Flight 005: Flight Anxiety

I've got a killer week ahead of me: 4 cities in 4 days around the US. I swore I'd never do it again the last time I did it a month ago, but somehow I find myself with another itinerary full of nonstops and layovers, Marriotts and Hiltons, and growing quantities of laundry and sleeplessness. To say that I'm dreading it would be an understatement. People think that it's fun to visit new cities on business, but a visit to me consists of discovering such fun facts as whether the car rental is offsite or onsite, whether NeverLost is really going to keep me from getting lost, and if traffic congestion still allows me to make my departure flight in time. If I'm lucky, I'll get 1 dinner out on the town instead of grabbing room service and multi-tasking with work.

What I hate the most though, is that I'm already feeling anxious about all of this before I've even taken off on my first flight yet. There's got to be a way to compartmentalize work so that it doesn't affect the times when I'm not working and trying to relax. I can't imagine that I'm the only one though. Actually, I know I'm not because I've got enough stressed-out friends & coworkers who feel the same way. It seems like a sad statement about our lives and culture when we can't stop work from bleeding into everything else. Maybe Step 1 is cracking down on the Blackberry in off-work hours. Enough complaining though, it's time to do laundry and start packing!

This week I'll get to discover more fun airports: SNA - ATL - TUL - SAN. Happy Sunday.

Flight 004: Tips to Make Your Flight

I have done a fair amount of scrambling in the last year to make flights. From that I've learned a few essential tips to share.

1. Pack Light
Good = Never check any luggage in. The last thing you want to do is miss your flight because you were waiting in line to check in luggage.
Better = Use a backpack instead of a carry-on roller. Yes, everybody might think you're going back to school instead of a meeting, but are you really going to care when you're huffing and puffing your way through an airport? I have had to sprint with both, and it is infinitely easier to barrel through crowds when everything you have is securely on your body instead of weaving its own dangerous course behind you.

2. Get a Security Line Routine
It really helps to know exactly where you put your driver's license, credit card & boarding pass each time. For me, it's my back pocket. I also know that my laptop and toiletry zip-loc go together in one bin, shoes & jacket in the other. There's only so much you can speed up and automate in the security line, but getting a routine helps.

3. Get Directions
A couple days ago when I was flying back from San Diego to Oakland, I cut it just a little bit too close. My flight was at 9pm and I returned my car to Hertz at around 8:35pm. I forgot that Hertz is not on-site at the airport so then I had to take the shuttle to my terminal. The shuttle really takes its sweet time making its way through the commuter terminal first. When it finally stopped at Terminal 1, I jumped out and started sprinting in the direction of the terminal. However, little did I know that San Diego airport has a Skybridge to cross the street, so I wasted a lot of energy running in the wrong direction. This was a crucial mistake because I had a limited amount of energy for running to begin with. Therefore I had to then walk a good distance to catch my breath and get my boarding pass. I then had to do the "excuse me, my flight's in 10 minutes, could I go ahead of you" routine through about a line of 20 people. No bueno. The good news is that I made my flight although I felt like I wanted to vomit from running for the first 20 minutes up in the air.

Flight 003: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

*** Vitamin + Fiber = GROSS   Let me state that I really like Vitamin Water. I know it's a silly product because it's just water with calories that tastes a little fruity, but I like the way it tastes and it somehow makes me feel like I'm being a little bit healthier when I drink it with burritos and fried chicken. However, I couldn't find Vitamin Water at the place where I bought my breakfast sandwich today in Oakland Airport, so I decided to try Vitamin+Fiber water. Its tagline is "Taste the INVISIBLE fiber!" You may think I jest, so here is proof. Sure, I probably should have known better, but I didn't want juice or coffee and it was the only alternative. Anyway, here's the thing - you open it, you put it to your lips, you tilt your head back, you taste some peach flavors, and then suddenly you realize there is crap in your mouth. Little itty bits of crap. When I read INVISIBLE, I somehow translated it to mean "you won't know you're drinking fiber." This is not the case. In case it's not clear, Vitamin+Fiber Water was the Ugly part of my day.

*** My itinerary for today: Burbank (meetings) -> Santa Monica (dinner) -> San Diego (hotel). In the process of driving to each location, I realized that I drove by 4 different airports: BUR, LAX, SNA, SAN. There's something wrong with that although I haven't quite put my finger on what it is yet. But that's the Bad, because SoCal traffic sucks.

*** 2 Good things:
1) I recently signed up for FlyClear and got my card. I flew out of Oakland airport this morning but had been told previously that Oakland wouldn't have a Clear line until April. Therefore I was really disappointed to see that the security line extended out to baggage claim in Terminal 2. But then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blue cube shining like a beacon: the Clear line is open! I walked to the empty line with my head bent down, gave my fingerprint, and was taken straight to the bins in front of everybody. I know that it sucks for everybody else, but since I have to spend a good part of my life in airports, I'm really happy that I got Clear.
2) I have friends in random places. Travelling lets me see these friends more and mix some pleasure in with business. I got to have dinner with an old friend tonight and it made the whole trip exponentially better.

