Gate check

When you travel with 66 other people, it takes an hour and a half to check in at the airport. By the time you reach the American Airlines desk, the 8 pounds that your bag is over the 50-pound limit hardly fazes the clerk. There have already been bags in front of you that have topped 70 pounds. He instead keeps his eyes focused to the computer screen and slaps a “heavy” sticker on your bag without a second thought. 

There are, afterall, still 30 more of these Americans convinced they are going to Africa for the next 2 years to check in.

When you travel with 66 other people, you are always waiting in line. Security, bathrooms, boarding. There is normally 66 other people trying to do the same thing you are.

Although it doesn’t really matter if you’re late; 66 people are about two-thirds of the seats on the airplane.

Traveling with 66 other people, you are a spectacle. No matter how much you try not to be. You will take all the seats at the gate. You will take all the overhead storage. You will be the group of Americans speaking English loudly on a flight from a French-speaking country to another French-speaking country.

When you travel with 66 other people, you fast become thankful for those 66 other people. They talk you into one last American beer during a 6-hour layover. They count you three times before checking in to make sure no one has been lost between the bus stop and JFK. They yell when a red bag is left behind at the gate. They are making this up as much as you are.