While the flight from Hamburg via London to Washington Dulles was nothing out of the ordinary, the journey there was surprisingly stressful. Arriving at Washington Dulles, I was faced with a four-hour queue at immigration due to staff shortages. As important as labour strikes are, this was a bad joke, especially as the queue was reasonable in size and would have been a matter of minutes in normal operation.
Awake for far too long, I grabbed my luggage and headed for the next big queue at the car rental counter. Four people in front of me meant another hour in line at Avis/Budget. Finally served, I made probably my biggest mistake yet by agreeing to the upsell they offered. With the car now costing twice as much, a large part of my budget was gone.
Luckily my hotel was just around the corner.
After checking in, I tried to sort out my travel sim problem with AT&T. My old work phone was a Huawei, and due to manufacturer restrictions, I was unable to activate the SIM. It all worked out after customer service put me on a plan, but it took them a full day to find a solution.
Another fun activity that evening was finding a solution for my two-month deposit for my new apartment in Switzerland. I suggested taking out an insurance policy and luckily the landlords agreed. All the things you suddenly have to deal with when you start a new life working for a roller coaster manufacturer in Liechtenstein.
Click here for the next report of the Stumbled Runner tour.
