Over Albany....

As the year draws to a close, I’m once again in the air. There’s something beautiful about a window seat on an evening flight, the lights laid out beneath you like a map in gold and silver. When I travel so much its easy to forget the little things that made me drawn to flying in the first place. Day to day its all too easy to get distracted by worries over the weather, or the person in the security line in front of you who wants to place each individual item they are carrying in a separate bin to send through the x-ray. Air travel is one of those things where if you’re all about the destination you’re likely to miss out on the pleasure to be had along the way.

Right now I’m embarking on a landmark flight. Its flight 471 and I’m on my way to my childhood home north of Seattle, a relatively short flight from LAX. When this plane flies over Albany, Oregon I will have flown my 100,000^th qualifying mile this year on American Airlines. After all the time on American’s silver jets this year, I find it somewhat ironic that my milestone will be reached while on an Alaska Airlines flight, but that’s life’s little sense of humor for you.

Fittingly, this month the movie “Up in the Air” debuted. In it the main character travels more than 11 months out of the year, and is eagerly reaching his 10 millionth mile on none other than American Airlines. His tipping mile, unlike mine, will be over Dubuque, Iowa. In the movie, this seeming king of frequent fliers is allegedly only the 7^th person to have flown 10 million miles with the airline. However, the “American Way” in-flight magazine assures me that there are many more than this in reality. In the interest of maintaining a sense of exclusivity American’s not saying how many there are or what the benefits of achieving such a goal might be, though they make it clear that there are many.

I have no delusions of reaching such a lofty travel milestone, in fact I’m astounded that I’m reaching 100,000 this year. I’ve never done it before, and doubt if I’ll do it again. Still, I can relate to the movie. This ultimate travel maven is followed as he embarks on his nearly continual itinerary, complete with preoccupations with rental car upgrades, hotel frequent guest programs, and a variety of “single serving” friends, doing it all in the name of reaching this long awaited travel goal. (For a detailed explanation of my personal connection to the plot of this movie, please read the posts below).

Besides all the miles (and dollars) I’ve spent on planes this year, there’s something that holds intrigue for me about little worlds wherever you find them. I always love to be an interloper whether its learning about the passions of obsessive frequent fliers, dedicated sci-fi fans, or even storm chasers. For an excellent and eye opening, and well researched, look into these seemingly insular groups that compose our modern society check out Shirley Cadron’s book “Who are You People?” This light read is billed as a look at “fanatical passion in America,” and is well worth the time.

Though Cadron doesn't choose to discuss frequent fliers in her book per se, the analogy is a good one. People who travel consistently for work, or just to maintain their lives, have plenty in common, both in experience and knowledge. As demonstrated by the many I've met along the way, they also have a wealth of stories and advice, and are more than happy to share both. The skies and the airports are something they have gotten to know innately, and most of them are proud of it. Like any specialty, its knowledge that’s not easily attained and they’re well aware of the fact. Tonight I feel like I’ve really joined them. As I take a moment to stare quietly out the window at the scattered points of light and dark voids underneath us I smile and hope that somewhere down there is Albany and my 100,000^th mile is passing, fittingly, on my way home for the last time this decade.

Cheers, and happy holidays.

And in conclusion....

(Lest the timestamp on this entry mislead you, I probably won’t get this posted until tomorrow as I won’t be home tonight until too late to want to turn back on my computer.)

First off- Please forgive the personal moment but as is all too easy to do with strangers, I can’t help myself. Every time I leave Boston, I have to say goodbye to my heart for awhile. Such is the nature of long-distance relationships, but it doesn’t make it any easier to do. As I say goodbye and walk back into the terminal after what is always too short of a visit, I consistently have the urge to turn around and run back (slow motion style of course) like in a romantic comedy’s compulsory happy ending. However life is not, much to my chagrin, a movie. Inevitably I give a last glance, set my jaw, and head to the security line to go home, since in the words of Robert Frost, “I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

So here it is, the last airline seat of the weekend. It’s a good one at least, seat 10A, which on a Boeing 757 is both a window, and an aisle seat as it has no one in front of it. So as I stretch my legs out shamelessly, I realize that I can’t get away from writing about a crazy weekend of air travel without the compulsory discussion on “single serving” friends. As anyone who’s seen “Fight Club” knows, this is a quite adept name for pretty much anyone you’ll meet in the air or in an airport. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the movie, here’s the clip. Though his connotation on the phenomenon is more ominous than mine, I think it makes a good point, and a great term.

