Day .5

I started the afternoon with an economy-seat reservation to Barcelona via Frankfort. But now I’m writing this from a first-class seat in a plane to Munich. I have a better connection, more leg room than I need, a wide, reclining, padded seat with leg rests, upgraded meals and wine, and a $500 credit from United for my trouble.

I could go into all the details of the adventure that got me here, but it’s even boring to me at this point so I won’t bother. It included being added and dropped from two flights several times to the point that United didn’t believe I existed even when I was standing at the entrance to the plane with a United Airlines boarding pass in my hand. 

Once I got on the plane, there was a woman in my seat who said she “couldn’t locate” her boarding pass. Turned out that she had purchased a first-class seat but wasn’t satisfied with it, so decided to help herself to a seat more to her liking. My seat in economy. So I got hers. Go figure.

My feet are so far away in this picture that you can't even see where they end, and there are two empty wine glasses on the floor. I feel like the guy on the screen smoking a cigar.

I am trying to look like I belong here; had I known I would end up here I certainly would have put on a clean T shirt. Nonetheless, the woman next to me is enjoying showing me what all the buttons and levers do. She clearly has done this before.

Five days ago, I had no plans for this trip other than a plane ticket and a place to stay, mostly because I wasn’t sure I was really going to go. Then I decided I really was going to go and needed something to do. Now I have quite a lot going on:

- Wednesday, kayaking in the Mediterranean
- Thursday, tickets to the Madrid Open tennis tournament
- Saturday/Sunday, biking in Menorca (an island that is close to, but is not, Mallorca - see below)

Given all the plans I have, I will need all the extra energy I get from my extra legroom and upgraded food and wine. Things apparently actually do happen for a reason.

Back in the Saddle - 2022

As I started writing about this latest trip to Spain I tried a few clever ideas, but they didn’t stick. Instead, I have this.

My last trip out here was two and a half years ago. Two and a half years isn’t that long. It’s not enough time to establish an asparagus patch, potty train many babies or get a BA degree. And when you’re in your 60’s, it’s the blink of an eye.

I went to Spain four years in a row. Each year my focus was on packing my personal and work laptops and making sure my bike rides were organized and ready to go. This time, after a two and a half year hiatus, my focus is on which masks to take, how many COVID self-tests to pack, how best to squeeze my Paxlovid into my suitcase and where to carry my vaccine card. Three out of those four things hadn’t even been invented when I last travelled here. 

If I test positive for COVID one day before my flight back, I won’t be able to come home. I only have one laptop because I’ve given up almost all of my work. Martha is retiring in eight weeks. I am working practically full time as the board chair of a non-profit. We’re down one dog and up a different dog. I’m on Medicare and eyeing Social Security.  I have to change planes in Germany, which is a two-hour flight from an active war zone.

So yeah, it’s only been two and a half years since my last trip, but damn. Who could possibly have predicted anything remotely like this?

Thanks for listening. Now that I’ve got that out of my system, on with the trip.