England and Iberia Day 1

Start of day: Home in North Carolina
End of day: Somewhere over the Atlantic

And so it begins.

Four packed roller suitcases staged together on the hardwood floor of a kitchen at home — a black softside bag with a luggage tag, a dark hardside spinner, a tan patterned bag with a yellow pineapple tag, and a large navy softside bag — with bar stools, a stainless refrigerator, and white cabinetry in the background

Our first flight, RDU to Atlanta, was delayed until 8:45pm. We learned this moments after our Uber pulled into the driveway to take us to the airport, so off we went anyway. The ride was fine; the driver didn’t help unload the luggage, though.

Zero wait at TSA PreCheck, with one exception: Sherri tried to take a bottle of water through and was escorted back out to the exit to try again.

Selfie in the Raleigh-Durham International Airport terminal, wearing a navy and white striped polo with a backpack strap over one shoulder, standing beneath the terminal's curved wooden roof beams and spiked metal sculpture, with a colorful 'Raleigh — Home of the NC State Wolfpack' mural and other travelers with luggage in the background

We hit the Club after that.

Interior of an airport lounge at RDU showing a curved granite bar with a stone-tiled wall behind it, three tapered pendant lights, recessed ceiling lighting, and wall-mounted televisions. A woman in black stands at the bar and a man in a striped shirt sits on a metal bar stool with a bag at his feet

As mentioned, the flight to Atlanta was delayed by at least 90 minutes, which left us without much time to connect in ATL.

RDU departures information board photographed at the airport, with a hand-drawn red circle marking the top two Atlanta Delta flights: DL 2621 at 7:59 PM from gate D3 showing a delayed status of 9:10 PM, and DL 1552 at 5:10 AM from gate D1 showing On Time. Additional departures to Boston, Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Austin, and Dallas/Ft Worth are listed below

Once we landed, we crossed from Terminal T to Terminal E with about 15 minutes before boarding started. We didn’t run, or even speed walk, but we certainly didn’t dally either. There were four direct ATL to LHR flights the next day, so I knew we had options if it came to that. Making this flight was clearly the best outcome.

I’ve become spoiled by my solo trips and Premium Select (or better) tickets. Truly. This flight had me head-bobbing the entire way across the Atlantic. Had we been in a more comfortable cabin, I would’ve taken a sleepy-time pill and time-travelled instead.

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