mrandmrsyoung

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, I sort of got out of the habit of writing regularly and keeping the site up to date but now I have something to write about, I’ll try and keep it up.

So, referring to the title of this post, is it possible to travel too much? Well, this is a question that has popped up several times recently as right now, I find myself in and out of Lima, Peru every three weeks. From the UK, Lima is about 10,000KM away, as the crow flies, but the actual flight time is a to be honest quite eye watering. For economics I’m not flying directly, so I take a two and half hour ‘hop’ from London to Madrid and then its twelve and half hours across the Atlantic to Lima.

For me the biggest problem is boredom. Twelve hours or so in an economy seat is no fun and filling those twelve hours is pretty hard work. Most of the in-flight films, well, the ones that I actually want to see, I’ve now seen, and Iberia are not that swift at updating them, so the choice of entertainment is limited. I’ve tried filling my iPad with BBC iPlayer programs, a film or two, several hours of music too, but after eight or nine hours airborne with headphones stuffed in your ears, I find my auditory receptors need some fresh air and my eyes need a break.

Reading is a distraction for a while, and praise God for the Kindle, but again, after several hours of reading my eyes need a rest.

Sleeping is not easy either. Economy seats are narrow, leg room is limited and I find that being over 6’1" tall getting in to a comfortable position to grab a nap is nearly impossible. Of course, I do sleep, the effects of dinner and a bottle or two of vino help here, but I then wake up with numb hands as my elbows have been resting on the arms of the seat and restricts the blood flow to my lower arms giving me pins and needles.

Despite all of this discomfort and mild aggravation, the pleasure from actually being in another country and getting to see and enjoy another culture whilst being paid to do it, far outweigh fourteen hours in the air.

So, for me, the answer is a resounding no, you can’t possible travel too much.

See you at an airport soon!

Been pretty quiet on here for a while as work has been fairly quiet, mostly desk bound. But today I’m back on my travels with a trip Nairobi.
Taxi pickup at 3:15 was a jolt to the system, but swiftly checked in and now at the gate for the first leg of my journey, Zurich.

Hear we are, feet up, in the ATL Lounge at the end of another vacation in GA. Just where has the time gone?This year has been exceptional!
We had great weather. Met some wonderful people. Had some great meals out. Got some great bargains at the outlets. Visited Dollywood (again). Saw some great wildlife too, Elk, bears… But above all else, we enjoyed spending two weeks on our own in GA for the first time EVER!
Time was totally our own and we did things just when WE wanted to do them.

See you back in the UK in the morning!

If you are planning on a visit to Japan and intend to use the Shinkansen and the Japan Rail network, buy you Japan Rail Pass direct from Japan Rail. The passes are cheaper and they don’t charge you for postage either.

I ordered them on Monday and they were delivered by registered post next day.

Brilliant service!

Can’t wait to ride the Bullet train!

http://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=COfJh4uWsb0CFQjKtAodZFgANw

Now, maybe I’m being a bit of a control freak, although I don’t consider my self to be one, or maybe it’s just me being a little overly fussy, but when travelling, be it business or pleasure, I do like to know the details.
Little details like which airline I’m on, the route the flight takes, the flight times and of course at the end of it all, where it is I’m actually staying.

Friday sees me off on my travels again with business taking me on a pre-Christmas jaunt to Oman, cutting it a little too close for comfort to get back home again in time for the holidays, but that’s the nature of business I guess. When the customer calls…

Way down in the small print of the contract it stipulates the customer is picking up the tab for the flights and the accommodation.

Just a tiny clause. Just a few words. But a clause that makes me twitch. [twitch]
This is where I started to get a little nervous. [twitch]
Dates started to get moved around. Shipping was being delayed. Contract details where argued over. Finance departments got involved. Manufacturing got delayed. Ordered parts suddenly had long lead times. All of which puts pressure on the final training dates. My part. [twitch]
This is the part of the deal that tends to get pushed around without actually asking the engineer whether or not it is convenient with him to shift the dates around. [twitch]
With ten days to go until the pencilled in departure date, no flights had been booked. No hotel. No transfers. Nothing. [twitch-twitch]

FINALLY, a week to go, the customer offers up some times for flights, with it being the run-up to Christmas, spaces are limited, some flights are full, and filling up fast, all making the returning leg home a little troublesome.

"Could I possibly delay my return flight?" Came the request. [twitch]

NO !!!!!

Originally a direct flight, now a three flight marathon each way. [twitch-twitch]

But the hotel looks nice….