Nine months without flying

I just realized that I have not been near an airport or in a plane in over nine months, not since I flew from Seattle to New York City back in the third week of May in 2008 to complete my move to Manhattan. But, that is part of the whole point of living in New York City, the high energy and ultra-wide diversity, so that there is no significant need to fly elsewhere for adventure. Okay, sure, yes, people do like to go to the Caribbean in the winter, Africa for safaris, some people do ski and scuba dive, and the "old" cities of Europe do have their charm, but is it really worth all of the hassle of having to deal with the airports and flying? Not for me.

I can still remember when flying and even traveling to the airport and checkin was a real breeze and joy, but that was a long time ago. That was back when I would fly somewhere almost every weekend simply for the fun of it.

Nowadays, I avoid flying and airports as a matter of pride, independence, and free spirit. Yes, I am actually proud of not patronizing the airlines. Frequent flyer miles earned over the past nine months: zero.

Actually, I do need to book a flight to Colorado for late March for an entrepreneur's conference soon, but meanwhile I can fantasize about taking the train, bus, or even hitchhiking simply to thumb my nose at the airlines.

-- Jack Krupansky