I mentioned that I was booked on the ROC flight (gate agent’s comment… “Oh, good luck. The 5PM was cancelled and if that gets any more delayed it won’t make it in before ROC closes.”) and asked about the standby options. She told me there were only two seats available and that there were already 9 people on the wait list, but I was free to hang out. I lurked at the counter for  ~30 minutes and was rewarded when, about 10 minutes before the flight was scheduled to to go she scribbled on my boarding pass. Yes! It was very good that I made that flight because the ROC flight didn’t go. I’m glad I made graduation and today’s return (SYR->EWR) was uneventful save for traffic on the Jersey Turnpike as I drove home.

I hope this summer’s flights are more like today’s than Fridays.

exploded (last 5 under non-fiction)! I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s short chapters are the perfect length for reading at the gym. He’s got some oddball ideas about how to get a free second dessert in Paris, but he’s also got some good ones. I completely agree that a few phrases can go a long way when traveling overseas. I know I’m going to sound like Tarzan in Czech since I remember so little, but I can’t imagine not making the effort. I found a copy of Teach Yourself Czech (minus the CDs) and am seeing what comes back, but I really need to find a dictionary.

Back on the book, so far it’s not blatantly obvious that the book is 25 years old. If it’s true what they say about common sense not going out of style , I guess the same could apply to off beat sense. More when I’ve finished.

As far as travelling goes, I want to know where manners have gone. Out the window, I think. 28 pages of people showing an utter lack of respect for one another. It’s sad, but I’d hope that people of any size have more respect for one another in face to face situations rather then on anonymous message boards. Personally, I think the fact that 40% of respondents “HATE” sitting next to people due to their size is pretty sad.

I’ve started to look at flights for Prague and that’s being made much easier with Booking Buddy. How is it that I didn’t know about this site before? I’m not flying directly to Prague (or even via Amsterdam) because it’s insane. Don’t know when that changed. I’m tossing up flying to and from London, Madrid or Dublin and flying to Prague on easyJet. I did it before when I went from Prague to Madrid and it was pretty easy. It’s just not worth wasting the miles for a flight that can be done quite easily. And then I really need to book this. I think I’m going to be in the air more than on the ground this summer. Of course that’s not a *bad* thing

Oh and this was a link I meant to mention earlier before I got sidetracked on the 10 books… 5 Reasons the Lost Girls Can Afford to Travel the World I think it’s one of those things you only understand intuitively if you’ve done it. To the rest, travel seems prohibitively expensive. For short term trips, that can be true. You’re in such a rush to get from A to B in a limited time that it’s not always possible to price things out. I know I ran into this in Japan and have heard other stories. On the other hand, my entire trip from 27 November 2004 – 5 November 2005 cost less than half of what I made annually while living here. Some of that went on Visa (almost paid off, yay!), some was savings earmarked for this trip and some came from earnings, but either way it was far cheaper than I’d be living at home. Some aspects that made it cheaper:

• spent time staying with friends, family of friends or friends of friends where costs ranged from $0 to paying for food to $50 per week
• I travelled most of the country by bus with a great deal on a bus pass which also offered some free nights at YHA hostels
• I eat cheapy and don’t spend a lot on entertainment

I definitely didn’t do a bare bones budget trip-I’m too much of a bookworm and I need creature comforts. There were also expenses like car hire for the trip south of Perth, the trip to the Bungle Bungles and other day trips to the Reef, etc. All well worth it and, as I rationalized it, cheaper than flying back to NY and then trying these places. I knew I’d go back to Australia but that this trip was likely my only opportunity to see the NT and WA. So worth it. Every penny.

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘Woo-hoo what a
ride!’”

From this book, which I could not agree with more.