Let's Just Go

My first overseas flight for a very long time, into a world of solo travel fun!

Earlier this year I had been successful in applying for a secondment for a new job, and had been working really hard at the new job to settle in, and get stuck in to the workload. It came with quite the uplift in pay – but also, a little more stress in the day to day work, with many tasks and people to manage at once.

I had some leave at the end of the year to take, and had really enjoyed hearing reports from friends, all of whom had caught the travel bug a bit more, since COVID restrictions had lifted, and life was going a little more back to usual. One of the things I wanted to try and do more was travel.

A person in my life at the time had joked how ridiculous a woman going traveling on her own would be, and that I couldn’t do such a thing (despite him travelling a lot – ahh, sexism). Now I had some leave to take, and had saved up some money to spend on travelling, it was definitely time to get on a plane, go somewhere new, and experience a new world, just waiting out there.

Your author is a deal-seeker by nature, and had started my journey into miles and points at this time – however I didn’t want to spend too much money on this holiday, as it was to be my first solo holiday away, and I wasn’t sure I’d like it – or enjoy myself – or even what it would be like. So, I booked a holiday at the time I knew a friend would be on the same island, so that we could have 2 days in the same town at the same time – and I took her recommendation on which town to stay in, as she had been there a few times, and absolutely loved it!

I found a good deal on a hotel for a 5 night trip with a big swimming pool, found a good deal on flights – the return flight in Economy with BA was £127 from Gatwick to Arrecife, and found a very cheap coach transfer from the hotel. I was ridiculously excited but also not quite sure what would be in store for me…

I woke at 4.00 that morning. My flight was due to take off from Gatwick airport at 09:00, so I had arranged to stay in the spare room of a very kind friend who lives in Central London, and then take the first train leaving Victoria to Gatwick Airport, to arrive around 06:20. The weather was sleety – and outside of London, the temperatures were around -7, with London being -1 this morning, but very well de-iced, thankfully.

London was awake, but quiet at this time. Very few people boarded this train – other than people destined for Gatwick!

Lots more people joined us with suitcases at Clapham Junction, with the train getting steadily busier the closer to the Airport we got. It was excellent to see more people at this time of the morning, although everyone was rather bleary-eyed.

I arrived and followed signs, and checked in at the British Airways desks, at the left hand side of the South terminal. – I was a bit of a newbie traveller at this point, so I had packed a suitcase to go into the hold – as I thought I would need all of these bits and bobs for 5 nights away from home. I can now very much do a trip like this with hand baggage only – it pays to spend less time dragging huge bags around and take less with you, and also the uncertainty of perhaps losing a bag if it’s not loaded on to the plane…

My suitcase was taken away and checked in, and I got my boarding pass and slipped it into a rather empty-of-stamps passport. We were told there was going to be a delay, potentially a couple of hours, as it was cold weather, and planes would have to be de-iced. I really didn’t mind waiting though – I was quite worried at this point, and was more of a nervous flyer – just because this was my first trip in an aeroplane for over 10 years.

10 years previous to now, I was flying around the UK on EasyJet, BMI Baby, Aer Lingus and BA (when allowed!) for work – I had to attend meetings all over the place, and often the cheapest way to travel was to fly. Most of the time I was really scared at flying, and didn’t understand what was going on at each stage of the flight. Even taking a left or right turn would scare me somewhat – even though sense told me that you can’t fly to a destination without turning left or right at some point. I wasn’t used to the feeling of being in the air – or the feeling of not knowing where we would land. My first trip to Belfast, I remember being rather petrified when landing at George Best City airport – because most of the approach is done over water, terra firma is only seen when you are just about to land! Some very kind people on the plane were explaining the route and reassuring me that it was ok – and that we *would* land normally, and not in the sea. It took doing that, to find that reassurance…

I waited in the main terminal and saw the flight would be around 3 hours delayed – so made my way over to get coffee and some food. Gatwick was filling up – at this point I wasn’t a tiered member of the BA Club and therefore couldn’t access a Lounge (and didn’t know what one was!) . I took a seat by the main departure screens and watched people coming and going, and posted this story on social media.

A good travel playlist is essential for travelling – no matter what your preferred kinds of music are – so I spent some time creating a playlist for some of the flight, and some of the holiday. I remember a friend a few years back said that everyone should have a Music to Take Off To playlist in their arsenal – there are a lot of tunes appropriate for hurtling down a runway at 200mph and then taking to the sky, floating in the air – do you have one of these playlists?

Time passed and I was a little nervous. The gate was called, and I made my way down to the chilly Rotunda area – hopefully willing that the weather in Lanzarote would be warm, and not like Gatwick gates – everyone huddled into their thick coats.

I remember the feeling of wonder as the gate next door began to fill with people – the destination was Rovaniemi – with dozens of under-5s and their families arriving and wondering exactly when it would be that they saw Santa and were in the land of Christmas! I felt a similar wonder as my group was called for boarding. What am I getting myself into?

