It’s that time again. Time to run the gauntlet that is international air travel. Four more airports and I will be back in Melbourne. Over the past couple weeks I have already gotten the pleasure of spending time in the airports of Melbourne, Auckland, LA, Charlotte (x2), Raleigh, and Detroit. Today I get to add Chicago, Sydney, and repeats of Detroit and LA. My total travel time for this trip is 49 hours. I am hoping to break 75 by the time I get to Melbourne!
One surprisingly good note is that while I have spent many hours in customs, going through countless ID checks, and taking off the majority of my clothing to run through the carry on scanners, I have yet to be stopped for a random security check. Knock on wood. I normally get stopped at least once per flight for these, so I am thinking my luck may be due to the new haircut. Let’s just green isn’t the color of the day for airport security’s random pulls.
I’m not overly confident that all these new lines and procedures make me any safer on my journey. Sure someone might not be able to smuggle a box cutter or liquid explosives through security, but now every single person I am flying with is that much more irritated an likely to snap. I will have to figure out some way to weigh the risks.
We LOVED having you home! Hope all goes well on your trip! Did I ever tell you the time I had a big curved pocketknife in my pocket and they frisked me in the Newark airport? The pilot kept the knife for me during the flight and gave it back at the end. My friend who was watching me get frisked thought it was kind of freaky. Trust nothing like that will happen to you and you’ll soon be safe and relaxed in the Sydney summer!
I had a great time at home! I seem to remember the story about your knife getting confiscated hahah. I should indeed update the website clock, as well as the theme etc. I keep meaning to do it but haven’t had the time.
I got into Sydney this morning around 10am. That means we get to add 27 hours to my travel time log, bringing me to 77 hours on this trip, and I still have to get from Sydney to Melbourne. (I am in Sydney for New Years if you didn’t know).
The flights were pretty long yesterday, but I feel amazingly good today. The 15 hour flight from LA -> Sydney isn’t nearly as bad as it might sound. The flight leaves at about 10pm, so you have time to settle in, eat an airplane dinner, do a bit of reading, sip some wine, then sleep for 6 or 8 hours. When you wake up the flight is just about to Sydney.
I will say that I hope to not be flying United again. I have flown this trip on Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti, and Quantas, and all three were much nicer than United Air. The meals were not very nice and there were no in seat LCD screens to watch movies etc. (gasp). I did somehow get upgraded to “Economy Plus,” which was nice and meant I got five extra inches of leg room.
The most unpleasant part of the trip happened shortly after waking from my somewhat uncomfortable, six hour airplane slumber. I got woken by a stewardess handing me a box of snacks. I was pretty hungary so I opened it and rummaged through the contents until I found some sort of turkey sandwitch in a bun. I tore the wrapper off, and luckily looked it over before taking a big bite. On the bottom, smooshed into the bun was a dead roach about an inch long. I thought maybe I was still dreaming, as I felt a bit groggy, but I got confirmation from the guy sitting next to me that it was indeed a roach. They were nice enough to exchange it for a new sandwitch, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling real hungary.
It feels great to be in the summer with bright sun and long days again. I am staying at my boss’s brother’s house just outside of Sydney city center. Soon I will be meeting up with some friends from New Zealand and, in a few days, celebrating New Years on the Sydney Harbor.
7 Comments »
Comment by Josh — December 27, 2007 @ 8:05 am
It’s that time again. Time to run the gauntlet that is international air travel. Four more airports and I will be back in Melbourne. Over the past couple weeks I have already gotten the pleasure of spending time in the airports of Melbourne, Auckland, LA, Charlotte (x2), Raleigh, and Detroit. Today I get to add Chicago, Sydney, and repeats of Detroit and LA. My total travel time for this trip is 49 hours. I am hoping to break 75 by the time I get to Melbourne!
One surprisingly good note is that while I have spent many hours in customs, going through countless ID checks, and taking off the majority of my clothing to run through the carry on scanners, I have yet to be stopped for a random security check. Knock on wood. I normally get stopped at least once per flight for these, so I am thinking my luck may be due to the new haircut. Let’s just green isn’t the color of the day for airport security’s random pulls.
I’m not overly confident that all these new lines and procedures make me any safer on my journey. Sure someone might not be able to smuggle a box cutter or liquid explosives through security, but now every single person I am flying with is that much more irritated an likely to snap. I will have to figure out some way to weigh the risks.
/rant
Comment by dadman — December 27, 2007 @ 5:01 pm
We LOVED having you home! Hope all goes well on your trip! Did I ever tell you the time I had a big curved pocketknife in my pocket and they frisked me in the Newark airport? The pilot kept the knife for me during the flight and gave it back at the end. My friend who was watching me get frisked thought it was kind of freaky. Trust nothing like that will happen to you and you’ll soon be safe and relaxed in the Sydney summer!
Comment by dadman — December 27, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
fyi I think the year was 1971, so things were a little different.
Comment by dadman — December 28, 2007 @ 8:49 am
btw maybe you should change the local time on this page to Melbourne time. i have a hard enough time figuring it out.
Comment by Josh — December 28, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
I had a great time at home! I seem to remember the story about your knife getting confiscated hahah. I should indeed update the website clock, as well as the theme etc. I keep meaning to do it but haven’t had the time.
I got into Sydney this morning around 10am. That means we get to add 27 hours to my travel time log, bringing me to 77 hours on this trip, and I still have to get from Sydney to Melbourne. (I am in Sydney for New Years if you didn’t know).
The flights were pretty long yesterday, but I feel amazingly good today. The 15 hour flight from LA -> Sydney isn’t nearly as bad as it might sound. The flight leaves at about 10pm, so you have time to settle in, eat an airplane dinner, do a bit of reading, sip some wine, then sleep for 6 or 8 hours. When you wake up the flight is just about to Sydney.
I will say that I hope to not be flying United again. I have flown this trip on Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti, and Quantas, and all three were much nicer than United Air. The meals were not very nice and there were no in seat LCD screens to watch movies etc. (gasp). I did somehow get upgraded to “Economy Plus,” which was nice and meant I got five extra inches of leg room.
The most unpleasant part of the trip happened shortly after waking from my somewhat uncomfortable, six hour airplane slumber. I got woken by a stewardess handing me a box of snacks. I was pretty hungary so I opened it and rummaged through the contents until I found some sort of turkey sandwitch in a bun. I tore the wrapper off, and luckily looked it over before taking a big bite. On the bottom, smooshed into the bun was a dead roach about an inch long. I thought maybe I was still dreaming, as I felt a bit groggy, but I got confirmation from the guy sitting next to me that it was indeed a roach. They were nice enough to exchange it for a new sandwitch, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling real hungary.
It feels great to be in the summer with bright sun and long days again. I am staying at my boss’s brother’s house just outside of Sydney city center. Soon I will be meeting up with some friends from New Zealand and, in a few days, celebrating New Years on the Sydney Harbor.
Comment by josh — December 30, 2007 @ 1:10 pm
test
Comment by Kriz — January 3, 2008 @ 10:54 am
Free toppings, yum.
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