Now, my dear old pal, Ian, and I are off to Milano Market, to walk the High Line, and then off to cause some trouble in SoHo, and perhaps take a ride on the Staten Island ferry (which, I have never done).

Tonight, it’s off to Jersey City for Indian food with old friends from the postpac premed program, then, some gallivanting.

More soon! It’s good to be back . . . though it sounds a bit prosaic, it’s somewhat surreal.

I really appreciate the outpouring of e-mails, letters, Twitter messages, and skywriting I have received, demonstrating acute concern for my whereabouts.

Na, I jest. I doubt anyone missed much scintillating news on this blog on the airline industry, considering there already exists a ton of blogging folks that have sit and hit the refresh button on the FlyerTalk forums all day, and report each iota of news (and thank goodness we do – I really wouldn’t want to). I’ve just been busy studying for July 8′s MCAT and dealing with summer classes in my final semester of Postbac before applying to med school.

But, I did miss blogging.

It’s been a helluva stressful few last weeks with test prep and classes. I’ve often had blog topics bubble through my brain (at least I hope they’re blog topics and not fatal oxygen bubbles) and inklings of finishing trip reports (oops!) and reporting on new, upcoming trips, but I’ve just felt so damn exhausted from the days that I haven’t had the wherewithal to write. Tonight, though, I took the night off from MCAT studying, had a few beers, some sushi, and am watching the Giants lose to the Pirates MLB.tv. In the unprecedented calm of this evening, I decided to get back to writing.

As well, in the hotbed of stress and humidity that has been New York City in the nascent stages of the summer, I’ve decided I need to escape for a weekend, and booked a quasi/pseudo mileage run to Atlanta.

Now, the rote number-crunching types who turn to Excel spreadsheets and Jim Cramer to tell them what’s right and what’s wrong in life would certainly expectorate in disbelief and fright given the somewhat suspect economics of the trip compared with paltry amount of miles earned on the tame La Guardia – Dulles – Atlanta run tomorrow afternoon, but goodness gracious, I was armed with a United voucher, a sense of wanderlust, and the mentality that gad-dang it, I just wanted to go somewhere, and to get out for a bit.

And, Atlanta seemed worthy, just for a bit of escape, with the potential for a bit of flying fun. Quick connections, thunderstorms in the forecast, and a cheap room at the Hampton Inn near Hartsfield Airport all seemed like a perfect getaway. Sure, people look for perhaps a bit more, uh, substance in standard vacation, but, hey – I ain’t your standard traveler. I’m afflicted with worse wanderlust than most, and sometimes, the sheer anthropological and sociological value of picking a random spot for an day or so engenders an enormous sense of intrigue, and a feverish hand hovering over the “purchase itinerary” button on United.com. Sometimes, it’s not about the wrought economics of mileage return, and satisfying a true love of travel, and using my unusual method of destressing – getting on an airplane.

I’ve never been to Atlanta, either. I feel that upon arrival, I should drink a Coke (hey – think quaffing an Orangina in France), hit a home run at Turner Field, and make an album with Andre 3000. In all seriousness, I’m simply going to enjoy a bit of flying, a night at a hotel, and just a bit of relaxation, after taking a practice MCAT tomorrow morning. I’m also pleased to report that my hotel features a Waffle House in close proximity. Having traveled through the south before, I’ve seen a good number of Waffle Houses, with their iconic block lettering on the incandescent yellow signs,  but have never have had the pleasure of enjoying an aorta-clogging foray where food is stylized with the adjectives “smothered” or “covered.” At least it’s verrrry southern – more southern than the other option, Olive Garden, where I might’ve thought it was funny to go four years ago with my college roommates, where we’d titter at people having prom dinners and bring in bottles of two-dollar Charles Shaw and think we were truly hilarious when we’d ask the server if there existed a corkage fee. Yeah, we were truly college idiots.

Anyway, I am off to bed. Have to wake up early for that practice MCAT, and to edit a few of my Andre 3000 collaborations. That Coke will certainly taste good tomorrow with 3,000 kilajoules worth of smothered hash browns.

