Journey – LHR-LCA
Flight no. – BA662
Class – Club Europe
Seat – 1F 1D

I wander to the gate in advance of the call – a fear of repeating NRT is still strong with me. I am told that they are boarding small and infirm people but not J. I do note that there are a number of people who are child free and under the age of 90 who are boarding so I wander up to the gate – just slightly in advance of the call for rows 26-40. Now I am not 100% familiar with the Club Europe product but I am sure that J doesn’t start at row 26…

On board I am pointed to my seat by the cabin crew and in my daze I do not notice that I have sat in 1D rather 1F and as my seat buddy arrives I have to apologise but no seat change is requested – which is a surprise as 1D has faster access to exit than 1F. Perhaps my BA Gold seat buddy is not quite as obsessive about seating as I appear to be.

Finally we are preparing for departure and the only thing I can think is that I now only have 4 more flights until I get home!!!!!!!!! The lack of sleep kicks in and I sleep through the breakfast service – not even stirring for an initial glass of Champagne.

After they have cleared the breakfast service I decide to grab the laptop and do some more SOB writing. I have my Tumi arranged so that I don’t need to open the bag fully to get my laptop out – I can just slide my hand in through the zips. As I slide my hand in there seems to be more space in the bag than usual and I can’t feel the hard shell of the laptop!! I quickly pull down the Tumi and no matter how many times I move things around there is a horrible lack of laptop

In classic movie style a la Next I rewind my journey back in high speed trying to work out what had happened. I get back to FCC and my hurry to help the guys behind me who were rushing for their aircraft. I see myself put my laptop into a tray and my liquids and stuff in another tray. After the X-ray the liquids tray goes on top of the laptop tray….

I guess is it true that no good deed goes unpunished. Now I am normally quite pale skinned – amusing given that I live in the land of the sun but also not so surprising given I spend my life in an office, a train or a plane – but on this occasion I believe I went so white that the other passengers thought they were being visited by the ghost of William Spooner *

A quick chat with the CSM and all is ok – they have found my laptop at security. I am asked if I want it brought to LCA so I can pick it up there. Given the risk of missing it I elect to collect it when I get back to LHR on Monday as lost property is airside so I wont even have to go out and check back in. What a relief - or at least so I thought…

As I am a little stressed I succumb to accepting a glass of Champers followed quickly by a G&T (only Gordon’s). I am surprised at how long the flight takes without any personal IFE (I wouldn’t classify a 10cm screen as IFE). So I sit back and read more of my book and try to chill. The pax across the aisle from me take more than a little pleasure giving me some stick for my laptop loss which I take in surprising good humour. A brief chat to the CSM about the flights and Cyprus and the interesting revelation that they actually like this flight as there is 24 hours between the inbound and outbound flight for the crew so they can go out and get trollied** . I am informed that the temperature is 31 degrees in Cyprus so it is a quick visit to the lavs to switch into my shorts and a fresh t-shirt so I am feeling a little fresher as I ready myself to deplane.

Finally we are landing and then as light follows day we land. It is of course a bus ride to the terminal and within 5 minutes of landing I am through immigration, customs and waiting outside for my parents to arrive!!! Aside from the minor issue of losing my laptop, the hand luggage only bizzo is working a treat.

I think though I have surprised my parents by being so quick and I am left baking in the sun for a few minutes until they eventually arrive. It is great again to see the little fella (my nephew) – he has grown up so much already in the few months since I last saw him. This is such a massive ancillary benefit of my travels – being able to see my little nephew growing up through his first couple of years – something I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to do when he was first born in Cyprus 3 months premature…

I spend a very hot few days in the mountains (ok maybe foothills) of Cyprus having relaxing dinners and sipping G&T’s with my dad looking out over the vineyards. If only mrssimongr was here this would be perfect.


* OK so that is officially my most obscure reference – sorry about that. William Spooner was for the record an albino and thus his ghost might be described as whiter than white flag that has been left out in the sun for a little too long after having been bleached white more than a few times.

