Month: May 2010

Baggage Autopsy: A review of the stuff I carry

I’m back in the US sitting in a makeshift office on a folding table in my parent’s basement amongst my boxed up former possessions. It makes a good opportunity to review the what, why and how’s of all the crap I carry with me. It normally isn’t something worth talking about, but the last few weeks has called it into question.

Everyone says you should pack light. I get that. All things being equal, I agree with the advice. However, for me all things are not equal. I travel for months (if not years) at a time and have to carry all my possessions with me. I’m not on vacation with a house full of stuff waiting for me at home. Everything I need I have to carry with me.

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My Transatlantic Hospital Odyssey

I’m writing this from the waiting room of the hospital my father is in. My trip back to Wisconsin is finally over.

Getting here involved closed airports, four canceled flights, a delayed flight which almost caused me to miss my connection, a missing bag and a ridiculously priced car rental. Lets just say US Air and Hertz are not my favorite companies.

My dad is doing better. His infection is down, but there are still a bunch of issues they have to look at. This will be a very long process.

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Palmeral of Elche

Palmeral of Elche UNESCO World Heritage Site, Spain

From the Palmeral of Elche World Heritage inscription for the Palmeral of Elche: The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian …

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Still Stuck in Spain

Bunch of things are happening to me:

1) I’m in Barcelona where my US Airways flight to the US has been canceled four times now. Every other airline seems to be crossing the Atlantic just fine and I know people who have beaten me back to the US, even though my flight was scheduled sooner. Wednesday I was told the flight would be delayed 8 hours, so I sat around the airport all day before I was told that the flight was canceled. It is getting pretty damn ridiculous. I was given the option of a flight to Munich on Thursday which would then go to Philadelphia, but then I’d have to spend the night in Philly and would arrive around the same time I would if I get on the Friday flight out of Barcelona. If all goes well I’ll be in the air in 24 hours. If all doesn’t go well, you will find an expletive riddled rant about US Airways on this site tomorrow that you should hide from children.

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Travel and Family Emergencies

Due to another eruption of the volcano in Spain, airports in Spain have been closed the last several days, especially the airports in Northern Spain where I am. I’ve been just continuing with my previously scheduled agenda of visiting the Basque Country while I’ve been waiting for the cloud to clear.

I’m writing this at the Bilbao Airport where the ash cloud has moved enough to allow flights this afternoon to the south of Spain. If all goes well, I’ll be in Barcelona tonight and on a flight to Chicago tomorrow morning. I have no idea how I’m getting from Chicago to Appleton. Buying a ticket (for a 50 minute flight) is $600 and renting a car for a one-way trip (3 hours) is over $200. My guess is I’ll just end up biting the bullet and renting a car.

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