Flight UA916: Aiports Part I

Come Fly With Me: In the glory days of air travel when it was almost a privilege to fly, people use to wear proper clothes and make an effort. Your ticket included drinks, food, and of course your checked luggage. No one was stripped searched or badgered by impertinent morons who failed the "rent-a-cop exam" and definitely no one was audacious enough to ask you to remove your shoes...

I guess I now feel like an old man moaning about how terrible times are and how nice it was...but to be honest, i was not born in the glory days of travel...my first flight was in the late 70's and I was very little. It was from New Orleans to Charlotte, North Carolina. Since that first time, I only flew a handful of times more as a teenager: Washington DC, Denver, and the Bahamas. It wasn't until I packed my bags and moved to Europe in the early 90's did I discover what air travel was. I guess you can say it was part of me growing up.

But today to fly means rolling out of bed, maybe brushing your teeth, throwing whatever you want into any type of bin bag and dragging yourself on to the plane with your personal home pillow. Welcome to the proletarian nation!

If i had my way maybe for only a day, then i would like to see airlines flying for purpose not profit. If you're trip is pleasure/holiday/stag or hen do/accompanying small children with healthy lungs/smelly students returning home from school/or just a shy and quiet person defecting to another country...then you have the good fortune to travel with airline A. If you are traveling for business please make your way to the lounge and enjoy your flight with airline B.

So back to the present and flying in today's Greyhound's of the sky. The rules that i follow to make air travel as painless as possible:
1. Travel light. Pack VERY light...why bring 4 shirts when you only need 2 (in these times you can have clothes laundered). I have gone almost 12 days business travel with a carry-on bag and laptop bag. My packing essentials for a 3-4 day business trip(in a carry-on of course): 2-3 dress shirts, 2 ties, 1 suit, 1 blazer(worn either on the plane or packed if traveling in the suit), gym clothes, toiletries, light packable raincoat, scarf, thin v-neck sweater and work accessories(phone and laptop charger).

2. I avoid budget airlines as much as possible...these days the big airlines are almost the same costs as these pay for everything including using the loo airlines ...and you have more flight time options as well.

3. Stay in 3-5* hotels. I enjoy quaint boutique style hotels, but for business travel, i prefer certain standards (gym, double bed, wifi, bar area). Plus this tends to eliminate most of the student or families with pets and infants demographic. I also tend to stay in either centrally located hotels or convenient to airport routes. Depending on my knowledge of the city, i prefer the less touristy hotel areas for more stylish neighborhoods. Again, one point to note, in Europe, avoid staying in hotels directly opposite to the train stations...as they tend to be frequented by undesirable sorts and transient rift raft.

4. At the airports - i tend to give myself enough time to check-in and get through security...with frequent business travel you can build enough status to use the lounge facility, which i highly recommend. You get time to get a free coffee, sometimes breakfast...as well as free wifi for roaming on phone or to check emails. By arriving early and using the lounge, you can actually save a bit of cash on overpriced processed airport food.

5. Going through security - i know this sounds a bit anal, but it baffles me the amount of people who do not know the drill by now? I cannot fathom why they are not prepared to remove shoes, belts, and toiletries when going through scanners. I am even more so surprised bu business travellers who do not realize they must take out their laptops/ipads etc...? Maybe it is the airports fault for not stressing this 57 times as you walk up to go through?  

Sartorial Tip - when traveling in North America, i recommend a loafer style shoe for easy access, but not the typical Jambo or Rockport flipper. A sleek and thin leather or rubber soul. If you are traveling in Europe you have more flexibility with lace up shoes. But unless you are flying to Spain, no sweat pants or shorts.

In these troubling times of international terror...the safety of air travel is additionally threatened by the demand for leisure and convenience and with the up rise of the pajama-jeans...the war on terror has been won by the traveling depraved. So long Joe DiMaggio...start spreading the news...i am leaving on a jet plane...don't know when things will be sane again.
 

