Friday, December 21, 2007
Checking Luggage
I generally have good luck with checking luggage at airports. I am not one of those people that likes carry ons so that I have control of my luggage. I prefer the convenience of checking my main bag and only carrying my computer bag on the plane with me.
My luck ran out with my recent travel. Between my New Zealand and my Sweden trip, I had a turnaround time of around 18 hours. The plan was to get home, unpack, do laundry, repack, then leave the next day. Since I was traveling on a Saturday when I would not see customers, I packed my work shoes and belt and travelled home in casual clothes.
Unfortunately, my bag decided to spend an extra night in New Zealand. This changed my plan to grab another suitcase, scrounge up some extra clothes, select a different pair of shoes (I am starting to see your wisdom in this, ladies!), select a different work-acceptable belt, purchase a new electric razor, and similar tasks. The suitcase I selected worked great. However, on our last trip it was used by Bethany who placed pink ribbons on the handle to recognize it at baggage claim. I had some 'splaining to do when I met my customer at the airport in Sweden!
The bag from New Zealand arrived at my house a couple of hours after I left for my Sweden trip.
My luck ran out with my recent travel. Between my New Zealand and my Sweden trip, I had a turnaround time of around 18 hours. The plan was to get home, unpack, do laundry, repack, then leave the next day. Since I was traveling on a Saturday when I would not see customers, I packed my work shoes and belt and travelled home in casual clothes.
Unfortunately, my bag decided to spend an extra night in New Zealand. This changed my plan to grab another suitcase, scrounge up some extra clothes, select a different pair of shoes (I am starting to see your wisdom in this, ladies!), select a different work-acceptable belt, purchase a new electric razor, and similar tasks. The suitcase I selected worked great. However, on our last trip it was used by Bethany who placed pink ribbons on the handle to recognize it at baggage claim. I had some 'splaining to do when I met my customer at the airport in Sweden!
The bag from New Zealand arrived at my house a couple of hours after I left for my Sweden trip.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
14 Airplanes in December!
As chronicled in my last post, I traveled to both New Zealand and Sweden this month. In the process, I flew on 14 different airplanes.
Nov 30 - Dec 2: 747 from LAX to Auckland, NZ (crossing the International Date line makes this sound like a REALLY long flight - not that it wasn't long). 12.5 hour flight.
Dec 2: 737 from Auckland to Wellington, NZ. 1 hour flight.
Dec 3: 19 passenger prop plane (I forget the model) from Wellington, NZ (North Island) to Blenheim, NZ (South Island). 0.5 hour flight.
Dec 3: 19 passenger prop plane (same model as in the morning, but different plane) from Blenheim to Wellington. 0.5 hour flight.
Dec 8: 737 from Wellington to Auckland. 1 hour flight.
Dec 8: 747 from Auckland to LAX. 12 hour flight.
Dec 9: 757 from Orange County, California to Chicago. 4 hour flight.
Dec 9 - Dec 10: 747 from Chicago to Copenhagen, Denmark. 8.5 hour flight.
Dec 10: (Small jet, maybe an Airbus?) from Copenhagen to Stockholm, Sweden. 1 hour flight.
Dec 10: (Probably another small Airbus jet) from Stockholm to Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. 1 hour flight.
Dec 13: (Yet another small Airbus jet) from Ornskoldsvik to Stockholm. 1 hour flight.
Dec 14: (One of the DC jets, but not a DC-10) from Stockholm to London, UK. 2.5 hour flight.
Dec 14: 777 (my first time on one of those) from London to Chicago. 9 hour flight.
Dec 14: 757 from Chicago to Orange County. 4.5 hour flight.
After writing this, I added it up to determine that I have spent 59 hours in the air with these trips. Too bad I don't get paid for overtime!
Nov 30 - Dec 2: 747 from LAX to Auckland, NZ (crossing the International Date line makes this sound like a REALLY long flight - not that it wasn't long). 12.5 hour flight.
Dec 2: 737 from Auckland to Wellington, NZ. 1 hour flight.
Dec 3: 19 passenger prop plane (I forget the model) from Wellington, NZ (North Island) to Blenheim, NZ (South Island). 0.5 hour flight.
Dec 3: 19 passenger prop plane (same model as in the morning, but different plane) from Blenheim to Wellington. 0.5 hour flight.
Dec 8: 737 from Wellington to Auckland. 1 hour flight.
Dec 8: 747 from Auckland to LAX. 12 hour flight.
Dec 9: 757 from Orange County, California to Chicago. 4 hour flight.
Dec 9 - Dec 10: 747 from Chicago to Copenhagen, Denmark. 8.5 hour flight.
Dec 10: (Small jet, maybe an Airbus?) from Copenhagen to Stockholm, Sweden. 1 hour flight.
Dec 10: (Probably another small Airbus jet) from Stockholm to Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. 1 hour flight.
Dec 13: (Yet another small Airbus jet) from Ornskoldsvik to Stockholm. 1 hour flight.
Dec 14: (One of the DC jets, but not a DC-10) from Stockholm to London, UK. 2.5 hour flight.
Dec 14: 777 (my first time on one of those) from London to Chicago. 9 hour flight.
Dec 14: 757 from Chicago to Orange County. 4.5 hour flight.
After writing this, I added it up to determine that I have spent 59 hours in the air with these trips. Too bad I don't get paid for overtime!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Antipodes
The term Antipodes has a couple of meanings. I had heard the term before, but it became personal this month.
Antipodes meaning # 1 refers to points on the globe that are opposite of each other. For example, the North Pole and the South Pole are antipodes. This can be seen graphically with this website that allows you to find the opposite side of any point on the globe.
Antipodes meaning # 2 refers to either Australia and New Zealand as a group or specifically a small group of islands southeast of New Zealand. This name was given long ago since this area is considered the antipode of Greenwich, England.
This became personal due to some business travel that I conducted during the first half of this month. My first trip was to New Zealand - the Antipodes. I spent a week there working with a customer and returned home on Saturday, August 8th. On Sunday, August 9th, I went to Sweden to visit another customer - almost exactly the antipode of where I was in New Zealand. They are 12 time zones apart. I didn't plan it as an intended antipode visit, it just happened to work out that way.
Surprisingly, I have had very little "jet lag" impact from this travel. It was interesting seeing the opposite ends of the Earth and the opposite seasons between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. However, it was also interesting to see many things that were the same. McDonalds in both places is the prime example that comes to mind.
Antipodes meaning # 1 refers to points on the globe that are opposite of each other. For example, the North Pole and the South Pole are antipodes. This can be seen graphically with this website that allows you to find the opposite side of any point on the globe.
Antipodes meaning # 2 refers to either Australia and New Zealand as a group or specifically a small group of islands southeast of New Zealand. This name was given long ago since this area is considered the antipode of Greenwich, England.
This became personal due to some business travel that I conducted during the first half of this month. My first trip was to New Zealand - the Antipodes. I spent a week there working with a customer and returned home on Saturday, August 8th. On Sunday, August 9th, I went to Sweden to visit another customer - almost exactly the antipode of where I was in New Zealand. They are 12 time zones apart. I didn't plan it as an intended antipode visit, it just happened to work out that way.
Surprisingly, I have had very little "jet lag" impact from this travel. It was interesting seeing the opposite ends of the Earth and the opposite seasons between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. However, it was also interesting to see many things that were the same. McDonalds in both places is the prime example that comes to mind.
