On counting on karma

It has been the longest travel day. And I’ve yet to reach my final destination.

I write this from Gate A29 at the Dallas – Ft. Worth Airport, enduring another minor, but nonetheless disheartening flight delay.

I am officially a spoiled business traveler. I have become so accustomed to direct, non-stop flights. I’ve been dreading the travel days of this work trip to Austin for a while now. I couldn’t stand the thought of a connection. But, it appears the only direct flights to Austin originate in Dallas, so there’s not much I can do about it.

Of course, what started the day on the completely wrong foot was my decision to take the SuperShuttle instead of drive. I had it in my head that the SuperShuttle would be cheaper, but apparently not from Alexandria to BWI. Round trip, with tip, will cost over $100. Daily parking? $8. Sure, there would be gas and mileage but still. Grr. And, of course, since it’s the Super Shuttle, they insist on picking you up roughly 2 hours before you could possibly need to be there. Yes, I get that it’s a shared van and you have to pick others up, but 11:15 to leave for a 3:15 flight? I don’t think so.

And, of course, I remembered my pick up time as 11-11:15. Turns out it was actually 11:15-11:30, which meant an 11:45 pick up. So while I sat outside my building for 45 minutes, I indulged in major OCD Blackberry organization. Awesome. I’m trying not to think about how many more games I could have played on the Wii in that time.

I was dropped off at the airport around 12:45, 2 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to take off. No worries, I thought, I’ll enjoy a long leisurely lunch. Except, well, there really wasn’t anywhere to take a long leisurely lunch. Instead, it was Potbelly for me after the 90 seconds it took me to get through security. Here’s a travel tip: leave early afternoon on Mondays to go anywhere.

The only crowded section in the Baltimore area was the space between Potbelly and Wendy’s. Let’s first applaud my successful navigation of my food options. Wendy’s looked REALLY good. Anyway, there was no where to sit so I was still forced to act as if I was rushing through my meal by trudging back to my gate and eating there. Grrr.. Then started the flight delays. 15 minutes. Then another 15. Then 5. We still got here on time but when I already had WAY too much time to kill in Terminal C, the minutes went on forever.

Once we finally boarded, I was ecstatic. I had spent 4 hours essentially going no where but still traveling. It was incredibly frustrating. As I made my way to my aisle seat on the two seater side of the plane, I was greeted by the hopeful eyes of a young boy, maybe around 11 years old. I put my purse down as I sought out a place to put my carry on bag… three rows behind my seat.

“Um, excuse me.”

I looked down at the boy who resembled a Make A Wish kid with his too small head covered by an oversized baseball hat and no particular haircut to speak of.

“Yeah?”

“Would you mind switching seats with my little brother so we can sit together?” He pointed to my left. There sandwiched between two grown men in the middle seat was an even tinier Make A Wish looking boy. Someone needs to call this mother and tell her to feed her kids.

The little brother smiled eagerly.

I took a deep breath. “Sure.”

“OH WOW! Thank you so much!” For such a young boy at least he realized the type of sacrifice to which I had agreed. If he didn’t, the conversations of the men around the seats would have tipped them off.

“Wow, I’m a nice guy and all but this is a three hour flight. Nice work, boys!”

Yes, I was the talk of rows 19-22.

As I took my seat, I noticed the gentleman to the left of me had a Muscle Fitness magazine and a tin of chewing tobacco. As I was reminded at the Maryland Renaissance Festival this weekend, it is amazing how truly undateable most people are.

Still, I’m proud of myself as the time flew while I did a bunch of work. We landed in Dallas and I somewhat successfully navigated the food court here, skipping McDonald’s and a failure bowl at KFC for Chinese food that will likely have me vomiting in the bathroom of my hotel room later tonight. That is, if I ever make it to Austin.

So now I sit in A29, looking around me and wondering how many of these people are bound for my same conference, always marketed as “the largest gathering of college admissions and high school counseling professionals in the country!” (Hell, I don’t even care, why should you?) To my right is an iPod vending machine and directly in front of me a beautifully lit Dunkin Donuts teases me. There’s nothing worse than having one available when it’s just not coffee or breakfast sandwich time.

The battery on my laptop is failing.. See you in Austin!

Ok, I'm here! And, as I was promised, Austin is officially weird. But I think we're going to get along just fine.

First off, my cabbie. A female. We hit it off grandly and I didn't even find myself remotely upset when she dropped me off at the wrong hotel. At least I figured out what she was doing before I got out of the car. I also had this bizarre sense she was going to take me to the wrong place. Anyway, we had a lovely chat, no harm done, and I'm pretty sure I tipped her extra. Why? Cuz I'm exhausted and it made sense at the time.

Upon check-in I was greeted warmly and without any level of stuffiness. It was down to earth, what can we do for ya type charm. It was exactly what I needed. Upon realizing there were no king rooms left, and upon seeing they are stuck with me as a guest for 7 nights, the fabulous Katie hooked me up with a room with two double beds, sure, but one that also looks straight at the capitol building. It's pretty spectacular all lit up. She also gave me tons of maps, coupons and tips to give me plenty of material for my time here. Very cool.

From what I could see of the warehouse district on the way in, I can already tell why it's so popular with the younger crowd. The place is crawling with restaurants and bars and clubs, none of which look like the type of place where flip flops or a budget minded person would be turned away, but all with plenty of charm. I hope to be able to explore!

I'm also just grateful to have arrived one piece, for what should be a good week professionally and personally, that is, if my Make A Wish karma kicks in.