first flight in 20 years

So here I am waiting in my window seat waiting for my first flight in over 20 years and I start thinking.

Why is there such a need to arrive at the airport so early? You have to arrive an hour and a half before your flight. Which means my 7:15am departure has me getting here at 5:45am. This also meant for me to get here at that time I had to leave my home at 3:30 am to get to the Asheville regional airport in north Carolina on time.

Taking off will update more soon.

Well after a short 30-35 min flight I find myself now in ATL. Before I get into Atlanta let me fi ish with my experience with Asheville.

My wife and I have been married almost 5 years and have been together for the last 7-8 years. We have never been more than driving distance apart. Now she has been hysterical all weekend knowing that I was leaving. I have shrugged this off as well its a business trip and just think of it as part of the job. As I gave her my good bye hug and kiss she literally covered my shirt in tears.

As she walked outside I headed towards baggage check and security. As I go through they rub some cloth across the palm of my hands then I vo to the next step of baggage check. Here I am needed to remove my shoes and belt. No biggie. I am then asked to remove all electrical devices. So I pull my laptop, kindle, cell phone, and GPS out. (don't know my way around Chicago). I am then asked if I have any gels, creams, or liquids. Tell them that I do and am asked to pull them out. So out goes deodorant, shampoo, and body wash. I am then told that my full size bottles of shampoo and body wash are to big and cannot go. They mention something about x amount of ounces allowed. My reply was well that's fine there not full anyhow and proceeded to put them back in my bag. The man glared at me and said sir you cannot take those items aboard. So I stuck the bottles out towards him man and said here throw them away then. The man proceeded to tell me that they cannot throw my items away and that I needed to take them back out to my car. I proceed to call my wife so she can come back as I walk back out towards the lobby I am then chased down by security fussing at me for leaving my belongings... back as my wife is walking back into the airport I am being escorted back to my belongings so I hand them to one of the tsa guys and tell them to take them to her and surprisingly they did. I walked around the cafe did not see anything appetizing then walked i to the bookstore just to browse as the bar was not open that early either. Satisfied that there was nothing else to do/see i sat and waited. Did make a few posts on GTN as the WiFi was free in Asheville before boarding.

Now im i ATL and i must say this airport is freaking huge. Of course i would have to move over one section and my gate is at the complete opposite side from where i am, but i am surprised by the Sam Adams bar and others that i passed on the way to my gate. I decided that it was time for breakfast so i spent 10.48 on a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and orange juice from Five Guys. Now i am stuck waiting here for my two and a half hour layover with no free WiFi as i refuse to pay for something that should be complimentary. Anyways next stop Milwaukee then a drive down to Chicago.

I'll update again later.

Depends on what airport you are flying out of. My city airport has 4 terminals (not big) and I can get away with arriving 20 mins before my flight. Security takes about about 5 mins to get through (if there is a line).

Now if you are flying out of NY or something, it could take over an hour to get through security. So they tell you to be early. Better safe then sorry, don't want to miss your flight.

I've had security alone take an hour and a half in Kansas City and two hours in Nashville. And both of those are usually very fast, averaging 20-30 minutes normally.

You need to fly more often.

The Asheville airport maybe had 8 terminals. Atlanta I can understand as I believe this airport could possibly be a city itself.

When you say Terminals, do you mean gates?

In airport lingo, a gate is what an aircraft pulls up to, and allows passengers to load and unload.

A terminal is a collection of gates. Eight terminals would be F'N HUGE. Kansas City is SMALL, as it only has 3 terminals, and each terminal is 15-20 gates.

yeah, I do mean gates. My local airport has 1 terminal with 4 gates.

Sounds like your trip is off to a wonderful start. Hope things get better for you.

Yep, 3 clear 3oz containers. All in one quart size plastic bags. Does not matter if they are full, it is the size of the container that is the rule.

My buddy rarely flies, so when he did, I guided him through everything.

My airport has 1 terminal with 1 gate

Sorry you had to experience this, DLW. I have so much metal in my body from surgeries (Army injuries) that I set off the alarms every time - therefore, I don't use them anymore.

Thats not half of it. Now that im finally at my hotel after i get some sleep Ill update my trip from ATL to Milwaukee