Day Zero: SNAFUs #1 and #2

It certainly didn't take long for me to hit the first major snag in my plans! To properly understand my dilemma, here is what I assumed were my flight plans to New Zealand:
Itinerary 1 (Paid conventionally via credit card, purchased in order to visit family prior to leaving)
1. Syracuse (SYR) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
2. Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Denver (DIA)
Itinerary 2 (Paid via frequent flyer miles, my initial plan was to drive to Denver from Kansas for the flight)
3. Denver (DIA) to Los Angeles (LAX)
4. Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney, Australia (SYD)
5. Sydney, Australia (SYD) to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL)
6. Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to Christchurch, New Zealand (CHC)

I had my Dad drive me to Syracuse the day before my flight in anticipation of heavy snowfall; opting to stay at the airport hotel to ensure I made it on-time with minimal stress on me or my family. This morning I tried to check my flight status online before leaving the hotel, but United's website could not find any flights from SYR to ORD. Odd, but I didn't get hung up on it. When I checked-in, however, the kiosk attendant got a weird look on his face after trying to find me in their system. Apparently, for reasons unknown, United had cancelled the first segment of my trip (Flight 1) awhile ago, and booked my second flight twice. I was never notified of any changes. At this point I'm getting a bit nervous, stressing to the representative that I had to get to either DIA or LAX for my flight abroad. After a lengthly phone call with United, I had a flight from SYR to Newark to LAX. Yay, right? Yes, but.....

I had three bags; one personal item with a laptop and food, one roller bag to carry-on and one huge hiking pack that I planned to check. The problem was this: my new itinerary puts me into LAX at 9:11pm (the final destination as far as my checked bag is concerned), and my flight to SYD leaves at 10:40pm. International flights require check-in two hours prior to the flight, I simply wouldn't have enough time to  go and pick up my bag, check-in, and go through security again; not to mention I've never been in the LAX airport and am wholly unfamiliar with it's layout and couldn't anticipate any further delays. When I voiced this concern to the agent they told me I'd have to call the people who booked that itinerary and see if I can get the itineraries combined so that my bag could be checked to my final destination. This upset me because 1) I booked it online and didn't know who to call and 2) I have no friggin' phone! [I literally had to stop writing here to go with the cops. I'll explain below, but I'm willing to bet it won't be too difficult to guess the answer soon enough]. I had reached a breaking point and became visibly upset (i.e., crying), but I remembered a there was a phone number to call on my Chase United credit card and the attendant was nice enough to call it for me. Unfortunately the outcome was the same; I could go, but not with a checked bag if I wanted to make the SYD flight. The lesson staring me in the face; how bad do I want to go? Enough to truly forsake 97% of my belongings? The answer is easy: YES, I am going come hell or high water.

I found an open area of the airport and set to the task of figuring out what would stay and what would go, and I was pleasantly surprised to find everything I really wanted fit in my roller. Hell, I even felt rather proud of myself after the exercise, though the zippers on my suitcase may burst before I actually arrive in Christchurch (I simply couldn't bare to leave my Nikes behind!). I left my pack and the clothes I didn't want by the trash, went into the bathroom to change my clothes and put on a couple more layers, then went through security to sit and wait four hours at the gate until my flight.

Now this is traveling light!

So, can you guess why the cops came to get me? Are you familiar with that overhead announcement at all airports that say 'do not to leave bags unattended and/or report any unattended bags to the TSA'? Yup, that's right, someone found my shit and called the Fuzz. I went down to face over ten cops, TSA officers and a German Shepard, with my stuff strewn all over the floor; all the while receiving a humiliating lecture on the severity of my moronic offense. If there hadn't been that bomb-sniffing dog conveniently close by to illustrate there was no explosives in my pack, these abandoned belongings would have shut down the airport for hours, the FBI would be notified, a bomb squad would have blown it up, and I would've been fined well over of $10,000. Pardon my language, but I believe a 'WHAT THE F*$!?!' is in order. The whole episode prior to the 'dump' had me so flustered that I didn't really think much about leaving the bag by the garbage. To me it was trash, already forgotten and someone else's concern. The expression of utter shame, along with more than a few tears, assured the authorities I would not be repeating that mistake anytime soon.

Still there's lots to be grateful for, like the fact that I reduced my number of total flights by one, there's free wifi so I can blog and reflect on this innane situation, I learned that airport security (at least in Syracuse, New York) is airtight, and I didn't get fined 10K or piss off the bomb dog. I'm optimistic that after this memorable send-off the rest of the trip will be fairly uneventful, but I am a bit concerned that United sent me an invitation to check-in for my Sydney flight with no mention of the rest of my itinerary to New Zealand; and it also wouldn't let me sign in on-line ahead of time... Here's hoping!