Travel Hazards

I had every intention of blogging both on Tuesday and Wednesday. Really, I did! But traveling thwarted the very best of my intentions, and now here we are on Thursday, finally catching up.

I did indeed manage to fit everything into my backpack. I'm rather proud of that feat. However, this trip represents the closest I have ever come to missing a flight. I left with what I thought was plenty of time, but what happened was this:

What you're beholding in this photo is me at an absolutely complete stop on the road 35 minutes prior to when I was supposed to be done boarding the plane. It had been like this for the last hour, and I was freaking out. Calmly. Because I don't externally panic. But you'd better believe I was panicked on the inside.

It was at this point that I canceled my off-site parking reservation, because I realized I'd never make it in time if I had to stop, park my car, hop on a shuttle, and dive right back into the fray. The man on the other end of the phone said, "Well, no problem, I can cancel it for you...I just hope the garage at the airport isn't full!" I almost laughed, because it's never been full when I parked before.

Guess what. It was full. I believe the actual words that went through my head were, "WHAT IN SEVEN HELLS?!?" and yes, my mind both bolded and italicized all of it. Convinced the universe was conspiring against me, I drove in regardless, where they were valet parking everyone that was required to park. I'm just hoping that I don't have an even more than ordinary exorbitant fee when I get back to Logan, since it was unavoidable.

After literally running all the way to the terminal, I stood in line while the world's slowest TSA agent took a full minute to check everyone's ticket and ID ahead of mine. At long last, they called any remaining passengers on my flight forward to the front of the line (which meant going ahead of the one single person left before me), and I made it on to the flight as the very last passenger boarding before they shut the door. 

I have never been quite as relieved as I was when I was finally settled into my seat.

Everything after the mad dash/slow crawl to the flight has been marvelous. I'm currently outside of London in a small town called Chertsey, and I'm internally narrating this blog post in an involuntary British accent that I'm incapable of muting. Now that the business part of the trip is finished, I'll be heading into the city tomorrow to explore. More on that later, provided I get to the airport prior to my plane departing! In the meantime, I'm curling up with a lovely bar of chocolate, the likes of which accompany me on every business trip if I can help it.

Packing Light

Normally, work trips take me somewhat boring places, like Columbus, Ohio or Bethesda, Maryland. That's not to say that I don't find cool things to do there (although that's not really the point of a business trip), but if I had a choice as to where I got to jet off to, it probably wouldn't be there. Well...this time I lucked out, and I'm heading to London tomorrow.

It's a quick trip: fly on Tuesday, arriving at 7:15 pm. Work for two days. Fly back on Friday. But on Friday, my flight isn't until 7:00 pm, which means that I have all day to scoot around London and act like a tourist. 

I learned from my Oslo trip that if you're going to be going around a city, it's best to not have to lug around a suitcase. I'm a light packer - last time I just had one rolling bag - but even with that, it's not fun to have extra baggage along for the ride.

So this time, I'm going even lighter. London, I'm coming to you...with only a backpack. 

I'm pretty sure I can do it, but I'll report from the airport tomorrow, and we'll see then how it worked out...

The Hike

Well, the wedding was about as glorious as could be expected. The weather completely cooperated - picture the perfect Vermont fall day, and you have it exactly right. Perfectly clear blue sky, vibrant leaves, crisp air, you name it, and it was there. I will recap it in the near future, but it won't be today! Instead, I'm going to reverse the order and talk about Sunday first.

We were heathens. We skipped church. But I might argue that once in a great while, spending your Sunday morning out in nature is just a little bit like church. 

Since we were on a bit of a limited time budget, we decided to spend time outside with the family. Christopher, the only remaining child at home, will no longer be at home as of Wednesday as he's flying out to California to spend 10 months working with AmeriCorps. That, combined with the fact that we were visiting, gave us the perfect excuse to go for a hike and soak in the extraordinary beauty that is Vermont in the fall. 

And thus we found ourselves on our way to Sterling Pond on Sunday, following an attempt to eat breakfast that had us stop at three different places before getting a seat. Leaf peepers...they're the worst.

This particular trail leads the average-paced hiker on a 45-minute trek uphill to a pond, and if you tack on an extra five minutes you can get to the top of a ski trail with an amazing view. (We did both.) The first 10 minutes of the hike are essentially stone steps, and it is hilarious to people-watch. As my dad said, "Well...you can tell just at a glance who's going to make it to the top and who isn't!" We passed:

• A girl wearing sparkly Ugg boots
• A girl wearing ankle boots, a dress coat, and a scarf
• A guy going barefoot
• The real hikers

We can't really judge as we weren't really fully prepared either, but we at least had reasonable footwear. And I guess you can't really tell for sure, because the barefoot guy was actually heading down instead of up.

After a spell, we made it to the pond.

Despite the seeming calm of the picture, the place was actually a bit crowded, so we didn't stay there long. However, it's worth noting that a girl wearing leather riding boots had made it that far. Mad props, riding boot girl. Continuing on the extra five minutes, we made it to the top.

I call this picture "The Hair-Do, the Lack of Muscles, and Usain Bolt."

Behold. Pictures from the peak. 

I expect to see this picture on my parents' Christmas card this year. #photocredits.

