The trip so far, the journey ahead

As I write this entry, it's about four-thirty in the morning back home and nine-thirty a.m. here in London's Heathrow airport.  I am well along in my travels, but still far from my destination.

The trip began with a ride to the airport and a flight to JFK.  I flew on Delta, where I have no privileges, but I was lucky enough to score an extra-leg-room seat, so I was reasonably comfortable.

In JFK, I walked for what seemed like a mile or more, first to reach baggage claim, then to catch the train to another terminal, and finally to check into my American Airlines flight to Heathrow.

I spent several hours in the flagship Admirals Club there, which not only offered for free all of my typical travel beverages of choice, it also provided a lovely little workspace.

Click an image to see a larger version.

Power to charge multiple devices, a good desk, and room for beverages; it's hard to ask for more.

I was in business class for the flight to Heathrow, so I was quite comfortable the entire way.  The only problem is that the trip lasts only five and a half hours, which after eating and watching a short movie leaves very little time for what passes for sleep on a plane.  Still, I managed to grab about 90 minutes of low-quality sleep.

I'm spending some hours here in the arrivals lounge because the car I hired to take me to Gatwick won't arrive until nearly eleven.  This is also a fine place to pass time, though, with comfortable chairs for working and reading, plus a sort of build-it-yourself British breakfast.  I kept my version simple by avoiding the tomato and mushroom bits.

If you click the image to expand it, you'll be able to seen the spoonful of beans in the upper right of the plate; I felt they were necessary to fulfill the plate's potential.

From here, I'll spend an hour or so in the car going to Gatwick, check in and check baggage, and ultimately fly to Florence.  With Brexit I'm not sure how security will work there, but I will find out.

By the time I hit my hotel, it'll be around nine in the evening Florence time.  I am quite looking forward to a real bed.

BEA, day 1: New York, New York

Today was a day of transitions.

In the morning, I watched with a great deal of emotion as Scott graduated from middle school. The year ahead will hit him with many challenges, but I know he's up to them. As I've said, I'm very proud of him.

We then had a quick family lunch, after which I headed to the airport for a physical transition from Raleigh to New York City.

My travel experience bordered on miraculous. I arrived only 90 minutes before flight time on a Friday, but I breezed through check-in, barely waited at security, and was at my gate 15 minutes after my arrival at the airport.

If you don't fly much, this chain of events may seem trivial or commonplace, but, trust me, you don't get this lucky often.

I bought bandwidth, which was fast and simple, and I was able to finish a lot of email work. Our plane arrived late, so the cleaning didn't start until 3:02--and we were due to depart at 3:15. No problem today: boarding commenced at 3:13, we were airborne by 3:25, and we arrived in La Guardia 20 minutes early. My luggage awaited me when I made it downstairs to baggage claim; that never happens! The cab line was full of cabs and devoid of people, so I got into the first one, and its air conditioning worked! Sure, the ride took about an hour, but, hey, it's Friday rush hour in New York.

My room awaited me, and though small in typical New York fashion it is also clean and quite nice.

I worked until I went to dinner with my publisher for the Jon & Lobo books, Toni Weisskopf. We ate a lovely meal at The Capitol Grille, then strolled through the more beautiful than ever Grand Central Station on our way back to the hotel.

After dinner, I took a walk around the area just to soak up the energy of New York at night. Here's a photo of the hotel at night, with cars whizzing by, as they do at all hours in New York.

And now I'm settled in to write.

I can't recall a travel day this smooth. Amazing.