** Also referred to as: Ankled (Bristol) Badgered, Banjaxed, Battered, Befuggered, Bernard Langered, Bladdered, Blasted, Blathered, Bleezin, Blitzed, Blootered, Blottoed, Bluttered, Boogaloo, Brahms & Liszt, Buckled, Burlin Cabbaged, Chevy Chased, Clobbered Decimated, Dot Cottoned, Druck-steaming, Drunk as a Lord, Drunk as a skunk Etched Fecked, Fleemered (Germany), Four to the floor Gatted, Goosed, Got my beer goggles on, Guttered (Inverness) Had a couple of shickers, Hammer-blowed, Hammered, Hanging, Having the whirlygigs, Howling Inebriated, Intoxicated Jahalered, Jaiked up (West of Scotland), Jan'd - abbrev for Jan Hammered, Jaxied, Jeremied, Jolly Kaned Lagged up, Lamped, Langered (Ireland) [also langers, langerated], Laroped, or alt. larrupt, Lashed, Leathered, Legless, Liquored up (South Carolina), Locked, Locked out of your mind (Ireland), Loo la Mad wey it, Mandoo-ed, Mangled, Manky, Mashed, Meff'd, Merl Haggard, Merry, Minced, Ming-ho, Minging, Moired, Monged, Monkey-full, Mottled, Mullered Newcastled, Nicely irrigated with horizontal lubricant Off me pickle, Off me trolley, On a campaign, Out of it, Out yer tree Paggered, Palintoshed, Paraletic, Peelywally, Peevied, Pickled, Pie-eyed, Pished, Plastered, Poleaxed, Pollatic Rat-legged (Stockport), Ratted, Ravaged, Razzled, Reek-ho, Rendered, Rosy glow, Rubbered, Ruined Saying hello to Mr Armitage, Scattered, Schindlers, Screwed, Scuttered (Dublin), Shedded [as in " My shed has collapsed taking most of the fence with it"], Slaughtered, Sloshed, Smashed, Snatered (Ireland), Snobbled (Wales), Sozzled, Spangled, Spannered, Spiffed, Spongelled, Squiffy, Steamin, Steampigged, Stocious, Stonkin Tanked, Tashered, Tipsy, Trashed, Trollied, Troubled, Trousered, Twisted Warped, Wasted, Wellied, With the fairies, Wrecked Zombied

Journey – LCA-LHR
Flight no. – BA663
Class – Club Europe
Seat – 1F (no seriously this time it is 1F)

I have a relaxing but exceptionally hot day travelling to LCA from PFO (and I actually plan for this and wear a throw away t-shirt on the journey to the airport and dump it in the lounge). My mind is not 100% in the game as a couple of last minute purchases are left in the car to be forwarded on to me. I remember the last time I transited through LCA-LHR-HKG-SYD (BA-CX-CX) I had trouble with getting boarding passes all the way through. This time I am pleasantly surprised to get BPs all the way to the SYD (although the J BP on QF HKG-SYD is hopefully going to have a fairly short lifespan ). I wonder afterwards is the combination of BA-BA-CX is the trigger for that.

LCA has a much improved exterior over my prior visits there but that does not extend to the check in area which is as ugly as ever. I am quickly through immigration and security – I do feel a little out of place with my focussed experienced* passage through check in compared to the lobsters in shorts and flip flops . The LCA makeover doesn’t extend to the Cyprus Airways lounge which is still a stinker. Sadly the smoking section of the lounge seems to have been expanded rather than eliminated I jump on line using the lounge computers (of which there are 4 or 5 which is not bad) to catch up with AFF and FT and to PM Kiwiflyer regarding my experience of LHR transfers.

Boarding is scheduled for 16:30 but “starts” at 16:10 so I make my way to the gate to join the large queue to go through the gate into the holding pen before catching the bus to the Aircraft. This time my rollaboard doesn’t fit into the overhead end on over seat 1G (it fitted end on over 1A outbound) so again I feel a little guilty about my hand luggage challenge – but again thankfully there is sufficient space in the overheads for everyone**.

