{"id":130,"date":"2026-10-28T21:52:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/?p=130"},"modified":"2026-10-28T21:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:52:57","slug":"day-1-were-actually-going-to-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/?p=130","title":{"rendered":"Day 1: We&#8217;re Actually Going to Europe!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Sacramento \u2192 Los Angeles \u2192 London<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After more than a year of planning, researching, booking hotels, studying train schedules, and creating what might be the world&#8217;s most detailed travel spreadsheet&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Departure day was finally here!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And according to that spreadsheet, Day 1 was pretty simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10:30 a.m. \u2014 Fly from Sacramento to LAX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>12:00 p.m. \u2014 Arrive at LAX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3:50 p.m. \u2014 Depart for London<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spend the next 10 hours and 25 minutes on an airplane<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Easy enough, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Were We Flying Out of LAX?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When choosing flights, I also pay attention to <strong>what time we&#8217;ll arrive<\/strong>. Whenever possible, I prefer landing while it&#8217;s still daylight, especially in a city I&#8217;ve never visited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since we planned to use public transportation and walk from train stations to our hotels, I wanted us to have time to find our way around before dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wandering unfamiliar streets with a backpack in daylight? Adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Doing it after dark, tired from a long flight, while trying to figure out which direction Google Maps wants us to go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>No, thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We live near Sacramento, so flying to Los Angeles before flying to London might sound like an unnecessary extra step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there was a method to my madness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have a <strong>Southwest Companion Pass<\/strong>, which means when I fly Southwest, I can bring a companion for roughly $10 in taxes and fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That gave us some flexibility when shopping for flights to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also didn&#8217;t want to drive three hours to San Francisco before our trip\u2014or, even worse, drive three hours home after spending 19 days traveling around Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, we booked a Southwest flight from Sacramento to LAX and our international flight from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And since we weren&#8217;t checking luggage, we didn&#8217;t have to worry about collecting luggage in Los Angeles and checking in our bags or having to go through security again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Early Bird Gets\u2026 Something?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our Southwest flight left at 10:30 a.m., so we headed to the airport around 7:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Was that early? Considering we are about 30 minutes from the airport with no traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Was I going to risk missing the first flight of our dream vacation because of traffic, parking, or an airport shuttle that apparently operates on its own mysterious schedule?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absolutely not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;d much rather arrive early, get my Starbucks, find our gate, and relax knowing we&#8217;re where we&#8217;re supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My little airport Starbucks trick: While I&#8217;m standing in the security line, I place my order through the Starbucks app and request my drink extra hot. By the time I get through security and make my way over, my coffee is usually waiting for me\u2014and it&#8217;s still hot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One less line to stand in before a flight. You&#8217;re welcome. \u2615<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We made it to LAX right around noon, leaving us almost four hours before our 3:50 p.m. flight to London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exactly the kind of buffer I like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If our first plane had been delayed or had mechanical issues, we had some breathing room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thankfully, everything went according to plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Apparently, LAX Is Also a Walking Tour<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What I hadn&#8217;t fully appreciated was how far we&#8217;d have to walk between our Southwest arrival and the terminal for our Virgin Atlantic flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was literally over a mile from Gate 14 to Gate 209.&nbsp; It took us 20 mins to walk there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once we reached the right terminal, we had plenty of time for more snacks and waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which brings me to an important airport question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why do people watch videos on their phones at full volume without headphones?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sir, I promise you do not need to watch that same video for the third time with the sound turned all the way up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rest of us are just trying to enjoy our overpriced airport snacks in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>London, Here We Come!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually, it was time to board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our backpacks fit in the overhead bins\u2014thank goodness\u2014and we settled in for our <strong>10-hour-and-25-minute flight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After all the spreadsheets, reservations, planning, and dreaming about this trip since I was 18, we were finally on our way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allie and I were actually going to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now we just had to survive the overnight flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Next Up: Day 2 \u2014 Hello, London!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, June 17, 2026 | Sacramento \u2192 Los Angeles \u2192 London After more than a year of planning, researching, booking hotels, studying train schedules, and creating what might be the world&#8217;s most detailed travel spreadsheet&#8230; Departure day was finally here! And according to that spreadsheet, Day 1 was pretty simple: Easy enough, right? Why Were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[45,15,11,10,41,16,44,42,38,39,40,14,46,43],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-airport-travel-tips","tag-budget-travel-europe","tag-europe-by-train","tag-europe-travel","tag-europe-travel-diary","tag-europe-trip-planning","tag-first-time-in-europe","tag-international-travel-tips","tag-london","tag-london-calling","tag-london-travel","tag-mother-daughter-travel","tag-sacramento-to-london","tag-travel-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveanchorslife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}