The days of "dieting down" for a bodybuilding show are done and that has made life, particularly on the road, a bit easier. My desire to eat in a healthy manner hasn't gone away though and so sometimes it gets tricky when you're traveling. This is changing though and it's wonderful to see a wider range of choices to eat when stuck in an airport - things that won't make you feel terrible.
Wasn't I happy to find Chobani yogurt in the airport so that I could have a healthy breakfast on my way to Chicago...where I was heading to run in a road race...
Certainly, seeing healthier options isn't new. However, it is getting more widespread and this is fantastic.
It's April 12...and the few days of sunshine had me feeling hopeful. Today on the other hand has me feeling a little blue...feeling like I wish I was Checking in Please somewhere warm this weekend. (Just a couple weeks...and that will be true...but what I wouldn't give for that this weekend...).
As I try to finish out the last of this work week I'm staring out the window at a gray rainy day. "Raw" or "bone chilling" is really the best way to describe today...
Here is the current look at today...30 degree with wind chill on April 12? I'm trying not to be whiny or overly dramatic about it....but enough is enough!
So I sit here, reminding myself of all the reasons I love living in the Northeast. August, September and October are the top three reasons...the beach with my friends all summer. Lazy days on Cape Cod...
See I'm feeling better already...until I have to put on all my winter clothes once again to walk the puppy tonight.
I know once the nice weather gets here I will quickly forget how much these days stink...
I pride myself on being a pretty efficient traveler. A week business trip in one carry-on bag, a three week trip to Asia in one suitcase...my belt, shoes and jewelry off and plastic bag in hand before I get to the front of the screening line...not to mention my fancy bag that means I never have to take my laptop out of my bag.
I love Timbuk2 and this bag is the BEST! Well, almost the best. The handle detached and I had to send it back for repair, so I'm missing it right now.
Hopefully they can get it fixed and back to me before my next business trip!
For your own bag, visit www.timbuk2.com you know they come highly recommended!!
All of that said, you can imagine my horror....and my embarrassment when I got to the counter before my two week trip to California a few weeks ago when I learned that the bag I wanted to check weighed in at 56 pounds...6 LBs above the maximum. The charge with Southwest for a heavy bag? $75 smackers. Well, that wasn't going to happen....so I tell them that I'll just take a few things out...this is where the comedy started. With everyone around me silently judging me for taking time and space...(I know they were...I've done that to others) I unzipped the top and started pulling things out one at a time to put into my carry-on bag. As I watched the display get 1lb lighter at a time it hit 50 pounds, I zipped it up and went along my way. When I got to the gate and had a minute to reorganize my carry-on baggage I realized that I now had, in my hands, 1 cowboy boot, 2 pairs of flip flops, a spring jacket, a couple of shirts, and one running sneaker. I must have looked like a giant mess to anyone and everyone walking by as I tried to reorganize myself.
Lesson learned....Southwest will let you check 2 bags for free...that's what I did on my way home. And I won't ever secretly judge the poor person at the front of the line trying to pull their belongings together.
So, in the time when my blogging activity was nonexistent there was still traveling going on and in that spirit I'm going to start Flashback Friday's. A time when I can go back and remember the good, the bad and the ugly of my travels! Here we go...
Back in 2008 we (work) hosted a series of dinners for potential donors to introduce them to our campaign and cultivate them toward a large gift. We had a couple of great volunteers who were hosting and the events came together really nicely. We traveled to the greater Greenwich CT area for the first of these dinners and decided to check into our hotel before heading to the country club for our event. Well...I was traveling with my boss as well as a few other representatives from school. We had all been booked into the La Quinta hotel in Stamford, right off route 95. That was the first and last time I EVER stayed at a La Quinta. Now, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge the entire chain by my experience....but to date, that is what I have done.
So we check in and all get our keys. I go to my room and quickly notice that it hasn't been cleaned or made up from the last guest. I quickly go back to the front desk and ask to be given a new room....to be told that the only other free room they have is a smoking room. There is almost nothing worse than sleeping in a hotel room that has been smoked in...stale cigarette smoke clinging to your clothes...no thanks...I'll take the dirty room....
But I assume that they can just call housekeeping and have the room turned over and all will be well....so I ask them to do that...and head off to my work dinner.