Then, this morning in San Francisco, rain began to fall. After lunch with an old friend from high school, with the rain still pattering the ground, I examined the FAA’s flight delay page, and noted with muted glee that both San Francisco and Chicago are experiencing weather-related flight delays. In checking the weather, it looks as if the rain will continue to fall in San Francisco, through tonight, and through the time of my midnight redeye departure.

Obviously, a bit of rain isn’t enough to really throw the departures of modern jetliners out of series for more than a few hours, but in thinking ahead of all the possible scenarios that may suddenly illuminate the promise of a night and horrendously early morning of flying, turning travel into a potential Xanadu for a frequent flyer mile junkie, hoping to score a few extra miles or vouchers to augment his stash. The weather in San Francisco could cancel inbound and outbound flights, leaving passengers for Chicago scrambling for alternate routings on the airways. The spillover of passengers could force an oversell and overcrowding situation on the late-night San Francisco flights. Maybe and inbound airplane won’t arrive because of a delay or cancellation in another city. Perhaps the expected thunderstorms in Chicago this evening will cause a delay in San Francisco. And, of course, maybe so many passengers will misconnect, not make the flight, that there won’t exist any issue at all, and the airplane will push from the gate in the rain San Francisco night, as patchy and as empty as that moth-sweater.

It’s all the jockeying and positioning of the fray of the butterfly-flaps-its-wings in South-America-and-causes-a-757-delay-in-Denver-to-cancel-another-outbound-flight-in-San-Francisco kind of chaos theory.

Perhaps my mind is too locked into rote A-B-C-D mental partitioning of a weekend studying inorganic chemistry for the MCAT, but I’m looking at the situation like a chemical reaction. For a chemical reaction to occur, a series of random, uncontrolled, and difficult-to-discern variables need to align, and if those variables happen to align and produce a reasonable outcome, only a small percentage of a molecules in a sample, anyway, possess the necessary kinetic energy to overcome kinetic boundaries, and proceed with the reaction. I’m looking at the maelstrom of flight scheduling and weather variables as the kind of factors that may just align for a mileage junkie’s benefit, just a few, small, pieces in the larger reaction flask of the nation’s airways and airplanes.

A catalyst of weather in Chicago and weather in San Francisco certainly can’t hurt to accelerate this reaction to completion.

The rain still hits my window with meteorological abandon. I dream of scenario of favorable disruption, an apogee of the flying chaos, a mixture of random events in the distribution that adds a little piquancy to a Chicago redeye, a bit hopeful, and a bit humble, that knowing this fun of flying chaos is bigger than I am, and most likely, I’ll be pushing, on time, to Chicago very early in the new day.

Hey, with a Y-fare, I should find myself on the automatic complimentary upgrade list, or, at the top of the upgrade list, ahead of many other passengers on lower fare buckets, if I’m not able to immediately confirm upgrade space.

Then, why, will the United website refuse to allow me to sponsor my upgrade with a regional upgrade (CR-1), and why does that kindly reservations agent laugh in my face when I try to call to apply the upgrade?

Oh, that’s right. I’m on an economy class award ticket, in a middle seat, somewhere in the aft section of the airplane. United does not permit anyone, elite status or not, except for Global Services members, to upgrade award tickets.

Normally, though, award economy award tickets book into XY or NY. My return reservation stigmatizes me with a very explicit “NY” fare class. But, for some reason, my flight tonight shows as a Y-fare. The website, though, and the reservation system computers, are still perfectly capable at stopping me from upgrading, correctly citing the rules of upgrading award tickets. But, to me, the glitch is intriguing, whether the fault of United’s questionable IT ability, or some fancy-pants and new way of putting me into a Y-fare bucket of which I have no idea (the former is, obviously, much more probable).

Hey, but why not – I’ll try again at the check-in desk, and behind security to apply the upgrade. Perhaps, though, luck will be on my side once again. Remember, the only time I’ve ever had a true operational upgrade, from biz class to first class, was on a p.s. award ticket.

Remember – I really couldn’t care less about upgrading any standard United flights, but I really do like upgrading p.s. flights, and being able to zonk out in a comfy chair with a media player, or, in the case of tonight’s flight, zonk out in a comfy chair, with the acids and bases chapter of my MCAT book.

