Five Things to Know When Traveling With A Group

1. Be on time and be prepared to wait.
• When you come with a group, something is bound to go wrong. From the overwhelmed gate agents to the angry TSA person, it is just going to take a long time to get everyone to the gate. This is something our group learned quickly when we arrived to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. We all arrived early or on time, but it didn’t take long for things to slow down. Our overbooked flight and large group confused the check-in people, but we all made it to onboard safely.
2. Don't bring a pocket knife because you will lose ¾ of your things.     
• Our group learned very quickly to check your bags for any banned items. Sam E. forgot that he had accidently stowed a pocketknife in his backpack. The lady at the TSA checkpoint was not pleased, and she began to check all of his belongings. By the end of the search, Sam lost his toothpaste, hair gel, and possibly his pride. Hopefully we won’t run into any issues when we go through customs.
3. You have to take turns eating.
• When we got to Atlanta, we were all very hungry. Our hunger grew as we walked to the international terminal and past the multitude of dining choices. Being bogged down with our gear, we decided to take shifts getting food to help lighten the load. I personally got Qdoba because I will be craving Mexican food abroad, but there were a wide range of choices in our group from bagels and coffee to TGI Fridays.
4. Layovers can be boring
• When you land after your first flight, there is only so much you can do at the airport.  Sometimes an hour layover can be nice because it gives you time to grab a meal and relax for a short while.  However, our flight got in at 12:50 pm and our connecting flight does not take off until an estimated time of 5:40 pm.  This gave us a solid four hours at least to find a way to entertain ourselves.  After eating and drinking a couple cups of coffee, obvious activities become less and less visible.  What other wall can I stare at?  Did I catch up on my latest shows? Is it too early to grab another meal? Yes, you will get bored, but if you and your group put your heads together, then I am sure you can find something to entertain yourselves. 
5. Charing stations are a hot commodity. 
• When you have a nine and a half hour flight ahead of you, you better make sure that all your electronic devices are fully charged. Atlanta definitely has the hook-up when it comes to charging stations, but it didn’t take long for our group to snatch them all up. I guess that is one perk of having a long layover and getting there early. I’m even using one right now to help write this blog post. We don’t have too much longer until we leave, and you can tell the group is becoming more excited. It won’t be long now until we are in the air on and our way to Europe.