Again I fell asleep on take off and missed the “hot” towels but I was at least awake for drinks The Pomery is actually quite nice and is served with some delightful little canapés – a vol au vent, pork on bread and some brown thing. It is as I look at the canapés that I realise I have left the gift from my mother in car – a Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker.

They are showing OOTP on the 10cm main screen which does slightly devalue the cinematic experience. Dinner is chicken with tortellini but strangely drinks are served once all meals have been served. Which basically means that I have finished my main before a glass of wine is served???? Now it is not about getting jeremied it is just that I don’t have anything to drink with dinner at all – not even water….

I continue to watch the movie which thankfully (despite the reduced cinematic experience) is over 2 hours long. I reflect that although the screen is small I am actually more comfortable than when I watched it at the Odeon Marble Arch when it was first out at the movies. I mentally prepare myself for the transit/lost property reclaim/ F lounge and then sleep for about an hour. As with other seating choices on this journey this choice leaves a little to be desired. The bulk head is not great for my 6’ 2” frame but I will concede that I am this time not subject to recliners!

After landing I am thinking of being first off but as I reach back to grab my rollaboard someone pushes past me so my careful plan of 1F getting me out first is slightly scuppered As we deplane I am sublimely confident and relaxed. I know I will have two bags through FCC and will be picking up my laptop and will be in the F lounge shortly.

I see that FCC has no queues and politely enquire about the location of lost property….



I am told that lost property is landside so I will have to immigrate, find lost property and then – horror of horrors check one of my bags through to SYD! So it is off immigration behind some very large queues and after some difficulty I find lost property – or at least what I thought was lost property…



Lost property actually turns out to be the left luggage area as lost property closes at 7PM. Did I arrange for the item to be left here – umm no. Ahh then I will have to call lost property in the morning or call back the next day to collect it – a little tough to do when I live in SYD…

So with that knowledge I troop back to check in, safe in the knowledge that I just immigrated and am about to check a bag for absolutely no reason at all With more than the occasional curse muttered under my breath I pass through the very nice R zone (a first for me) which I see takes you directly to the lounge – a nice touch.

In the lounge I am so depressed that I almost don’t bother with a glass of champagne – but I manage to force one down (the options of white or pink are given – and looking down, noting that I am not wearing a skirt or dress I opt for the white). I jump online and update AFF and FT with my latest baggage trauma.

I duck out of the lounge for a few minutes to grab book three of the Wheel of Time as I forecast that I will finish book 2 probably about an hour outside of HKG***. Back in the lounge I check whether my QFF points balance has reduced and sadly at the moment it is still on 75K which means no sign of an upgrade yet…

There is just time to force down some shiraz before heading to the gate



* Ok based on current performance I will accept some element of debate on my interpretation of “experienced…

** That is not to say that everyone was actually in the overheads just a small Albanian family that seemed to be smuggling their uncle into the UK. I wasn’t sure it was politically correct to advise the Cabin Crew of this so in typically English style I just pretended that nothing unusual was occurring.

*** Yes I lead an incredibly sad existence that I plan my life like that but that is who I am and the forecast is unsurprisingly accurate…

Journey – LHR-HKG
Flight no. – BA27
Class – Club World
Seat – 62A

The walk through LHR T1 reminds what a toilet LHR is and what an embarrassment it is for the British people that visitors to Britain are welcomed here and this will be their last memory of the country. At least this problem might be solved by T5 – even if everything else isn’t.

Thankfully boarding is a smooth process although sadly my BP is not rejected at the gate. I am very pleased to see that we have NNCW and it nice to see a more modern interior on an aircraft after a couple of weeks of older tireder planes. It is certainly a dramatic improvement over NCW.

As I take my pre-selected exit row seats, my seat buddy vanishes which I think is either that his wife has been given an op-up from WT+ or he has taken a voluntary downgrade to be with her. Either way it is another flight with no seat buddy. This is my third in a row (if you count the flagship suites on AA).

