Welcome to Travel Diaries, a Refinery29 series in which we tag alongside as real ladies embark on trips around the world and song their travel charges down to the remaining cent. Here, we offer a detailed, intimate account of while, where, and how our friends spend their excursion days and disposable income: all the food, adventures, indulgences, setbacks, and surprises.
This week’s tour diary: A 27-year-old sales govt visits Tennessee for tattoos, Dollywood, and karaoke.
Costs: Round ride flight from LAX to BNA changed into $225. We booked an Avis condo vehicle via Costco Travel from for 5 days for $128.87, but we’ll pay this whilst we choose up the car (if you haven’t checked them out, particularly encouraged. We at first booked thru Expedia earlier than this and observed out Costco turned into $120 cheaper).
When did you e-book? Do you observe you acquire a good deal? We booked it four months earlier, immediately thru Southwest’s internet site. I idea we got an excellent deal!
Costs: We stayed at some distinctive locations. My excellent friend, B, works in hospitality and receives a massive cut price on lodges. We stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn first, then at a Hilton in Pigeon Forge, then an AirBnB barn, and any other Hilton by way of the airport on our closing night. B positioned it on her card and I Venmo’d her.
1:02 p.M. – I clock out of work and am officially on vacation! I took a 1/2 day because I haven’t hit quota yet (I paintings a sales task and it’s pretty vital to hit numbers every month). I’m leaving straight from paintings to my parents’ residence because they stay closer to LAX. I get there around 2:15 p.M. And my mom and I right now head to the airport.
3:10 p.M. – I check my bags and undergo TSA Pre-Check, that is SO well worth the cash in case you travel often. It takes me approximately five minutes to get via the line, I don’t ought to take my shoes off, do not need to scan my boarding skip (they simply positioned my driver’s license through a gadget), and get to keep stuff in my wallet. My fine buddy, B, remains on the manner by the time I get performed with protection, so I stroll around LAX for a chunk and study a little bit of Jurassic Park. I’m re-studying it due to the fact I wanted a fun fable read, however, I always overlook how extraordinary Crichton’s writing is.
Four:25 p.M. – We start to board the plane. Even although B is further up than I was, we nonetheless manage to get seats next to every different. We have a layover in Vegas and one of the flight attendants is dressed up as Elvis, that’s sort of lovely and amusing.
6 p.M. – Arrive in Vegas and de-plane. We have approximately half-hour to kill earlier than boarding again, so we stroll round and study the shops and fee our phones.
6:45 p.M. – Board aircraft and it’s pretty empty, so B and I get an entire row to ourselves!
7:15 p.M. – We take off and I attempt to sleep for a bit, however, fail. I decide to study greater of Jurassic Park and end about one hundred twenty pages of it earlier than I decide to take a spoil. I just sit down and let my mind wander; I feel like a number of my nice “deep wondering” comes from me sitting on an aircraft, probably because I’m literally sitting with not anything to do.