As well, for someone who likes flights when weather, UFOs, giant attacks, and oversold flights cause the norm to run a bit haywire, I can’t quite tell if the flight is full, and will present any bump/VDB opportunities. A few days ago, United would still sell me a ticket for the flight, but when I tried to select a seat on the dummy booking, the website launched into panic mode, and began blaring that there were no seats available. The seat maps showed full, as well, even as upgraders had begun to funnel up to the nicer seats in the previous days.

Now, though, the flight has gone to gate control, two seats showed blue on the United seatmap, through Seatcounter.com. Seatcounter shows a few Y-fares (just like mine!) available for purchase, and a smattering of higher-fare economy seats available for purchase. But, sadly, I just don’t buy what Seatcounter says. I see Seatcounter like a cheating, but now repenetant girlfriend – I want to trust them so, so badly – I really do. I want to believe they’re good, true, open, and showing me the correct information, but somehow, I never believe, because, well, it never comes true. Seatcounter has never, ever, it seems, showed me accurate information (and, yes, I swear I wasn’t so dumb that I wasn’t looking at the correct flight, day, or even airline). Even for a website with such ambiguous definitions of “Morning,” “Late Afternoon” and “Night,” I just don’t think they exist with much veracity.

Mostly, too, I don’t really think there’s anyway to correctly ascertain the correct number of open seats on a United airplane – whether from the phone, website, or from Seatcounter. Seemingly plumped with information, I’ve always arrived to a much different scene at the gate.

With my not-so-hot bump luck, I usually arrive at the gate, feverish, knowing the potential bump opportunity, only to have my boarding pass scanned, take my assign seat, and push off from the gate, without any VDB fun.

Regardless, I’m heading home tonight, for a quick weekend to see family and friends. Maybe I’ll arrive to a quite airport, and maybe I’ll arrive to vouchers and rebooking onto an alternate routing. The fun, and the vagaries of flying.

Hey, studying acids and bases will still blow, whether in Biz or Economy. In a past few days of unanswered question concerning this United flight, is the only one of which I know the answer for sure.

Take the last trip report, for my trip to Iraq and Macedonia, for instance. Yeah, so, uh, it’s been a little delayed, because of life, and school (man, this applying to med school takes time! Who knew?) and truthfully, as sad as this fact may sound, I really like to sit down for a while and get into the writing, and try to craft something pithy and entertaining, with some actual value in readership, that illicit laughter, brain activity, and perhaps some reflection. I’m sorry – I really can’t sit down and cobble together the mass-produced discount-store-brand trip reports, that frankly, reflect a dearth of thought and little creativity, with clipped and bumbling passive-voice sentences such as, “Newspapers were offered” or, “Next, the breakfast was served.” This type of rote and soulless reporting makes it sounds as if one is simply recounting the facts of a trip report for a panel of judges in moot court.

It’s extraordinary. I’m incredulous how personally people take the lethargy with which I have crafted the Iraq report, as if the slow pace is some sort of glaring deficit of character, and the fact that they recognize this slow pace somehow imbues them with moral superiority. Seriously – some people reallllllllllllly need to calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. Hey – here’s something intriguing – did you hear the  sun exploded because someone didn’t finish their trip report? No, it didn’t, because it’s a fucking trip report!

So, uh, yeah – that’s the reason why putting out a trip report takes a while – when there is an investment in quality, and a high investment in school. But, still, people seem very insulted when I do not add to the trip report, and even, when I do. It’s not possible to win. Frankly, I don’t like how long the Iraq report has taken, and I don’t like that I have made so many apologies and excuses, and don’t like that I have be somewhat defensive. But, call me a weak human being, sometimes this whole getting into an accredited four-year United States medical school that’s not operated out of a Dunedin, Florida strip mall takes precedence over sitting and blogging. And, yeah, sometimes, I look up, and realize because school has been a priority, that it’s really been a while since I have blogged.

