“To travel is to take a journey into yourself.”
Such a busy morning it has been. Fern and her caterwauling woke me again, but I didn’t mind as much as it was after nine. I emptied cat boxes, fed the beasties then went downstairs. I made coffee, got and read the papers. Gracie was barking incessantly but I couldn’t figure out the reason. She came in when I called then I shut down the dog door for a bit. I looked at my e-mail and found out I needed to call the GOES site as it seems I have two accounts: one is the renewal I just did and a second account I must have started. Five times I tried to reach a human being but all circuits are busy. (The GOES program is for trusted travelers: I skip customs, stop at a kiosk, put my hand on the screen for fingerprint ID then get an entry pass. The last time I used it I beat the crew outside.) I am skeptical that all circuits are busy so I used the e-mail form for problems, but I don’t have much faith in that either.
The thought of flying always gave me a sense of awe when I was a kid. We’d go to Logan when we visited my grandparents so we could watch the planes take off and land. My uncle, only two years older than I, led the way. The Logan terminal back then was one long building shared by all the airlines. We used to walk through, and I’d take brochures of hotels, airlines and whatever else was offered. One time I made a scrapbook of my vacation, my imaginary vacation. I used pictures cut from the brochures and wrote a story to go along with each picture. I imagined the flight and wrote about the clouds below me and being so far above the ground. I described the airline dinner and the fun of eating on a plane. My hotel room was beautiful and overlooked the ocean. We ate dinner in ornate restaurants where the waiters wore white jackets and black cummerbunds. I found beautiful shells along the shore as souvenirs. I fell asleep happy and contended every night. It was the best vacation.
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This entry was posted on September 15, 2015 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: best trip ever, busy morning, dinner, flying, GOES problems, hotel room, Logan Airport, noisy cat, scrapbook, seashore, sense of awe
Both comments and pings are currently closed.8 Comments on ““To travel is to take a journey into yourself.””
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
September 15, 2015 at 1:55 pm
Too bad it never is fun to eat on an plane 🙂 So far I’ve never had anything that tasted even remotely good 🙂 Once I flew the luxury class (bought a ticket where I would get what ever seat was free and was lucky 🙂 ) on Air France and there wasn’t time enough to have any food they said but they were more than willing to get me drunk if I so had wanted 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve always liked to fly but ten to get air sickness. The last times I flew were better though so I could enjoy the entire flight. I like take off best afterbthat it tends to get a bit boring if the flight will take several hours.
Finally the rain has stopped to fall and the winds is calm too. I do like falling asleep to the sound of both rain and wind but it’s no fun driving around in it.
Have a great day!
Christer.
September 15, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Christer,
I flew first class to African, and the food was great. I even had choices for dinner. They had snacks and the drinks were all free. I loved it.
The flight to Africa is at night so I usually sleep part of the way. It is also at night on the way back. In first class my seat turned into a bed, and I slept 6 hours. I woke up as we were passing the Alps-beautiful! I think if I fly economy I’ll take something to make me sleep so the cramped seats don’t drive me crazy.
It is a beautiful day today: warm and sunny.
Have a great evening!
September 15, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Hi Kat,
Well now I see the relevance of The Madonna and Don Orione. 🙂
Logan was always multiple buildings to me. We didn’t go that often when I was young but later on my mother went to California every summer to visit her sisters. The Logan run became very familiar to me then and for many, many years after.
Piki Dog was restless last night mostly because the wind was blowing the curtain and it bothered him. He kept me awake until finally around 2AM I stuck him beside Rocky and practically pinned him between me and the wall. He fell asleep at last so I could too. Today they are both quiet.
I missed the language post but note that we have similar language issues. If I need the Spanish word for something, my brain hands me the first Not English word for it that it finds. Once that word is in my head it won’t unstick so I can try again.
Sunny, breezy and lovely here today.
Enjoy the day.
September 15, 2015 at 2:45 pm
Hi Caryn,
We passed there often as my grandparents lived in East Boston. We always checked to see if the Madonna had been placed on the pedestal. It was years before it was.
I was probably around 8 when we went to Logan the first time. My mother was horrified we had walked all that way by ourselves. I loved being at the airport. You could go on the roof then to watch the planes come and go. I could have stayed there for hours.
Gracie is finally feeling better today. She had a rough day and night. I have no idea what food or whatever she ate to cause the upset stomach. I do know my backyard, the wild dog yard,looks mowed.
Poor Piki Dog!
What a gorgeous day today! I hope you’re enjoying it!!
September 15, 2015 at 8:40 pm
When I was a teen living in NYC my friends and I would take the bus to JFK airport. Each terminal building was a work of art and architecture. The Pan Am World port looked like a flying saucer and the jets loaded under the roof’s overhang to keep the passengers dry. It was torn down last year. The TWA terminal looked like a bird in flight. If was saved from the wrecking ball and is being repurposed. The American Airlnes terminal had the largest stain glass window in the world which was distroyed last year when a new terminal was opened. Flying economy today is no longer romantic or fun and it’s become like riding on the Greyhound bus.
Global entry is a nice thing if you do a lot of international travel. Now U.S. Ports of entry have kiosks where you inset your passport, it takes your photo, prints a paper and you just have to hand the paper to an agent. I’m cheap and since my company won’t pay for Global Entry I just suffer with the other peons. BTW the last time I was upgraded to Business class they gave us a card that got us to the front of the passport control line at Heathrow Airport.
September 15, 2015 at 10:00 pm
Bob,
I remember seeing pictures of that Pan Am building. It should have been saved because of its amazing architecture. You’re right that flying has lost its allure. People used to dress to fly, and it was an adventure. Now it’s routine.
I have used Global Entry three times. If I pay with my expensive AE card, it is reimbursed. I also get to walk through without having shoes, laptops or liquids checked. It is pre-entry, another part of Global Entry. That is good for domestic flights as well.
It is only $100.00 and with the amount of traveling as you do, I’d think it worth it. Besides it is probably a deductible business expense.
September 15, 2015 at 11:02 pm
You are correct it’s probably worth the $100 for five years. BTW if do a lot traveling you get TSA pre check almost every time you print a boarding pass. Pre check only works here in the U.S.
The unfortunate part about the old Pan Am World Port was that the building was falling apart and it didn’t work well in today’s aviation security environment.
September 16, 2015 at 11:49 am
Bob,
At least you’d not have to do half of the pre-checks, the ones originating here if you signed up for the program. In some countries you can leave your shoes on and your computer in its bag.
Maybe they could have saved the building and repurposed it.