When we get back to the hotel after the long dinner I stop at the front desk and ask about my room. They proceed to hand me fresh sheets and tell me they are very sorry that they didn't get to cleaning my room, but could give me some fresh sheets. WHAT?!?!?! I have to make my own bed?!?!?! Well, I didn't want to make a big scene in front of my boss and other colleagues...so I collected the sheets, went back to the room. I didn't touch a single thing in that room...wrapped myself in the new sheets (fully clothed) and slept in the chair. I wasn't taking any chances.....I'd rather get a bad night sleep!
Screaming baby you ask???? I WISH...I would have taken a plane full of screaming babies over the women who sat behind me last night. My two week California adventure came to an end yesterday, Saturday March 16. I was sad to leave Cali, had such a great time...but alas...have to go back to work.
Flight was LAX-MDW then onto PVD...
It was a flight full of people from Massachusetts, comin home from a wicked good time in Florida guy....the drinks didn't stop and they were loud and obnoxious... this video pretty much gives you an idea of what they sounded like...ha!
The women behind me were traveling together, back from vacation in Florida. I'm guessing that one of them, the louder one, had never been on an airplane before. She made sounds like we were on a roller coaster (I know what those are now...since I rode my first roller coaster while I was in Cali last week.....thanks JM).
To make things more complicated (interesting...annoying...take your pick) it was apparently her wedding anniversary and she was headed home to see her husband. Oh, lucky him! She referred to him has her "good for nothin" husband because he had booked them on a flight that had a connection. And in her opinion it was taking WAY too long to get home. This is when I learned that she was a millionaire (she announced that to the plane full of people) and could have her own private plane...she was too good to wait...so she said. So, since that husband of hers wasn't answering his telephone so that he could listen to her complain (no shocker there....) she decided that she was going to pack up her trailer and hook it to the truck and leave him. She needed a beeah and wanted the flight attendant to get on it already...
2 hours of music in my ears could barely drown her out...
It was hands down the most annoying group of people I've ever flown with. SWA is feeling, more than ever, like the bus and this experience pretty much solidified my desire to never fly that airline again.
It was Monday March 4 and I boarded my flight in Providence - heading to San Francisco for a two week California trip. Part 1 work, part 2 vacation I was looking forward to this trip to Cali and the people I would see when I arrived.
Because I was flying Southwest Air for this trip there was a stop at Chicago's Midway Airport. As it turned out, I was the only passenger who was going onto San Fran. So everyone got off the plane and there I was, left by myself with the crew.
As I sat, deciding which seat I would claim for the next leg of my trip the crew kept asking if I wanted to get off the plane and walk around the airport. I was MORE than happy to sit on the quiet plane, by myself and not have to deal with all the people at the gate. After chatting with the crew as they went about their duties, one of the flight attendants told me that the flight attendant in the back of the plane was Carol Shannon, the belly dancer who Charlie Wilson took with him to Egypt to dance for the Minister of Defense. Seriously?!?!?!? I met her, she confirmed and told me a few stories about how crazy it was to travel with him. Here's an article.
The other crew members really insisted that I have my picture taken with her. I was pretty exhausted and looking like a hot mess, but hey, she has her place in history.
Nov 2011? That was really my last blog entry? Wow... Well that year plus a few months certainly did fly by! Pun intended?!?!? How many trips have I been on since that November saga when my wallet was stolen? At least a dozen, with three weeks in Asia in November 2012.
The rest of the trip when my wallet was stolen provided me with some of the best interactions I've had with people along the way. It's amazing how nice people can be when you're dealing with this type of travel nightmare. The TSA folks at the Denver airport let me board my plane, without my ID. The rental car company gave me a ride to my hotel once I landed in San Diego since I couldn't legally take the rental car I had reserved. The hotel gave me the use of their town car for my business meetings...with a driver...how fancy :) and then the Amtrak guy was super nice and didn't hassle me when I bought the train ticket without an ID. The train ride from San Diego to Los Angeles was actually really nice - very scenic! Once I got to LA things worked themselves out. My passport arrived via Fed Ex, my credit cards started getting replaced and I had my brother to look after me!
All-in-all it worked out. Wouldn't wish that type of trip drama on anyone...but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!
