I really don’t like having to travel far on business and luckily for me my trips are few and far between. On a recent business trip to America I think I made almost every mistake in the book.

Things started to go wrong when I arrived at Gatwick airport in my car only to find that there were no more available airport parking spaces close to my terminal. I was forced to pay top price for a car parking space that was miles away from the airport terminal building.

This delayed my arrival, and I was already late. This didn’t go down well at the check in desk where they told me that I should have arrived an hour earlier. I was also told that I could have printed my boarding pass and checked in online before leaving home. Well you live and learn I suppose.

Starting early had meant leaving home without eating, so I immediately headed for one of the airport restaurants. I couldn’t believe what they were charging for a full English breakfast and if I wasn’t travelling on expenses I wouldn’t have been too happy at paying the extortionate airport prices.

I arrived in Atlanta and immediately headed for one of the car hire providers. There were a whole load of conferences taking place and attendees had taken all of the best models. I ended up with a big old Chevrolet pickup for the duration of my visit. If I’d booked in advance I’d have saved my employers some money and probably got the car that I wanted.

When I came back to Atlanta airport I had forgotten to take my keys out of my pocket and I was wearing a new belt witha big American eagle metal buckle. My ovsersights resulted in me going through the body scanner no less than three times before I passed the security check.

Then, when I boarded my flight, I reallised that I had somehow lost my PDA. Maybe it was stolen, but the chances are that I had simply left it in the airport bar where I’d enjoyed a beer before my flight. Unfortunately my travel insurance didn’t cover me for lost or stolen items like this.

I think it should be obvious that I am a bit rusty when it comes to air travel these days. I now think that I should stay at home here in the UK.

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