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Everyone looks at me like I'm insane for driving myself long distances... I never have to deal with this bullshit, though. Insane, it seems, to take your life i

Everyone looks at me like I'm insane for driving myself long distances... I never have to deal with this bullshit, though. Insane, it seems, to take your life in your hands in this way.

aimor 5y ago
I found this funny because I did very briefly consider driving to the layover airport. Agency is a great thing to have, and I think it's much more important for a happy life than efficiency, but there are limits. My limit is apparently somewhere under 7 hours (the time for the drive to the first airport).
vmception 5y ago
Because this doesn't have to be the general experience? I often think about how my air-travel experience is different and stress free from others. As someone that doesn't drive to the airport and can basically just walk through empty security lines, only books direct flights and doesn't have to wait till the holiday to travel, the stress is non-existent. The worst common thing I encounter is my plane landing early at the destination and having to wait on the tarmac longer because the gate isn't clear yet. In comparison, many others are driving to long term parking, taking long shuttles, have packed inefficiently resulting in long lines, rebalancing at both the baggage check area and at security, and have to compound the flight promptness gambles with short or long layovers. Can't tell which one is worse. Now that I think about it, many people likely don't have a way to get their ticket available easily either. The stress compounds on itself. Did I mention the airport lounges? The discovery process can be nice.
- syshum 5y ago
  First I am 90% sure your experience is not the "general experience". Aside from my fundamental problem with security theater at the airports, the actual experience in the airport is not terribly bad but I have been stranded in places due to flight cancellations, I have experienced long delays, etc Also I am a Big AND Tall person, for which the airplane itself I believe has been designed to purposely torture Big AND tall people, anything over a 2 hr flight and my knee,s and legs are in serious pain, the worst is then having to sit for 45mins at the other end "waiting for a gate" Further given my location and my destination the majority of my flights are on small regional jets for which there is no "business class" to get a larger seat or more leg room, and "exit row" in these small jets is laughable No, when ever possible I drive
- Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
  Every time I fly, it feels like half the people in the lines have never flown before and their inexperience is compounded by their ignorance of posted signs, call-outs, and general awareness of what other people are doing. Like...when you're in the security line, you should have your ID and ticket ready to show the TSA agent. I've seen way too many people get to that checkpoint and only then put their bag down and ruffle through it to find their wallet and ticket, completely oblivious to everyone that was in front of them in line and already had that stuff ready. Then, when they have to put their stuff on the scanner...doesn't matter how many times the agents shout that laptops have to be removed from bags and their shoes have to be taken off, they'll try to go through with shoes on and leave their laptop in the bag.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
t0mbstone 5y ago
Driving is statistically FAR more dangerous than flying though. Think about it, you are hurtling along a highway at 70 mph in a car with numerous components that are aging and can break catastrophically. All it takes is a tire blow-out and your car flips. Or the overweight truck driver in the lane behind you has a heart attack and his truck crushes your car like a soda can. Or a vehicle traveling 70 mph in the opposing lane loses control and flies across the median, hitting your car and killing you instantly before you even have time to react. Meanwhile, the airplane covers that same distance in a fraction of the time and has not one, but two pilots, with numerous years of experience. If one of the pilots has a heart attack, the other one can take over. There are almost no vehicles on the road with that level of redundancy.
Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
Depends on the distance. I'm in in the Portland, OR area. I would absolutely drive to Seattle (~180 miles) or San Francisco (~630 miles). LA (~1,000 miles) is the limit for how far I'm willing to drive. But when I take a trip to theme parks on the east side of the country (Cedar Point, King's Island, and Holiday World were my last destinations), that's over 2,000 miles. That's 3 days of driving at a reasonable pace. I'm definitely flying that one.

Everyone looks at me like I'm insane for driving myself long distances... I never have to deal with this bullshit, though. Insane, it seems, to take your life in your hands in this way.

aimor 5y ago

I found this funny because I did very briefly consider driving to the layover airport. Agency is a great thing to have, and I think it's much more important for a happy life than efficiency, but there are limits. My limit is apparently somewhere under 7 hours (the time for the drive to the first airport).

vmception 5y ago

Because this doesn't have to be the general experience? I often think about how my air-travel experience is different and stress free from others. As someone that doesn't drive to the airport and can basically just walk through empty security lines, only books direct flights and doesn't have to wait till the holiday to travel, the stress is non-existent. The worst common thing I encounter is my plane landing early at the destination and having to wait on the tarmac longer because the gate isn't clear yet. In comparison, many others are driving to long term parking, taking long shuttles, have packed inefficiently resulting in long lines, rebalancing at both the baggage check area and at security, and have to compound the flight promptness gambles with short or long layovers. Can't tell which one is worse. Now that I think about it, many people likely don't have a way to get their ticket available easily either. The stress compounds on itself. Did I mention the airport lounges? The discovery process can be nice.

syshum 5y ago
First I am 90% sure your experience is not the "general experience". Aside from my fundamental problem with security theater at the airports, the actual experience in the airport is not terribly bad but I have been stranded in places due to flight cancellations, I have experienced long delays, etc Also I am a Big AND Tall person, for which the airplane itself I believe has been designed to purposely torture Big AND tall people, anything over a 2 hr flight and my knee,s and legs are in serious pain, the worst is then having to sit for 45mins at the other end "waiting for a gate" Further given my location and my destination the majority of my flights are on small regional jets for which there is no "business class" to get a larger seat or more leg room, and "exit row" in these small jets is laughable No, when ever possible I drive
Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
Every time I fly, it feels like half the people in the lines have never flown before and their inexperience is compounded by their ignorance of posted signs, call-outs, and general awareness of what other people are doing. Like...when you're in the security line, you should have your ID and ticket ready to show the TSA agent. I've seen way too many people get to that checkpoint and only then put their bag down and ruffle through it to find their wallet and ticket, completely oblivious to everyone that was in front of them in line and already had that stuff ready. Then, when they have to put their stuff on the scanner...doesn't matter how many times the agents shout that laptops have to be removed from bags and their shoes have to be taken off, they'll try to go through with shoes on and leave their laptop in the bag.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

t0mbstone 5y ago

Driving is statistically FAR more dangerous than flying though. Think about it, you are hurtling along a highway at 70 mph in a car with numerous components that are aging and can break catastrophically. All it takes is a tire blow-out and your car flips. Or the overweight truck driver in the lane behind you has a heart attack and his truck crushes your car like a soda can. Or a vehicle traveling 70 mph in the opposing lane loses control and flies across the median, hitting your car and killing you instantly before you even have time to react. Meanwhile, the airplane covers that same distance in a fraction of the time and has not one, but two pilots, with numerous years of experience. If one of the pilots has a heart attack, the other one can take over. There are almost no vehicles on the road with that level of redundancy.

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago

Depends on the distance. I'm in in the Portland, OR area. I would absolutely drive to Seattle (~180 miles) or San Francisco (~630 miles). LA (~1,000 miles) is the limit for how far I'm willing to drive. But when I take a trip to theme parks on the east side of the country (Cedar Point, King's Island, and Holiday World were my last destinations), that's over 2,000 miles. That's 3 days of driving at a reasonable pace. I'm definitely flying that one.