Exercise at the LAX – with no sports bra!

For those that have travelled to any destination, you know how hectic it can be boarding and disembarking, especially when you’ve tried to save money. I have seen solo travellers and couples disembarking Tigerair in Sydney and then boarding Jetstar to their destination to save a few bucks.

So what happens when you’re in another country and the airport is the size of Gympie?

We planned our trip to the USA and included the majority of the attractions. We drove to Las Vegas and spent most of our time at the casino buffets and walked past the high roller tables that required a $10,000 dollar drop if you wanted in on the game. We spent the first couple of days worried the police were going to lock us away for drinking alcohol in a public place until we were told you could drink on the Las Vegas strip, hence the slushie boots and slushie bongs around everyone’s neck.

We had a lovely vacation but it was time to head home to the land down under and back into my comfy bed. We booked our flight from Las Vegas to Sydney on Delta Airlines. We didn’t worry because our bags would be transferred and we’re on the manifest so Delta would communicate if there was a delay and would not take off to Australia without us.

We boarded and took our seats only to be told that the flight was going to be delayed to Los Angeles. I kept checking the time and told my travel buddy that we better take off in the next couple of minutes otherwise we’ll miss our flight. After an hour and a half on the tarmac, we departed.

We landed at 9.45pm and our flight to Sydney was scheduled for 10.30pm. The plane took 15 mins to park and 15 mins to disembark. This was it, the survival of the fittest, which definitely counted me out.

We ran off the plane (well I attempted a fast pace walk with little trots that looked like I was running), We asked a staff member where the Delta Airline gates were located and he pointed to a corridor and said to follow it. Well, LAX needs to fire that person because he made me trot all the way to the American Airlines section of the LAX airport. We were then directed by an American Airlines staff member to another corridor and as I thanked the staff member I looked around for those buggy’s that cart people around the airport but none were in sight. My travel buddy encouraged me to trot, walk, drag myself, do whatever it took for me to make it to the corridor. As I turned and saw the corridor, I wanted to give up. It was a never-ending corridor and I was not wearing a sports bra for all this running around. My travel buddy who is fit and full of energy ran as fast as she could to the gate to tell them that a sad looking pack horse was still making her way.

We were the last passengers to board the plane and had to make our way to the back of the aircraft. I was sweating and had to readjust my front lady bumps that were all over the place from my unplanned exercise. As I settled into my chair ready for the 17hr journey, I turned to my travel buddy to thank her, I suddenly heard a loud ‘pop!’

I felt pain in my right ear. I couldn’t hear properly and it felt like liquid was slowly dripping out of my ear. When i thought things couldn’t get any worse, I spent the next 17hrs flying with a perforated eardrum.

Penelope Peepaw