The cabin crew serve me a nice glass of bubbles but he has the strangest accent I have ever heard – kind of Porto meets Cardiff. It is all I can do to stop myself from chortling. We take off on time and I decide to give the IFE a go – slightly nervous that it is supplied by Rockwell Collins. Three reboots later and it is another less than stellar performance by RC. I have not AVOD only AV. At least I have movies on a cycle which is better than nothing.

The food is ok but not memorable and in an effort to make myself stay awake I ask if I can defer my dessert until later. This however works against me as I crash out shortly after the main course and do not have the joy of sampling the cheese selection. I actually think I slept as much as six to eight hours which although restful for me – does not bode well for my HKG-SYD flight and the potential for sleep there which is my target to assist with resetting my body clock.

About 2 hours out of HKG a third baggage trauma hits as I realise I have four(ish) hours at HKG and could have collected my luggage and gone through security with two bags – thus avoiding delays at SYD. Really simongr you need to make a better effort at being in control of your flying destiny!

I decide to skip breakfast as I know I can eat in the lounge or on board my next flight. Finally we are landing into HKG and the flight has been surprisingly smooth (except for the IFE of course). As we begin the process to deplane my mind is pretty focussed on getting in contact with the UK to get my laptop shipped to Oz. IU am very quickly through security and find myself at about gate 30. It is at that point that I realise I have left Book 3 on the aircraft – my mind really is not in the game today

I head to the BA/QF lounge to see if they can contact the aircraft to see if my book has been found. I then head over to the Wing managing to stop for a little shopping on the way but I am not in the mood for full enjoyment of the Wing today after the calamities that have befallen me.

I manage to get through to Lost Property at LHR and co-ordinate the couriering of my laptop so that is one less worry for me (although there is no indication of price during my discussions with the courier company and as I don’t have many options I will have to wait and see what happens). I clear a few emails via Webmail and check on AFF using the iPod Touch . I then grab a shower and decide to skip food as I am pleased to find that my F upgrade has come through – finally some good news on this trip. Also checking my emails I have come up with a solution for an issue at work which alleviate some of the trauma of not having had the laptop for a few days and checking Facebook I find that one of my friends is now engaged!

I leave the Wing and wander through the shopping plaza, picking up a replacement for the Cross pencil that was misplaced JFK-LHR and head to the QF lounge as that is closer to the gate and I would like to see if I can get my new BP…

Journey – HKG-SYD
Flight no. – Qf128
Class – First
Seat – 3A

It’s the final countdown!!! Well at least I am officially on the way home. I ask at the lounge if I can get my new BP but am informed that can only be done at the gate so I grab a glass of Piper and catch up on more AFF on the computers in the F section of the lounge. It is amazes me how much of a broadband addict I have become. I was lost in Cyprus without broadband and now without my little lappie! I really need to wean myself off this techno dependency.

Talking of which I was quite surprised/annoyed that the iPOd Touch could happily connect to PCCW (free wifi at HKG Airport) in the CX lounge but I am semi-forced to try and used BTOpenzone in the QF/BA lounge…

A minute before the flight is called I start to wander to the gate knowing that I need to sort out BPs etc. The whY queue is horrendous – I am so glad that I choose to travel in J or choose not to travel at all. Getting my new BP does not seem to be the simple process that I was expecting and I become a little nervous as multiple calls are made to sort it out.

Finally my F BP is handed over and I wander to the gate itself. I see a heap of BPs on the gate so I assume (rightly or wrongly) that there are a heap of Op-Ups or points upgrades coming through. My 3A seat is finally a great seat I think. Sure not as much space as 4A but still a decent window seat and not too close to 3E.

On board I am greeted with a glass of Charles Heidseck 1996 which is very nice and some dip that could be tuna or hommous or eggplant – but no almonds it seems. I get half a feeling that the Cabin Crew are not that interested in me as after asking what size PJs I want they then forget to get them. The couple in front of me seem to be taking up quite a lot of the crew’s time. After a second request for PJs (with no apology for missing me) I am the second person to get changed and in fact for once I note that pretty much the whole full cabin gets changed before take off.