The term "single-serving friend" is perfect, and I have found myself many times deep in discussion about my life with someone I’ve just met minutes ago while on a flight. There’s something enthralling about talking to a total stranger who you will likely never see again, but with whom for a few hours you have a shared experience. For example, last weekend I met a woman whos husband had taken two very successful footware companies public, and as she put it, spent his life “looking at people’s feet.” Before the end of the flight, she was telling me about how she had given her first son up for adoption when she was 18, and had found him almost 20 years later, then learning that he was gay. Luckily for them both, (after a period of soul-searching) she has taken a “love him no matter who he loved” approach, and have become close, to their mutual benefit. It’s stories like those that make me try to turn to the person next to me and offer an icebreaker, usually a simple, “Going home?”

So far this weekend, due to some empty flights and taking the overnight, I hadn’t made any single-serving friends. However, life saved the best for last. I’m sitting in the same row with a true travel maven (for a definition of "mavens" see the entry below). His wealth of knowledge puts me to shame. Firstly, he is part owner of an airline. That alone should give you an idea of how in depth his knowledge of the subject is. He asks me if I’m going home or to work, and I (sheepishly) tell him that I was going home from a weekend of essentially pointless flying. He however just nods and agrees that the double miles make it completely logical. He then informs me that he each year reaches Platinum Status for American, the “1K” club for Delta, and it’s counterpart on Lufthansa (I feel now that there might be one more I’m missing, but am not about to ask him to repeat it). Mind you, none of these is the airline he has part interest in.

The plane takes off, and I watch as we climb at the rain streaking across the window as it changes to thick snow. I start to know how Rudolph might feel on a particularly stormy night. I settle in, and our conversation shifts and my neighbor asks me a “trivia” question: Which is farther, Sydney to San Francisco, or Sydney to Los Angeles? I do a quick geography sketch in my head and come out with the right answer- Los Angeles (it’s further inland and the flightplan takes you across the Pacific.)

In true single-serving friend form, I learn a few things from him I didn’t know. For starters, that the longest nonstop flight in existence is from Singapore to Canada, and that this is the only flight in the top ten list of longest flights he has yet to take. I tell him that “it’s good to have goals,” and he answers he’s not in any hurry.

His maven nature does not, however, end at airlines and routes. He’s also well-versed in the must-haves for the serious traveler. Upon unpacking his laptop he points to the bottom layer of the plastic, informing me that the entire thing is the battery which will last continuously from Los Angeles to South Africa (he, at this moment has it still turned on sitting on the seat next to him while he works on something else, just to make the point). Further, noticing my Bose headsets, he asks expertly if they are “the new 15s?” I look at them stupidly for a moment, having no idea, and in the end we both decide they aren’t.

He settles in to work on his super-maven computer, and I unpack mine (seeing it’s the same model but mine will not last on a flight across either ocean without being re-charged) and start writing about him shamelessly, using 10pt font (grey for privacy). I’ve gotten used to being the more-traveled of the people I have met lately, and I’m feeling a bit upstaged by my travel companion. To that end, however, I would like to point out two things: 1) He’s about 25 years my senior, and 2) I think he copied my choice of beverage.

Time to kick back for a few hours and decide if I’m just tired enough to watch Will Ferrel in green tights, or if I’d rather watch the first season of Better off Ted over again. This weekend has been an experience to say the least, and I’ve enjoyed writing this as it helps me feel like someone else out there might be following along. Air travel is at once a very solitary experience, and one that gives you the chance to connect with people you might never otherwise know existed, with drastically different life stories than yours. I’ve enjoyed sharing this small one of mine, and have intentions of keeping it up in the future.

Thanks again for reading, and best wishes for wherever you might be on your journey.

.