I boarded a plane for the first time in ages and felt a little worried for what might happen. However, the crew were wonderful – they asked how I was doing, and when I said this was my first flight for 10 years and I was a little concerned, they said – we will keep you safe, we do this 4 times a day! They also promised to come and talk to me later in the flight to see how things were going – they were just super lovely and actually made me excited to start the trip!

My plane for today’s jaunt was G-GATH, a 21 year old A320, and my seat for this trip had been carefully chosen – 27A – a seat where there was just someone in seat C and few other people around me. I really enjoy a bit of space, so if there is no-one in seat B, this is excellent! I love the window seat too – so seat A gave an amazing view.

Not all seats were full, and my seat pal in 27C was the last person to board. She noticed that there was a totally empty row in front of us, and asked the cabin crew if she could sit there. They said yes – but only after we had taken off. No worries.

I started chatting to the seat mate and found out she spends as much time as she can in Lanzarote. She works remotely with no site or office visits required, and so spent 90 days in Playa Blanca, renting out a flat with a pool, and then 90 days in the UK in a friend’s spare room – waiting for the 90 days where she can go back to Lanzarote! I explained it was my first time travelling for a long time, and she was very kind – she also said to get the bus to Playa Blanca and we could go for an evening out together, as that would be fun! It’s not really my kind of fun, but I was grateful all the same.

It was time to take off. Last time I flew, FlightRadar was in its infancy, and 3G signal wasn’t great in most places. That’s all changed now – I saw where we were at Gatwick, watched a plane land in front of us, and we took our turn to line up. It was time to go, and I got chills in the excitement and worry. I put my playlist on, with one ear open, and felt the wonder and freedom which comes with hurtling 200mph down the runway… and lifting into the air. The playlist was perfect. Surrey and Sussex suddenly became small, the snow smattering visible to us from the cold air above.

I am fascinated by the view from an aeroplane window, so I wondered what towns and cities we were flying over, in the South of the country. Sometimes you can tell where you are, as you know the city overhead, sometimes not.

We were soon climbing into the sunny skies, the low winter sun bright in view.

We had an excellent and amazing view of the south coast, passing over Portsmouth and Southampton, with the Isle of Wight the last piece of England that we saw – onwards, to Europe!

I brought a tablet with me to catch up on some programme viewing, and I’d downloaded a load of programmes to watch – mainly some comedy to keep me laughing and smiling whilst in the air. The tablet case handily has a flap at the back, so you can attach it to the A320 seat back and use it as a screen! This discovery was not planned and just a very lucky coincidence!

By this point, I was really starting to enjoy the flight. We had very little turbulence along the way, and were not making too many turns – once you turn left out of Gatwick, the journey to the Canaries is pretty much straight south-south-west, over France, Spain, Portugal and then the Atlantic Ocean.

My seat-mate in seat C took the opportunity to sit in the row in front and use it as a bed – she had a good couple of hours of sleep this way. I must remember this for the future!

I also noticed that another plane was flying alongside for part of the journey, it was travelling a little faster though, so managed to overtake!

After around 3hr40 mins, the Captain made an announcement that we were around 20 minutes to landing – how exciting! Items were stowed away and people scurried to use the toilet and find their seat. He also mentioned that the runway at Lanzarote is fairly short, so upon landing the plane will brake heavily – so hold on to anything near you tightly, as it may go flying forwards!

We turned 180 degrees and began the landing approach to the north facing runway at ACE.

We descended with lots of ocean underneath us until right at the last moment – and lots of wibbly wobbly left and right movement so we would land in the right spot on the runway, it felt like a very breezy place of landing. To note – there is usually quite a lot of wind in Lanzarote, so this is usual – as are delays taking off, as the wind needs to be in a good direction! The runway is short, and there are volcanoes to the north of the runway, so sometimes very heavy planes have to take off in the opposite direction, to ensure a safe takeoff!

As explained, the runway is short, so brakes were put on FAST and lots of things did go flying forwards – there were lots of thuds that sounded like phones… However – we had made it! We taxied over to the terminal quickly and in no time at all, were disembarking and through passport control.

I picked up my bag, followed directions to the transfer area with my ticket for transfer and met a coach for the trip to the hotel. Everyone was very friendly and the coach was playing a local radio station, sharing a lot of Christmas music! We sat there for around 40 minutes whilst some other travellers arrived, and then made our way.

We dropped the other travellers off at their hotels, and mine was the last on the list. It was very friendly and welcoming and offered everyone champagne or orange juice whilst booking in! Madness!

I also managed to completely luck out – I was offered a free upgrade from a basic room, to a suite room, which had loads of space in! It took me a little while to find the room, but was seriously impressed when I did. It had TWO BALCONIES. One for coffee, and one for sun-lounging!

There was a main living room, with fridge, tv, breakfast bar, and the first balcony with a table and chairs, and the bathroom, jacuzzi and toilet off that area – and the bedroom, sun lounging balcony and cupboards were in another area away from the living area.

How would I get on here, would I enjoy it? More in the next part…