It's seriously time for bed now. Heading home tomorrow night.

Flight 002: The Night Before Departure

I never appreciated being home so much before. At this point, I find myself going into the office mostly for the social aspect. It's nice to actually go to lunch with friends instead of quickly grabbing a bite alone at the closest Starbucks, Subway, Chipotle, or (fill-in-generic-commercial-food-here).

As I was browsing through my Google Reader today, I came across a posting that proved my iPhone point! Check it out - Karl Rove uses an iPhone. Need I say more? Found it off Valleywag - http://valleywag.com/tech/politics/karl-rove-uses-an-iphone-286619.php.



Yes, I read Valleywag - so what? :) I've recently finally organized all the content I read into Google Reader and it's helped me reduce all the crap going into my mailbox. However, I now find myself with hundreds of items to read every day and I can't stand the idea of the number just going up and up if I slack off.

I signed up for Twitter today after reading in multiple places on what a "killer app" it is. I'm sorry to say that I just don't get what all the hype is about yet. I'll keep sending out the minor details of my life until I have no followers left though . . .

I did discover an app recently that has brought me much delight: Digsby. It would be doing a disservice to compare it to Trillian because it's so much more. I've used Trillian for so long now that I liken it to the abusive boyfriend that makes you think all men suck. Digsby is the guy who picks you up off the ground and dusts you off. Or something like that :) Anyway, I would highly recommend Digsby to any Windows user who has multiple chat accounts and doesn't want to run AIM, Y!M, MSN, etc. simultaneously on their machine. It allows you to double-sort on your contact list and includes not only more IM protocols (e.g. Google Talk, Jabber) but also social networks (Facebook, Twitter) and email (gmail, y! mail, imap, etc). Check it out and tell me what you think.

Back on the road tomorrow headed for SoCal.

Flight 001: The Beginning

Here's my first attempt at converting all my miles into something useful. I hit 2-3 cities on average each week and have gotten to see a lot of America in the last few months. I'm Asian and female, which makes me somewhat of an oddity among the seemingly endless flood of white male road warriors traveling alongside me every week. Speaking of which...I think I've figured out that iPhone's target market is aging males who are trying to reclaim some status of "coolness" that they questionably once had back in their glory days. I've lost count of the number of guys I've seen walking around with those little white earbuds tucked snugly inside their ears and tapping away on their sleek touchscreens.

Anyway, in the future, I'll write more detailed posts on where I go and what I see, but for now, here's a quick hit on 2008 so far:

LAX (Los Angeles) - One of my worst nightmares of an airport - leave ample time for transfers and even more patience for delays and off-airport car rental pickups/dropoffs.

BUR (Burbank) - I love having the car rental on site but no Hertz Club Gold screen is the worst. Isn't the point of Club Gold that you never have to wait in line? However, Burbank has the best damn bacon cheeseburger I've ever had in any airport so that alone bumps it up on my list.

SEA (Seattle) - Flying southwest here is great but having to take those trams to the remote terminals for other airlines (alaska,not sure which others) really sucks.

SAN (San Diego) - Ah, what's not to love about awesome weather and onsite Hertz car rentals? I've never had a problem with security lines here and the SFO-SAN route on Southwest makes me a very happy girl. 3/31/08 Update: San Diego airport is not as sweet as I thought - car rental is offsite. Minus 2 points.

OMA (Omaha) - Whoa! Umm...I see white people. All kidding aside, this airport was small and not memorable which means that it neither wowed nor sucked. And yes, Omaha is known for its ethnic diversity but everyone was exceedingly friendly, especially at the Hilton Omaha.

IAD (Washington-Dulles) - Dulles is perhaps the only airport that sucks more than LAX. It's poorly laid out and requires you to herd onto outdated shuttle buses to get to your terminal most of the time. And if you're lucky enough to not have a flight leaving from one of the remote gates, you will find yourself getting exercise on your 1 mile trek to your "closer" gate, whether you like it or not. I would pretty much fly into any other airport but this one.

JFK (New York City) - Ah...how I love Jetblue but hate Terminal 6. Actually, departing from JFK is often times quite smooth and stress-free. However, trying to locate your car service for pick-up is an entirely different story. It is consistently a zoo at the Arrivals area so I'd recommend trying to meet your party at Departures instead.

OAK - Oakland airport has never been my favorite because it requires me to take the unpredictable Bay Bridge back home to lovely San Francisco. However, I find myself flying out of there more and more because 1) I park onsite for $22/day and 2) it experiences far fewer weather delays than SFO. It's also gotten a lot better in the last year or so in terms of food and general amenities.

SFO - I love SFO simply because it's damn close to me. However, it is notorious for delays to any kind of blip in the weather - fog, rain, drizzle, perhaps a cloud passing across the sun momentarily . . .

Seeing this list of airports is making me re-evaluate whether I need a blog....or a personal life. Hmm. Until next time, happy flying!