Used To Be a Sweet Boy (perfect playlist no.2)

the haze of the holiday is slowly wearing off as is my tan, but i am finally back home, safe in my english flat, safe and comfortable from all that is...i am listening to one of my old playlist of songs that are part of my "lifeline"(wos)...i have some iconic songs like "a day in the life", "real love", "you can't put your arms around a memory", "the only living boy in new york", "my way by sinatra", "big louise", "on days like these", "life on mars", "all in love is fair", and "now my heart is full", plus some that i feel are pure genius like "the two of us" by suede which is such a passionately melancholic song (listen until the end and here the lines "alone but not lonely" - simply brilliant), nico "afraid", "exit music"(keep breathing), and the great elvis cover "in the early morning rain and i just can't help believin"

so i tried to do a blog on creating the perfect playlists...well now the proof is in actually listening to the songs you choose which i wonder if many people ever do? These are songs that have impacted my life in times of challenge and triumph...they have been extremely reminiscent as i get older and maybe helpful as my plight has lightened and they are there for me to not forget where i come from or what i have experienced...they are like the intro time capsule to my memories and the pursuit of my dreams...forever more.

The good news is that most songs will not be the same each repeat listen, but gratefully they get to sometimes bring me back to some nostalgic memories...occasionally to a better time or place or at least a more glacier reflection.

So...how does one preserve the past and filter the future? I think that music is the remedy to actually bequeath such exorcisms...and pop song hits will come and go...but songs like "God only knows", "i want a little sugar in my bowl", "Who knows where the time goes", "the bridge", "broken stones" and "forgiven" remind me of who i was and where i cam from, and who i am now...

So lost & alone - trying to get home
the lone reindeer

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Location:London

How to make Lemonade: Holiday in the Sun part 2

i have been searching the web looking for anecdotes to this prison...again so many people would be looking at me as a complete tit!

what did i want:
sun (check)
beach (check)
pool (ish)
relaxing (?)
good food (no)

be careful when you make wishes because i think that you need to be VERY specific...not just ANY sun...i want FRENCH sun or MALDIVES...not just any beach...i want a private beach with waiter service and extra large loungers...and a pool with no children crying and no people that put their towel out the night before...so i want a 5star holiday, but for a 3 star price...

don't we all, you may think. and you may say, "stop being a tight git and pay for the luxury if that is what you crave"...i know and you are right...so many people in these financially hard times do not have the option of a holiday let alone complain about it...more on complaining later...

so i have decided to let the disappointment go, release the 3 star displeasure and just squeeze lemons until i can make something to drink...i am not a sour person...i am thankful for each day and everything that i have...so yes my standards may be slightly close to 4.2 star...but that does not mean...i am better than clean solid good 2 star. i would like to think that i am able to mix with all stars as long as they are genuine in their ranking...spain is spain and has a proud and long history as a solid 3 star country...some people love tapas and the long siestas every day...i am embracing the sun, reading: already on my second book and it is only day 5...creating this holiday blog (more to winge than share anything useful about spain to any brave holiday soldiers) and to try top just relax and get back to BASICS!!! So stiff upper lip -mad dogs and englishmen...carry on regardless!
seasick and sunburned but drinking lemonade...s



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Location:Spain

Holiday in the Sun

What was the film called, "lonely is the long distance runner" or something to that effect...
i tend to get myself into little dribbles of discomfort sometimes and going on holiday and having my place in the sun can be a constant struggle...
first off - i prefer France, Cote d'azur to be more precise, when requiring sun, sea, loungers, sand, and screaming kids then i at least want a decent wine on offer...so to my better judgement and dismay, i find myself in a "basic" holiday in espana...
i like spanish people and actually enjoy barcelona as a business city...but to spend more than 4-5 (max) working days is one thing...sun holiday is holi-HELL. Just to be clear and completely BLUNT, spain is BASIC...water pressure, internet speed, options for food, depending on where you go, loads of Brits and Dutch. Again, nothing against them...when you have a few kids and want summer break for the family then spain is a good option...but i am without child, so holiday for 2 is all i require(plus my executive rider requirements)...but i do feel that in Spain they feel that their food is the best and that everyone eats bloody pork...what gives? tapas, tapas and more tapas? it is not that i do not like some tapas in small doses and think that you can incorporate the concept of small plates to other cuisines but it is hard to eat 24/7. And i guess i am not a fan of the siesta concept either...i know what you are thinking, americans work 16hrs a day, not the european way...well i am sure spanish people are hard working but i find this concept difficult in coastal tourists towns....not everyone on holiday is spanish or prefers to be on siesta at the same time...so this causes challenges. Again, you can say that i should not go to bloody spain if i do not adhere to they're ways of doing things...fare point...but from a touristic stand point and if your country is in deep debt, you should throw a parade for everyone who books a ticket here!

