I’m on the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow, on the way to AlterConf in Ireland

Here are some things I don’t like about travelling:

  • Getting up early
  • Skipping breakfast because apparently that wasn’t early enough
  • Running to the station with my suitcase because wtf I skipped breakfast how am I still running late
  • Running to WH Smith and back to buy a £2 bottle of delicious pseudo-science water because I don’t care if I miss the train I need water and I need it now
  • Feeling very sick due to the above
  • Standing around awkwardly hoping the person who’s in my reserved seat notices me without me saying anything
  • Suddenly remembering all of the things I forgot to bring just as it’s too late to do anything about them
  • Not having anything to do on the train because I don’t want to have to awkwardly lift my suitcase down, start rummaging through it, and elbow the person next to me (who seems to be trying to sleep) in the process
  • Not having phone service on the train
  • Train Wi-Fi being slow
  • Train Wi-Fi being expensive
  • Trains that don’t have Wi-Fi
  • Missing my cute Twitter friends’ selfies because I don’t have an Internet connection, the tweets have loaded, the images haven’t, and there’s nothing else to do other than read the tweets above them
  • Trying to cut though a horde of people who just got off a train
  • Having to very quickly find a bus without clear signage
  • Buses
  • Trying to drink 750ml of water all at once because I’ll have to throw it away
  • Airports not having gender neutral toilets
  • Airport security
  • Having to walk forwards and backwards several times because of the queue barriers, even though there are only about 10 people here
  • The long winding aisle of expensive shops they make you— ooh Lego
  • The price of Lego
  • Almost missing flights
  • Having to sit around for two hours because I arrived really early this time so I didn’t almost miss my flight like the last time
  • Airport Wi-Fi
  • Not being allowed to wear headphones while the plane is taking off or landing
  • Not being able to use Bulbapedia while airborne
  • The bus driver at the airport pulling away just as we get to the bus
  • Bus stops where, upon trying to lean on the wall while sitting on the bench, I discover that it’s a lot less close to the bench than it ought to be
  • A badly positioned taxi resulting in a head-to-head between a double decker bus and a delivery van on a busy road, making it impossible for anybody to move
  • Missing our train because of the above
  • The next train not being for over an hour
  • My phone being unable to access the internet, for no discernible reason. (I still haven’t fixed this. Hit me up if you have any suggestions, but I’ve pretty much given up at this point.)
  • My lunch in Supermac’s just turning up as we have to head back to the station because wow that hour went by quickly
  • Trying to handle a Leap Card, suitcase and pizza box (a total of three (3) things) with two (2) hands
  • Trains that are exactly half full, but with every pair of seats having a person in one of them so Chris and I can’t sit together
  • Train floors that are not quite dirty enough to warrant not sitting on, but dirty enough that I feel bad about it
  • Bins that are too small for pizza boxes
  • Chris not being able to eat pizza fast enough for it to go in the bin
  • Having to carry Chris’s pizza because he was the only one who could access Google Maps
  • Having to take a detour because of a long fence separating the road from the building we’re staying in.
  • Accidentally sleeping all afternoon because I’m so exhausted
  • Not having finished my talk because of the above

All in all, it was okay. The flight was very pleasant. :)