of the cars or lorries had mudflaps so every time we were overtaken it was like someone had thrown a million-litre bucket of water over us. We thought it might just be a short downpour but at the petrol station the attendant assured us that once it got started like that, it would rain for days on end. At one point the GPS said we were only ten kilometres from the airport, but the time of arrival was one hour. Thinking there must be a fault with the GPS we continued until suddenly we hit a wall of traffic. The traffic was in three lanes and there was a high lorry in front of us so I both felt quite claustrophobic.
By now I was really hungry and the only thing we had was biscuits and crisps which I hate eating on an empty stomach. My biggest problem was I wanted to pee so badly that it was physically painful. What with the hunger and the fear of an exploding bladder I was also getting anxious which wasn’t helped by the knowledge that if started to feel unwell, Federika wouldn’t be able to drive as the car was an automatic. Despite us moving slowly but steadily, every time I looked at the GPS it said it was still another hour to the airport. I would have happily got out and peed up against the car, but it was raining so heavily that I would have got drenched and had to sit in wet clothes for the next hour. The only bottle we had was Federika’s favourite metal water bottle, but she insisted I use it even though it meant throwing the bottle away afterwards. I had no choice but to sacrifice the bottle and although it was incredibly awkward urinating while sitting down and driving at the same time, I managed to get some temporary relief. When we finally reached the car hire depot I got soaked getting out of the car and although they charged us extra for heaven knows what, I was past caring and all I wanted was to complete my pee and get into some dry clothes.
Checking in was painless enough but Cancun airport made me realise how much we take most modern airports for granted. Normally we walk down long corridors to get to departure gates, so passengers are separated. At Cancun airport, there was only one area with all the gates in a circle around the building. It created a solid mass of people and with every single shop playing its own loud music it was bedlam. Our flight was an hour late which wasn’t bad as a lot of the other flights were cancelled, leaving passengers walking around like zombies wondering what to do next.
It was a six-hour flight with Delta Airlines to Seattle and it was the first time I had been on such a long flight without being served some kind of hot food. Our only option was a chicken roll that we had to pay for. Federika heard one of the air hostesses say she was too hot and the next thing we knew the temperature in the plane dropped dramatically. We were both freezing which was ironic because I had paid extra for the “comfort plus” package. One flight attendant told us there weren’t any blankets but then Federika persevered and eventually another attendant magically produced two blankets, so we were able to thaw out. It was the first and last time we had ever flown Delta. 
As always, I really enjoyed our holiday, but I wasn’t very impressed with Mexico. I was sure it was a wonderful holiday destination many years ago but mass tourism had taken a heavy toll. I didn’t mind the food and the high prices because there was an element of choice but having inappropriate music forced on me everywhere we went was unacceptable. We stayed in five different hotels, all out of town and in all of them we could hear the boom, boom, boom of dance music from our room or balcony every night. On the beaches, we frequently had to move when people sat next to us with their music blaring. In some places, we could hear music from several Bluetooth speakers playing at the same time.
1st February 2022
Our last four days in Seattle were very pleasant but uneventful. We went to the Woodland Park Zoo one day where it was refreshing to see the change in the treatment of animals since my first trip to London Zoo when I was seven years old. Our long journey home included an overnight stay at a Heathrow hotel so we could rest before our flight to Croatia the next day. We were both looking forward to getting home but as always happens with me, walking back from the plane to collect our luggage I had a feeling of anti-climax and an urge to go to an airline desk to book a flight to somewhere else. Over the years that urge had diminished along with my energy level, but it was still there.
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2023 Mexico