It’s funny – people love to sit around and wait for free content, enjoy it when it arrives, silently, and grouse and whine when it ceases for a bit. It’s like baseball umpiring – you only really hear from the crowd when you commit some egregious offense (yup, and as always, the people in the stands can see much better than the ump on the field). Sure, I could understand one’s frustration, if one is, uh, paying for a service – after all, a power company wouldn’t really work too well if it decided to take time off to work on their employees’ backhand or biathalon training, but, well, as surprising as it may be, I’m not really being paid to blog. I don’t care about making money, or being paid to blog. Actually, I really wish there were no advertisements or Google AdWord crud on these pages. I started this blog to remain connected to my English major educational background, enjoy the process of reading, writing, observing the travel industry, and really, having some critical thinking about travel, miles, and points. As much as I love traveling, frequent flyer miles, airplanes, and airports, it ain’t really going to be a living for me. Most importantly, I love writing. I love honing a difficult craft. A blog, for me, is not about spitting out reams of content for a mass audience – it’s about creating a wonderful finished project for a mass audience. The blog is more to celebrate the fun and art of travel, and critique the industry. I’m not really going to waver from that aim in exchange for sacrificing a particular brand of quality that satisfies me, as the writer. You know what’s fun about living in our society? If this blog doesn’t post to your rigorous free-content schedules, gee, don’t read it! You really don’t have to be here. I remain committed to finishing the Iraq report, and hopefully, making it rich and funny, but, yeah, it’s going to take a bit of time.

For the people who whine, bellyache, and irately type messages from the comfort of their living rooms, I’m not really going to apologize for prioritizing school, sometimes to an enormous degree. It’s cliche, but put your money where your mouth is, and stop reading. Funny, though, the reader who mouths off from the protection of his computer screen, always comes back to read more, and funnily, just can’t seem to leave, even with his very, very important frustrations. It’s happened before – the reader who blusters and bloviates in an e-mail or via the comments that he’s removing this pathetic blog from his blog reader or RSS feed, and then comes back to comment a few weeks later. There must be some quality here, if that reader keeps coming back.

If it really bothers you that much, I offer some very sage advice:  If the trip report schedule of a blog with miniscule readership really irks you and agitates you that much, seriously – just remove this blog from you life. It’s really not worth your hypertension.

And, to all those that have been understanding and supportive, funny, cheeky, and full of good-natured ribbing about the trip report, many thanks. Thanks for your understanding, and thanks for your readership. Thanks for understanding that life happens.

Anyway, with all of that waxing philosophically, I did just return from a damn cool trip to Istanbul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, and Munich. As with someone who loves to write, I’m really itching to write the next trip report, and really, really do want to get started on the writing of the report while the events and details are still prominent in my mind.

But – to ensure that things actually get going (yeah, I’m not so self-righteous that I’m just never going to finish), I’m only going to start posting segments after I’ve completed most of them. I’m going to try hard to write one a day, or every other day, and then post one a day. It’s guaranteed content! Even the most rote thinker can appreciate that approach. I’m looking to begin posting the report in a week, to a couple o’ weeks, as I start creating each segment, and have each on hand, for a guaranteed post.

Makes sense to me, and guarantees content for the reader. Hey – I’m all about self improvement, here.

In the new report, we’ll have some kick-ass segments. To whet your appetite, plane and hotel nerds, look for (besides full reports of the days in each city):

-Lufthansa first class, first class lounges, and the always ridiculously fun First Class Terminal;

-Turkish Airlines first class Suites (sumptuous);

-Thai Airways first class, and the Bangkok Royal First lounge;

-Hilton Tokyo, Milton Millenium Bangkok, Hilton Munich City, Hilton Frankfurt;

-The protest fray in Bangkok, and the utter horror and helplessness of watching a redshirt be beaten in the street, and left for dead;

-And, again, lotsa pictures and rundowns of the daily activities and fun in each city.

Should be one helluva report, from one helluva trip. Happy reading. Thanks for stopping by.

Thai Airways downgrade our 747 with new-ish first class seats to a 747 with first class seats that look as if they should be sold at Granny Edna’s estate sale. They’re so noisy, that when I push the button to raise the legrest, I wonder if I might actually be extending the flaps on the airplane.

Sigh.

Yeah, I know there are bigger things about which to worry, but it kind of mars the whole Thai Airways Bangkok first class experience.

Anyway, we’re off to Munich and Frankfurt for two more days of vacation. Had a wonderful last day in Bangkok, with a visit to a market, and a museum. I’m purposefully relaying the details vaguely, because I will have muccccccch more in the trip report.

See everyone on the ground in Munich.