We are soon airborne and shortly after take off they come round to take the meal orders. I am asked what wine I would like with my meal but put in a G&T request for before dinner first. I note that I am the only person to receive a pre-dinner drink! This is what I mean about the variable service in F on QF.

I decide to take a punt on the IFE which to my surprise seems to work acceptably after a little prodding. Dinner is very nice – possibly one of my best choices on this trip. The soup is very nice pumpkin and coconut with a sprinkle of fried shallots – 100% yum! I forget what the main course was (and given the state of my house at the moment the likelihood of finding the purloined menu is slim) but do recall being adequately satisfied. I watch a couple of movies and finally manage to grab about 3 hours of sleep waking just in time for breakfast.

Breakfast is a little disappointing – just a continental option There is quite a queue for the change out of PJs but I manage to relax for the last 20 minutes of the flight. I have some great views of Manly as we land and note that the city side views are for the K pax.

We land and finally I am nearing home. I do my usual shimmy through duty free to pick up the Bombay Sapphire and Champers but am relatively slow going through immigration as although the queue is only 2 people they seem to be the slowest two people on earth. The bag wait is frustrating after such speed through arrivals on my other flights but in retrospect it isn’t as long as it seemed.

Quarantine though is the usual schmozzle and it takes at least 25 minutes to get through but eventually I am through and meeting my driver and then the car ride home.

This is only a brief visit home as we are off to Darwin this weekend…

Journey – SYD-BNE
Flight no. – QF500
Class – Business
Seat – 2A

After a crazy couple of days in the office without a laptop, it arrives at about 2PM on the Friday just before I am heading home after a lunch with my colleague who is returning to the US – a very frustrating turn of events him being in Oz when I was overseas

The evening before the flight is again hectic as we prepare our house to be taken over by my in-laws as they look after the dogs whilst we are away. We can’t leave much until the morning as the car is arriving at god awful o’clock. At about 10:30PM a very tired simongr heads to bed only to wake at 1AM and 2AM in advance of the 3AM alarm given our 4:15AM departure for the airport. It is all systems go and our little hand luggage only trip to DRW begins.

If you hadn’t realised I am not using the royal “we” on this trip as mrssimongr is the driving force behind the trip to DRW as one of her friends has moved there recently and also just had a little baby. I booked her an AAward flight and added my flights to my DONE4. The problem was that I booked her a straight SYD-DRW-SYD return and I was on SYD-BNE-DRW-SYD. We were on the same flights DRW-SYD (with a quick stop in ADL) but my flight was about 4 hours earlier to BNE and I arrived in DRW about 90 mins before her. She decided she wanted to come with me to the airport so she wouldn’t have to deal with that alone. I realised on the way to the airport that I probably could have arranged for her to be on the flight with me as the points on AA would have been the same as there is no stopover. This is where my inexperience with being a FFer really shows. I had done OLCI so we walked straight through security and up into the lounge.

Mrssimongr snacked on some toast and muesli whilst I sorted out the iPod touch and checked the overnight rugby results. Just before boarding I saw some good friends of mine who were also flying up to BNE that day – I was about to offer to use points to upgrade them but they were already in J I make my friend quite jealous with a flourish of the iPod (he is another Mac aficionado) but I made a little nervous when his wife borrows it and it looks like I might not get it back! This is a good distraction for mrssimongr so that she doesn’t have to think about me boarding without her and she is not as upset when I walk off to board (she is nervous flyer who gets terrible ear pain whilst flying so doesn’t really enjoy it).

On boarding I think I might have a free seat next to me as it empty up until the last minute when a family of five arrive and take every last seat in J. What a performance though getting them boarded – debating which seats and where hand luggage goes – it takes them about 10 minutes to get seated!

We push back on schedule and we are quickly in the air with the seat belt sign off so I boot up the laptop and get on with some work. I decide to skip breakfast knowing I have another breakfast flight coming up later. I am quite surprised when the Captain turns on the seat belt sign – where on earth did that flight go? I am just not used to these short flights now!