back to this situation...so i booked an apartment in spain from a reasonable source and had hoped for the best...well the place was a dump, pool is for out of school local delinquents, no sun lounger or table for afternoon rose, and no waiter to bring me a sandwich...
the apt has one a/c unit in the living space, nothing in the sauna, sorry bedroom and finally it is in the middle of nowhere...again could be my problem? but on top of my complaints...it has no hot water for shower...and that is not my problem but a BASIC need. C'mon Spain where is my hot water???
que lastima...adios zorro!
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Location:some well in spain

The Perfect Playlist: part I

These days my life revolves around music and apple is my music source. I have songs on my main music pod which is a large iPod - this holds most of my music though it is bursting from the capacity. I also have the iPad and iPhone which of course I have to have some of my new or necessity music on it. And then my running small iPod has about 60 songs and 1gb to keep me motivated while I sweat and dread every step I take.
With the numerous devices comes the magical "playlist" - one of the greatest inventions and successes that apple has marketed. I grew up with vinyl barely remembering the 8-track (I am not that old), but with vinyl came the ultimate cassette playlist - how many hours after school did I work on my tape that I would bring out on a Friday or Saturday so that I could get airtime and proudly boast any new albums I bought that week etc...and similar to the cassette playlist, the mp3 playlist is a lot more easy to manage. I think I have about 30 on my main iPod, everything from songs to sleep, lounge or dinner music, classic 2am piss up songs, new albums that have a similar sort of jangly pop middle class groove to them to listen to during my working days...as well as my must have life changing songs from when music stole my life. The beauty of the electronic playlist is that you are not restricted to 45min per side or 90min total. Again, some die hard vinyl junkies will contest that with the restrictions and limitations, one made stricter judgements on what would be added...I could also romance this assessment.
I do feel that with the iPod playlist, I am more brutal with what I want to hear, my attention span is shorter and I can spend more time pressing the arrow rather than listening to a song in its entirety? Maybe I am on the cusp of the ADD(attention deficit disorder) generation?
So yes, I love having all my music in one box, happily going from Nico to Bombay Bicycle Club and all the inbetweens...but some how the romance of sitting still purposely waiting for the next crisp sound of vinyl starting the next song that I purposefully chose to follow has been forever retired in my music museum...

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Location:London,United Kingdom

A Mode of Living - History part I

Word of the day - "Pensive": I was born in new orleans and moved to london when i was 22 years old (more on that later). I think that travel has always been a substitute for my formal education and I have always had a mad desire to see how this world ticks. Saying that, music has always been my staff to guide me. It is my lifeline and through music it has opened my eyes to love, art, film, photography, fashion and style. I remember a quote saying without art we merely exists? One could question is it love or art that makes us live? I am too naive to answer that, but i try to incorporate both into my daily existence.

Growing up in a city like New Orleans (at it's lowest about 400k and it's best 700k). It is a "big" small city. It is international but very much a southern US city. I think the international charm and french and spanish influence sets it apart from the likes of Mobile and Gulfport. It might be the equivalent to Monaco but on the "redneck riviera".

I think that life, art and travel tend to mould people into who they are and what they become and my work experience has guided my style decisions. For those not priveledged to grow up with servants or a Mayfair/Park Place/Bel Air post code then fine style comes through experience and trial and error...i have worked in high end restaurants, learned to make fancy cocktails and pair wines with certain dishes. I appreciate special 1er wines from certain regions and how many buttons to button on my suit jackets. As one gets older, i think you can bend these basic rules and forge them into your own style and chararcter...

For instance: i prefer red wine with most meals unless i am in the middle of summer and have a very good Montrachet slightly chilled. I eat fish and shell fish with red wine and do not feel guilty. I prefer brown shoes with my suits, rather than black, which i feel is severe and should be kept for weddings and funerals. Maybe that is an italian philosophy? In the UK and the Nordic countries, I have noticed that more men wear black shoes with their business attire...? I know the old rule: "black in the city and brown in the country", but i feel that black shoes leave no imagination, even if they are finely crafted, as they're are some lovely black shoes available today, but for me it feels more like a chore or uniform. Maybe i feel it lacks individuality and expression? When i was in my 20's, i would almost always wear black shoes with EVERYTHING. How one changes...? Again, those who only drink white wine with fish and wear black shoes with business suits are not wrong, but maybe slightly confined to "the rules".

From Millwall with luv.