My hands are shaking from pure joy and elation as I try to type this. As many of you know, I’m traveling to visit the Pope at his house in Italy. He was so pleased with my coverage of his visit to Raleigh that he invited my family to the Vatican. On Tuesday evening, I boarded a plane to Rome, with a connecting flight in London. The flight to London did not have WiFi and it nearly killed me. Here is a recap of my struggle if you missed the flood of Tweets I posted at 5:00 am ITB EST.
I’m posting this to educate fellow travelers. While I’m sure this won’t go as viral as live-tweeting a breakup on a plane, there is an important lesson to be learned. ALWAYS make sure that your Mom makes sure your flight has WiFi when she books your plane tickets.
I just survived a flight from Raleigh to London without Wifi. I will now post all of my Tweets that I had to save as drafts.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
There's no wifi on this flight?
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
Maybe they have to turn on the wifi once we're in the air.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
We're 20 minutes into the flight and they haven't turned the wifi on. I feel an anxiety attack coming on.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
This is an old plane, we don't even have personal TVs with touch screens. We're all forced to watch the same movie. This is concerning.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
My worst fears have been confirmed by the flight attendant. This plane does not have wifi. I repeat, this plane does not have wifi.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
Guess I'll just sit here and watch this in-flight movie on the shared TVs like some heathen in 1996.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
The movie is "Inside Out", which I assume is about an ITB resident venturing outside the beltline. It's clearly a horror film. Odd choice.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
The Captain interrupted to tell us about flight times and altitude blah blah blah. I'm missing all the exposition of this movie.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
This Inside Out movie has all of the feels. It's so dusty on this plane.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
Jesus that was a short movie. Still over 5 hours left with no wifi. I don't know what to do with myself.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
I've discovered I can read old tweets that were loaded on my phone! My timeline goes back about 14 hours. #blessed
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
I've read all the tweets. All of them. Still 4 hours left until we land.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
"Dinner". It's a welcome distraction, until my natural reaction to Instagram a food pic reminds me I don't have wifi. pic.twitter.com/h8C2qt2Aby
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
I guess I'll just listen to some podcasts stored on my iPhone and try to pass out. This might as well be the Oregon Trail.
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
London. This would get so many likes on Insta, if only I had wifi. So close yet so far. pic.twitter.com/V1uzlkRWkq
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
Finally landed. God bless Heathrow’s wifi. I will now flood your timlines with the drafts of my struggle. Because I can. #blessed
— William N. Finley IV (@WNFIV) October 14, 2015
AA’s RDU-LHR flight is a throwback to the 1980s with the shared movie screen. so not ITB.
When you finally learn to check the type of airplane before you book….
Judging by your meal you flew to London in economy – not ITB.
call me when you do the RDU to Beijing flight w/ no wifi.