Hey, when we found out you were toting a durian, at least it torpedoed our theory that you were actually crazy/oblivious enough to pack a bag full of wet, rotting garbage, which, sadly, for you, was the prevailing theory as to why the air was redolent of the interior of a dumpster surrounding your seat.

Many thanks, again. You’re one classy old woman.

Image from http://www.nurulrahman.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/durian_banned.jpg

*   *   *  *   *   *

Back in Bangkok, after two days in Tokyo.

Sigh, I know it’s part of traveling, but, honestly, after the eminent composure, respect, civility, and inherent kindness resplendent throughout all of Tokyo, it’s a bit hard to return to Bangkok and immediately face aggressive upsale techniques, potential scams, and, well, a charge and skosh of skepticism for just about everything. Seconds after we left customs after our seven hour flight, someone began badgering us for a limo service from the airport. Again, it’s part of traveling to some countries, but, truthfully, it becomes exhausting, and a bit debilitating, after awhile, to encounter such a forceful desire to make a sale with, well, any person who looks white. Sadly, it kind of mars the experience, and makes it less likely that I have a burning fervency to return.

One more full day in ol’ BKK, tomorrow. It seems as if the Redshirts are dissipating, and we can explore the government/capitol areas tomorrow, and hopefully, not watch two men (perhaps police?) kick the living crap out of a Redshirt, and leave him for dead on the street. Lovely!

Liz and I are going to take it easy tonight. After drinks in the Hilton lounge, we’re going to head across the street to simply wonderful area filled with street vendors. We enjoyed a lovely dinner the other night (story to come) sitting at plastic tables and chairs, with sets of dishes order for us by a friendly off-duty Hilton employee. Tonight, we’re going to grab a bit of pad Thai, a few beers from the Seven Eleven, and then retire to our room to watch a movie, and relax with noodles and beer, like we’re a bunch of undergrads, once again.

Missing Tokyo. Good to be back in BKK, even with its aggressive scams and sales. One more full day, then off a day in Munich and Frankfurt, then home, where Spring Break ends, and study of organic molecules and biological phenomena begins anew.

Uh, no. Jason Reitman does not make films that simplistic. Again, and this particulary aside is not the point of this post is not to wax poetically on Up in the Air, which film actually describes how lonely and how utterly and austerly empty a traveling life can be, and how, well, Clooney’s character had absolutely nothing at the end of the film (again, I marvel at how many people simply thought Up in the Air was a movie about, uh, simply flying a ton). No, this post concerns my last two nights, both of which have been spent on airplanes. Yes, I brought this itinerary on myself (and Elizabeth), and yeah, while it’s been a ton of fun to zip around from city to city, and have some time to explore Istanbul and Hong Kong, I’m finally looking forward to putting my feet on the ground for some solid hours, sleeping in a bed that’s not fashioned from an airplane seat, and starting the real travel exploration.

While I think a large percentage of this large and nebulous idea of which we term “travel,” (again, a word for which many people crow they have the exact definition and all standards of the term), certainly roots itself in the airlines, airplanes, and airports, but, goodness gracious – a plane is no place to spend multiple nights.

Hong Kong was wonderful – even with about 100 feet (no, really) of visibility and the famous dim sum spot no longer serving (oops!) I can’t wait to go back for a longer trip.

Anyway, about to board this Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, grab a cab, and check into the hotel. Down on the ground is where I belong tonight.

And – Let me say – Turkish Airlines’ 777-300ER first class seat is the finest in which I have ever had the honor of placing my posterior. I can’t wait to pass out on the same seats again tonight on the flight to Hong Kong.

Then, tomorrow afternoon, we have about three hours in Hong Kong during a five hour layover. We’ve never been to ol’ HK – but, we plan to, with the utmost of alacrity, hit the ultra-famous Lin Heung tea house for Dim Sum (pray that it’s open on Sundays), ride that Star Ferry, the Ladies’ Market for some, uh, legitimately crafted Hermes bags, and perhaps a quick trek up Victoria Peak for a view from HK’s acme.

Then, we finally settle down with a flight to Bangkok, where most our stay begins – with an interspersed Tokyo trip, of course.

Once we land in Istanbul, it’s five hours of exploring, then onto our late night flight to Hong Kong.

I’ll report next from Istanbul. I’m taking too many pictures, as well. It’s going to be a helluva trip report.