Well, here it goes. I am sure you are thinking, “yet another blog about flying in First Class, talking about credit cards, etc…,” but that’s where you are wrong. This blog will be different. In this article I would like to introduce you to my new blog, and myself.
I am also sure some of you remember my first attempt at a blog back in 2016 (or not who am I kidding…) that never got beyond the intro. Recently someone (shout-out to Peter) asked me to vlog some of my travel experience, but let’s be honest I suck at making videos. So I decided to try this blogging thing again instead.
Who am I?
I am a frequent flyer, who has traveled all around the world. I live in the Southeast of the United States, and travel a lot. A significant amount of my travels are domestic, but I have also done my fair share of international travel, including a trip around the world. When I don’t travel for work, I like to go cross-country to visit friends and explore the world with my favourite travel partner (and wife).
In pre-apocalyptic years I have spent over 100,000 miles in the air. I have flown almost all major U.S. Airlines including Delta, United, American Southwest and Jetblue, as well as a large number of international carriers such as Thai, Austrian, Swiss, Air New Zealand, Latam, Virgin Australia (pre-bankruptcy, when they counted as international), KLM Royal Dutch etc.
I should confess a few things before going on. I used to be a huge fan of Star Alliance and try to fly them whenever possible. (Unfortunately) this led to a lot of flying United Airlines for my domestic trips, but it means I got to fly some amazing international carriers in Business and First class when traveling abroad using miles. More recently I started flying whatever is convenient mostly due to the pandemic and trying to avoid unnecessary trips.
When reading a lot of air travel blogs, it almost always sounds like flying is always enjoyable and the worst thing that can happen is that they run out of the meal you wanted (oh no!!!). However, they don’t tell you the whole story. When you travel a lot you also get to experience a world of delays, missed connections, medical emergencies, canceled flights, flight attendants spilling tomato juice all over you (yes, I will write a blog about that at some point) and so many more issues. In this blog I want to tell anybody who is interested (or forced to read this blog…. Hi Honey 🙂 ) the whole experience of traveling. I plan to write three different kind of articles:
- Trip Reports: I will try to write one of these for every trip I make. These will include a review of the flight as well as some stories of the destinations I visit.
- What Went Wrong: This is where it gets annoying (mostly for me, hopefully not for you). In these articles I will write about some of the issues I encounter when traveling. From lost luggage that takes an involuntary trip to China (true story), to weather-related delays and emergency landings. The goal of these articles is to let people learn from my (and the airlines’) mistakes. I will try to give tips on how to handle these situations and how to be pro-active about them.
- Why I got a Penguin: In these articles I will write about some service or travel accessory (such as a penguin, or TSA PreCheck) and why I thought it was worth getting it – or not. I don’t get paid for this blog so it will just be my opinion and if you don’t agree stop reading my blog (just kidding, I am happy to hear other opinions and if you have any experience with Penguins feel free to chime in any time).
Now that I have given you an idea of what this blog will be I am sure you have one last question….
Why Penguins?
Let me tell you a brief story of one of my favourite trips. In 2012 I went to the southernmost part of Chile for a family vacation and had a great time. As part of this vacation we visited a wild penguin colony, and ever since then I have been obsessed with penguins.
During my college time a group of friends and I got a stuffed penguin as our mascot. I have been carrying him around the world and he has seen his fair share of other countries (and airplanes). I decided to name this blog after him, and maybe he will make a guest appearance at some point – or all the time.
Thanks for reading and remember: Tip your Flight Attendants.
