On approach....

Getting ready to start the final weekend of mileage running for the year.  This is the one that separates the women from the girls, the men from the boys, and the small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri ….from the people who won’t get that reference.

What? Didn’t anyone else know it’s good luck to start a trip with a Douglas Adams quote?   Get it?  Travelling the Universe..... Uh, anyone?

Okay, nevermind.  This weekend’s itinerary is over 22 hours of flight time- LAX-BOS-LAX-BOS-LAX, interrupted by one night in Boston to recharge, and go out to a proper South End brunch.  This weekend should also gain me my last reservation on OpenTable to make VIP status, which means very little, and my 25th qualifying check-in with Starwood Hotels to make Platinum status, which means quite a bit.  One stone...whole lotta birds in the next 48 hours.  Game face.

Yes, this means I’ve got an overnight flight followed by two more transcontinental segments ahead of me.  Why would anyone do that to themselves?  Well, see the rest of these entries for the reason.  I’m becoming convinced that it’s not just the perks, or the value I’ve painstakingly calculated per dollar spent.  It’s also about an almost compulsive instinct to reach goals.  Isn’t that why anyone does anything when it comes down to it?  

Still, there are those moments when you wake up on short final after passing out on your 6am flight face-down on your tray table in the tenth row of economy, with half the text of an Economist editorial on the social impacts of the rising Mongolian mining industry, which you knew going in you weren’t going to get through, temporarily tattooed to your cheek and think....was this really worth the miles?  

However, come December 31st at the end of the qualifying year....

The answer is

Always.

Yes.

T- 6 hrs to LAX to start the journey.  As they say on approach- Looking forward to seeing you on another American Airlines flight soon.

~CruisingAAltitude