December 28, 2009:
As I type this, it is 9pm here in Los Angeles, and I'm at my third airport of this 15 hour day and still in the U.S. I'm sitting in the very nice One World Lounge at LAX waiting for my flight to Sydney, Australia. I don't expect that I'll be writing everyday during my 'walkabout', but since I have access to a computer with free internet, I thought I'd write about the day so far - cause I'm still trying to kill time and I still have about 16 more hours to go.
Before I do so, I'll bring some of you up to speed on where I'm going and why...
All of you know that I have traveled to many places around the U.S. and internationally. I've built up quite a bit of miles over the years, and I've enjoyed all the experiences that make traveling an adventure more so than a vacation.
So, while I'm still on temporary retirement, I wanted to take a trip to a place that I thought would be cool to see and far away - to get the most of my miles and free time. After my intended trip to Africa didn't fall in place last summer, I decided to try to see if I could get to Australia this winter.
A couple of weeks ago, I called American Airlines and over the course of about 10 days we were able to slowly find frequent flyer seats on flights that would get me from Cleveland to Sydney and back after a couple of weeks. I had to be flexible, which made the original schedule: Cleveland to Dallas to Los Angeles to Melbourne to Sydney. And the return - acknowledging my fortune - they asked if I would be OK having a three day layover in Honolulu - which I was OK with.
I left Cleveland at 7 am ET on Monday, arriving in Dallas at 9 am CT. My layover was relatively short - 2.5 hours. I found out I could use the AA Admirals Club lounge, which included a coupon for a free drink. In the lounge, the bartender tells me that the guy and girl he just attended to were TV actors - the guy from a show called Supernatural and his girl from One Tree Hill. They would turn out to be on my flight to LA - go figure.
I had downloaded the movie The Hangover onto my phone last night and began watching it on the flight to LA. Man, what a funny movie! More than once I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
I got to LA at 1 pm PT (4 pm ET). I couldn't check in to my Sydney flight for a few hours, so I use the American Airlines lounge to find something to do in LA - I got on a bus to Santa Monica for $1.50 roundtrip; walked the 3rd street promenade; got to the beach in time for the sun to set on this side of the Pacific; and had a slice of NY style pizza while watching a ton of people walk by.
I got back to the airport around 7pm and learned that I have access to the One World Lounge - which is pretty sweet (cool lounge, bar, free food and open fridge with free drinks, free internet, showers). I also was able to switch my flight (yesterday) - so now instead of going on the biggest plane in the world to Melbourne (and having another seven hour layover), I will be going directly to Sydney on a 747 and arriving at 8:30 am instead of 6:30 pm - on Wednesday. That's right, I will completely skip over Tuesday because we'll be crossing the international date line.
I've not packed much for this trip (see small backpack photo). I figure if there's anything I need, I will buy it there. I'm not too sure what I'll be able to get to while in Australia - I'm hoping to be around Sydney Harbor for New Years, and hopefully get to the Great Barrier Reef, do some bush walks in the mountains, go to Bondi Beach (learn to surf?), and possibly head to the outback - thought the distances are so far that I'll have to fly everywhere. We'll see.
That's it for now...It's a 15 hour flight to Sydney, and I hope Qantas is showing some decent movies.