We seem to have a very slow landing followed by a hand brake turn into the gate. Thankfully there is no security screening so I am in the QP within 2 mins of landing It is a sad thing to be in a QP when there is no booze being served – I am again just too used to travelling internationally now.

There is a last minute chance of meeting an AFFer at the QP but that is scuppered so I get on with a bit more work and wait for boarding which happens relatively soon and thankfully the gate is pretty close to the QP

Journey – BNE-DRW
Flight no. – QF824
Class – Business
Seat – 1A

As I board I am thankful that there are Dreamtime seats so it will be a quite comfortable flight to DRW. In my mind I compare the Club Europe product on a much longer flight to this product and QF win hands down!

I am amused that even though it is a different aircraft I have the same crew to DRW that I had to BNE! The flight is uneventful so I do a little work and watch a little laptop TV and do indulge in just a little glass of bubbles (after the second request for a top up they leave the mini-bottle behind).

The remainder of the flight is uneventful but I know that I have a fairly unpleasant 90 minutes ahead of me in the airport without lounge access. As I deplane I am quick not to go out into arrivals and actually turn back into the departure area and wonder if it is worth trying my luck with the lounge. I walk in and with my most deferential voice admit I know that I am not allowed in but ask if it is possible to chill here as I am waiting for my wife – and I am allowed in

I set myself up at one of the laptop stations and continue watching some laptop TV. I wonder why there is a throng of people around the bar area and realise that it is 2 minutes to 1PM and the booze bus will be leaving soon. After about 10 mins I decide to grab a cold Crown and am quite comfortable waiting for mrssimongr. I keep checking the arrivals board and mrssimongr finally lands.

I meet her in the departure area and she had a great flight – no ear pain at all thanks to the “earplanes”. We have a great few days in DRW and she is very keen to come back again next year!

We stay with her friend for a couple of days and in the Holiday Inn Esplanade for a couple of days – a very relaxing time is had by all – although the 3AM wake up for our 3:45 cab is less than welcome.

Journey – DRW-ADL-SYD
Flight no. – QF82
Class – Business
Seat – 4DF

It is hot and humid even at 4AM in DRW and finally we get to check in. As this is an internationally numbered flight we weren’t able to do OLCI. There is thankfully no queue for check in and we begin the process. I had pre-selected 3AB knowing that there were three seats in the middle section and mrssimongr wouldn’t want to sit next to a stranger and I wouldn’t want to be in the middle. This was done on two PNRs though as mine was my DONE4 and hers was the AAward. I was a little perturbed then when I was asked if they wanted to move us so that we could sit together???? For some reason I was still in 3B and mrssimongr was in 4F… We were offered 4DF which I wasn’t happy about as I did want to avoid the middle section.

Through security and for some reason my standard flight outfit sets off the WTMD and it is quite a palaver getting all my stuff back together – I wasn’t as prepared as normal.

Up to the departure lounge and the QP is not yet open. It finally opens but we have very little time there as we have to go through secondary screening for the international flight which itself is a nightmare. In the lounge I see if I can get moved up a couple of rows and get a window – at least from ADL to SYD but there is no help forthcoming as the flight is “full”

Two guys had examine every pax’s hand luggage – it is a painfully slow process only to be followed by the second transit lounge which is packed with transit pax and JQ pax – and then the flight is delayed by about 15 mins. Mrssimongr is actually feeling a little faint by the time that we finally we board and I see that the centre section of the airbus is in fact only two seats so one small crisis averted. Mrssimongr is blown away by the Skybed as she has never flown one before and now refuses to fly in any other seat again…

I skip breakfast knowing that I will be eating ADL-SYD and potentially in the ADL QP. It is a fairly short hop to ADL and we are soon on the ground and through security looking for the QP. It is a fruitless search as there is no lounge on the international side of the terminal at ADL

Thankfully boarding starts almost on time and we are back on board. I am little surprised that the “full” flight is only about 1/3 full in J so we could have moved and in fact one pax has moved up to row 1 from row 3. Breakfast is served and by the time they get to us they have run out of the hot breakfast – something I would have avoided if we had been in the seats I had requested. I was further perturbed as in row 2 there were Qantas staff family flying – so a paying pax missed out on a further forward seat and breakfast in favour of staff…

The remainder of the flight is fairly uneventful and finally we landing into SYD. Mrsismongr avoids the pain on descent again through the use of the “earplanes” and we are quickly through immigration with our D stickers, quickly through quarantine’ collected by my driver and for the final time I am on my way home properly!!

