MELBOURNE, 1st September.
I started this memoir as a thread on Fodor's Travel Talk and a couple of days ago decided I'd cross-post it here, maybe adding some frequent flyer lingo and flight details as the occasion warrants. Note however I'm not especially given to posting menus or citing block times or pushback delays in excruciating detail.
My aim is to write some observations, not tell a beginning-to-end story. "Notes from the planet" I called it. Pretty pompous sounding. Maybe I should call it "Notes from some places," but geez, that sounds pretty forgettable. Anyway, the intent is to tell mini-stories or just paint some pictures with words (or even with pictures) for what it may be worth.
As these notes were was begun three weeks ago, it may seem a bit disjointed time-wise, but like any diary it has a certain stream-of-consciousness quality to it anyway, so forgive the use of present tense when past tense would do. I my make liberal use of FT's editing function to correct things or reinterpret history as needed.
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10 August 2007
A week ago we left home in Seattle for another round-the-world trip that will last around 5 weeks.
Some basics if anybody's interested.
Our "RTW" route started in Seattle and progressed to New York, where my wife had a couple of business meetings. After that (escaped before the big storm) I flew from La Guardia to Miami, then to Madrid, then to Stockholm. I took this roundabout route because we're limited to the Oneworld airline alliance's carriers (American, British, Iberia, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, others) and the only other available route to Stockholm that would generate sufficient miles (a key consideration) would have necessitated a stop at Heathrow to change planes and airlines, from American to British Airways. Inasmuch as we value having clothing and personal effects for a five-continent, five-week trip, the statistically significant chance that our bags would not make it through Heathrow; would never ever catch up to us downstream; and would probably be sold for a tidy profit at BA's lost baggage consignment house, I chose the Iberia option instead, hence numerous passes through the enormous but efficient Barajas airport outside Madrid. So far so good.
My RTW actually began in March in Tokyo. Unlike most other airline tickets, round-the-world tickets carry different price tags depending on where in the world you buy them and start/finish the loop. In March for business-class tickets, Japan was much cheaper than other places - cheaper enough that even adding the price of the ticket to Japan needed in order to buy the RTW ticket still made the total less than it would have been to buy it at the Seattle airport - by a lot. So leaving NYC for Madrid/Stockholm I was already partway through my RTW, having already been to Japan, then across the Pacific, and around the US for a bit (up to Alaska, over to NYC etc.)
My wife's RTW, however, actually began in Sweden, where for her itinerary it's a reasonably cheap place to start compared to the US or Japan or some other country. Weird but that's how it works. Consequently she didn't have to fly to Sweden using a Oneworld airline, so she took Malaysian Airlines straight from Newark to Stockholm, sadly traveling in coach (which she described in highly unflattering terms.) Having arrived the day before, I met her at Arlanda Airport last weekend, and the game was on.
After Sweden we flew back to Madrid, spent the night at a hotel near the airport, and then flew to Tel Aviv the day before yesterday. We're in Israel briefly to visit some family, some of whom are in poor health. I'm writing this from the very lovely Scots Hotel (run by the Church of Scotland) in Tiberias. Out my window is a dark Lake Kinneret, aka the Sea of Galilee. In the Ceilidh Bar downstairs one can have a decent malt whisky or a glass of Belhaven Heavy, price astronomical, proving the Kirk knows what it's doing when it's 90 degrees outside.
We'll leave Israel tomorrow night and go back to Madrid to change planes; by Sunday morning we'll be in Johannesburg. We'll travel around South Africa for a couple of weeks, then cross the Indian Ocean to Sydney for a few days, then to Auckland for four or five more. We'll separate there, she returning to California and home (halfway done with her RTW) while I'll go from Auckland to Hong Kong and Singapore, then to Tokyo where I'll finish mine. She will have renewed her Platinum status with AA in the process; I will have re-attained Executive Platinum status somewhere over the Tasman.
So that's the outline, and I'll now throttle back the keyboard and post some notes from the planet as we progress. I'm working on a couple of tidbits now and will post them to this thread when they're ready.
I'll also link to some photos on my website as we go along.
Here they are.
Comments and questions are welcome, but no promises as to speed of response - internet connectivity is limited in many of our destinations.
I'm fully confident, however, that by the time we get back (shortly after Labor Day) the Mariners will be in first place and pennant fever will be in the air. Smell the anticipation.