We will always have Krakow
Part One: the one perk of being blind!
Picture of James taking a picture of Ian who looks very pleased with himself!
It’s fair to say there aren’t many advantages to being totally blind. In fact, I’m struggling to think of any. But last weekend in Krakow, I discovered a rare exception. It meant I walked straight past a queue that had some of my friends trapped for more than three hours.
I’m not a keen flyer. It’s not the flying itself that I dislike, it’s the airports. I have yet to find one that is anywhere near pleasant. There is nothing about the experience that fills your heart with joy.
When you can’t see, the confusion is amplified. The technology is often inaccessible, and the environments are airless, noisy and disorientating. Because of that, I’ve avoided international travel for the last few years to save myself the distress.
The Journey Begins
Last Friday, after months of planning, I headed off to Krakow with a few friends. James is my regular shoot editor and camera operator, plus the organiser of this adventure. Chas is another camera-editer friend, and Daniel, my producer and by far the youngest of the group, was acting as carer for us all, or so we joked. I called it our “works outing.”
We were a mixed bag when it came to passports. Chas and I have British passports, while Daniel and James both hold Irish passports, making them EU citizens. At the time it seemed like a small detail. Later on, it turned out to matter rather more.
Picture of Ian,James and Daniel, wondering what to do next
Things started smoothly enough at Glasgow Airport. The staff were friendly, security was efficient, and I was taken to the front of the queue. Even though it wasn’t particularly busy, it took a lot of the stress out of the journey. To avoid the usual rush and dash for the air craft, we asked if it would be possible to pre-board. No problem at all. Within minutes we were quietly on our way down to the plane ahead of the crowd.
Having real people you can speak to makes a huge difference. These days, airports seem determined to replace people with machines. Booking your seat, printing boarding passes, scanning documents, it’s all done through screens and self-service kiosks. It might look efficient on paper, but when you can’t see the screen, it’s just a high-tech barrier. I half expect them to ask us to fly the damn thing ourselves one day.
Arrival in Krakow
The problems started the moment we landed. Our party got separated because of where we were sitting on the aircraft. James and I left from the back of the plane while Daniel and Chas exited from the front.
When we stepped off, it was clear the airport was overwhelmed. Several flights had landed at once, and passengers were already queuing on the tarmac just to get inside the terminal. Three of those flights had come from the UK, meaning thousands of non-EU passengers were arriving at passport control together.
For many, it was their first time travelling since the new systems came in. Everyone had to be photographed and fingerprinted. It takes time, and there is no way around it. There is nothing you can do to speed things up; you just have to stand there and wait.
That was when the perk kicked in.
An airport employee spotted my white cane. Suddenly, James and I were being waved past the growing crowd and guided straight to the front of the passport control queue. While we sailed through, we realised we had lost Chas and Daniel somewhere in the mass of people stretching back onto the tarmac.
Picture of Chas, Daniel and Ian sitting on a small wall near the River in Krakow
The New Reality of Travel
While I went through the new procedures having my photograph taken and fingerprints scanned, my friends were still stranded outside.
We waited. Then we waited some more.
Daniel, being an EU citizen and good person, could have passed through much sooner, but he didn’t want to leave Chas behind. Eventually, Chas encouraged him to go on ahead. Our driver, who was waiting to take us to our accommodation, told us that Krakow Airport has been in a state of near gridlock lately. Four and five-hour waits are no longer unusual.
James made the sensible decision to let Daniel and me head to the accommodation to get settled and organise some food, especially since we’d already had to cancel our restaurant reservation. Selflessly, James agreed to stay behind at the airport to wait for Chas. Clearly a better person than me.
I did offer to stay, briefly.
“No James, I’ll stay with you.”
James replied, “No, you go back with Daniel and get some food and drinks in.”
Me: [Sound of running feet]
By the time Chas and James were finally reunited, Chas had been standing in that queue for three and a half hours. In my mind, I pictured Chas throwing himself into James’s arms like a kidnap victim finally released after years in captivity. In reality, it was probably a quiet nod as they trudged towards the taxi rank.
I, on the other hand, was doing just fine. I was back at the apartment, drinking beer and tucking into lasagna bought from the shop across the road.
Wise after the event.
Looking back, we probably got the whole arrangement wrong. Chas and I both have British passports, so the sensible move would have been for us to travel together. With my white cane getting us to the front of the queue, we would likely have been through passport control in no time.
Meanwhile James and Daniel, with their Irish passports, could have used the EU channel, which was moving far more quickly.
If we’d thought it through properly, we might all have been out of the airport at roughly the same time, and Chas could have avoided the whole three-and-a-half-hour ordeal.
Sometimes being blind does have its perks. Skipping a three-hour queue is one of them. And no, I’m not even slightly guilty.
I’d love to hear about your own experiences. Have you had any recent airport nightmares or unexpected “silver lining” moments while travelling with a disability?