Epilogue

Wow – that was some trip. The report alone runs to 42 pages of A4 text in size 12 font. I don’t think I have written that much since University! This journey started with a lot of reflection on what it meant to travel and I guess now that the travel has been completed – does this mean that the journey is complete?

This has probably been one of the hardest trips I have made. Admittedly the 5 weeks away last July was a long time but it was just in two places and the work was so hard that I didn’t do much else. This trip was complicated, unstable and a little lonely as I did the whole trip by myself. It is not one that I would like to repeat really – I think I might have more flying on my next DONE4 as I might endeavour to really max out those miles and see if I can almost qualify for EXP on one trip But I will try and do that in about 16 days rather than 25.

So what lessons have I learned on this journey. The obvious one is that hand luggage only is not a method of travel it is more than even a lifestyle – it is a religion and I will praying in that Church as much as I possibly can. It gave me so much more freedom but at the same did make for some recurrent wardrobe choices

So what was it like to travel as an experienced traveller? Well to be honest based on the rookie mistakes that I made, the items I lost and found, the poor seat choices and a general lack of focus – what this trip has shown me is that my journeys in reality have only just begun. I may know the best F lounge in HKG airport but I doubt that Kiwiflyer, NM, serfty or Dave Noble are the last person called to the flight because they are sipping beer in the lounge…

Although this trip was hard and too long what it has done is give me a chance to make more of the journeys I will be taking. It gave me a kick up the backside to shake my arrogance and complacency. I did more for myself and more outside of my office and room service than I have done before – forced I guess because I was travelling by myself. More importantly it gave me the chance to travel with mrssimongr and not just to BNE again – but somewhere different where she was in a top of the range J seat.

Where to now then? Well next is a couple of simple CircleAsias in November and February and then potentially we may be seeing The Grand BEHEMOTH in March but between now and then I have to wait for my kitchen to be installed, have my first Christmas with my newish Australian Nephew, buy a car and grind mrssimongr down into accepting that we need a new TV

So for a short while, this Chocka Bloke Checking out

simongr

You are an incredibly gifted and talented writer. I enjoy your posts and reading them instills in me a desire to get out there and take a "behemoth" of my own.

Enjoy your time back home and good luck with the kitchen

(CC FT/AFF)

Simon, B & SOB have been both fascinating and illuminating, reflecting situations and circumstances that I have come across over the years.

It's been great to grasp the sense through your writings of your experience and knowledge broadening. This comes not only through your questions and information/advice thus gained via FT/AFF, but as your exposure to situations accumulated, your analysis of them and publication herein of these indicate as such.

I'm sure your TR's here should a great source of information for travellers for years to come.

Not always, I have been guilty of that in years gone by. I do try to minimize my gate time, but also to be present when boarding commences. So it's a sort of balance between knowing when your inbound has arrived, how long does experience suggest before boarding commences and one's contemporary needs.

"Hand luggage only" is good if possible, it's not always, esp. on return from long trips. Nothing to pray for but good if you can do. As for "recurrent wardrobe choices", most business associates wouldn't raise an eyebrow knowing one is travelling (just avoid those Laksas and saucy Pasta dishes ).

As for trip reports, I have dabbled in them; I try to keep to standard, but I still have not got back from Dubai yet. One day I will!

Wow...what great reading...took my laptop to bed last night to read while glancing at the World Series. Truly was more interesting than the current book I am reading. You are a gifted writer the series was enjoyable to read!!!!

Kudos!!!

Thanks for the kind words all - I have really enjoyed writing these reports and have already started musing on the Grand BEHEMOTH next year - a potential 52K mile trip to secure my EXP in the first three months of the year