After having our fill of both clambering over ski lift equipment and munching some Swedish Fish I'd squirreled into my bag, we turned around and headed home.

All in all, I think it was a fitting parting adventure. On the way back to Massachusetts that evening I thought about Vermont and how lucky I was to grow up there. Being surrounded by that much beauty all the time can't help but encourage folks to get outside and explore, and having a strongly instilled longing for exploration is not a bad thing to claim as my own. I miss living there. MA does have a lot to offer in terms of pre-built attractions - I'll give it that much - but the ever-present sense of wildness at your doorstep is something that can't exist in a place where the land is mostly flat and the houses are a little more squished together. 

We're back at home now (in MA), but thinking fondly of a place where breathtaking beauty is a part of everyday life.

Portrait of a Business Trip

By this time, it's a generally known fact that I take a lot of business trips over the summer.  Thus, because I'm totally positive that you must be interested in every second of what happens on one of those trips, here's a recap. 

There are three things to arrange ahead of time: plane ticket, hotel, and transportation. Normally, transportation means a rental car, but that might be either a train (if in Europe) or other public transportation (if anywhere else near a city) depending on where you're going. At my best, I'll arrange that a month or two before the trip. At my worst, well...let's just say I've booked a rental car while flying on a plane with wi-fi. That's never a good idea though, because they have absolutely no incentive to give you a good rate. 

Three quick recommendations: for flights, sign up to get miles from a couple different airlines. I try to always fly JetBlue in the US and American outside the US, because miles have pretty great benefits if you stock up over time.

For hotels, Hotels.com is also really good. They have a lot of hotels to pick from, and for every 10 nights you stay at a hotel booked through them, you get a free night! 

For rental cars, I recently discovered Sixt. Their cars were new and clean, I got a better car for the amount paid each time, their customer service is really friendly, and most importantly, their lines move about 50% faster than all the others. What more could you want from a rental car company?

I usually pack the morning of the trip, because I'm a procrastinator. Fact of life. I'm also a pretty minimalist packer, so a carry on + a personal item is more than enough room. I'll get to the airport around 1.5 hours before leaving, where I'll often meet up with anyone else who's going on the trip. 

Obviously, flying on a plane is flying on a plane. Nothing earth-shattering to report there. Except! JetBlue has FREE wi-fi on some of their planes. Best perk of all time.

Eventually, we get to the hotel and I usually collapse before getting ready for bed.

Doing this is always a bad idea, because it takes me about 30 extra minutes to motivate myself to get myself back up again and ready for bed. 

Eventually I'll get myself there though, and the next morning, we'll head to the school, where we'll train all day long. I looooove having co-workers along with me, because it makes the day go so much faster when you get to share training with someone else. At the very least, it's nice to not end the day with a sore throat!

Explaining a database is just that exciting. Let me tell you ALL about it!

Depending on the school, the time we finish varies. If I'm by myself, I'll usually go somewhere else, spend an hour or two catching up on the other things that have happened during the day, find some food, go back to the hotel and watch junk tv (I watch the Bachelor on business trips - don't judge), and fall asleep. If I'm with someone else, we'll try to go see some of the sights. 

Usually we'll be wherever we are for two or three days, and when that's all over, we'll fly home.

And now you know how I spend a lot of time in the summer. Your life will never be the same.

Catching Up with Common Sense

Believe or not, but the TSA has invented something that just might be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I don't think that's an exaggeration, because let's be honest...most of the best inventions came before sliced bread. The wheel? Toothbrushes? Keys? All before sliced bread.

Two words: TSA Precheck. Or TSA Pre✓, if you want to be totally literal.

[source]

I discovered the magic this summer while traveling for work...but it wasn't because I had it myself. No, why would I take the easy route? Instead, I was stuck going through normal security while my two coworkers breezed through in five minutes or less with their own special line.

This picture was actually taken before we went through security at the Reagan airport in DC, but this is exactly how they felt afterward while they were waiting for me.

Here's what happens. You fill out an application online and then schedule an appointment for an in-person interview of sorts. On the day of your appointment, you go to wherever that appointment is, answer a couple of questions, pay a fee, and you're good to go through security for the next five years with a special line, no need to take your shoes off, no need to take your computer out of your bag, no need to remove your jacket, and five extra springs in your step PER TRIP because you just saved yourself time and the humiliation of someone patting you down because you had a few bobby pins in your hair. Because that happens and it's way awkward.

So finally, Chaz and I came to our senses and filled out the application on Monday. Our in-person appointment was this morning, and now, or at least within 45 days, we will officially each have a Known Traveler Number and can enjoy all the benefits of the government being aware of the fact that we aren't bent on destroying things en route to a school to train them on how to use software. Or vacation, I suppose.

Heading in...

They don't let you have a phone out while you're doing the short interview (for obvious reasons), so I can't give you any fantastically enthralling images of the nice lady taking my fingerprints or me filling out a survey, but that's pretty much all it takes. Aside from the fee and the slight inconvenience of the fact that the TSA Precheck booth is only open during regular business hours, there no reason not to do it. I mean, look how happy we were walking out! Don't you want to experience that kind of joy when traveling?

Arguably, I can't really profess the full benefits until we actually get the number and try it out for the first time, but you can count on getting an update when that day comes. Won't that be the most interesting blog post? Don't get too excited.