Travel

Planes, Trains, and Getting There Anyway

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After I got the word that my brother in law had passed away, I immediately booked plane tickets. We found a flight out of Heathrow at 12:50 p.m., planned a normal morning, and headed to the airport.

It was not until we were already on the Elizabeth line, almost there, that I noticed the alert. Our flight had been delayed by seven and a half hours.

We needed to get to New Jersey that day. The funeral was the following day, and missing it was not really an option. Any flight leaving London the next day would get us there too late. So once we arrived at the airport, we went straight to the airline’s Special Help counter to see what could be done.

They were able to get us confirmed seats on the 6 p.m. flight. Technically, that was an improvement. It was about an hour and a half earlier than our newly delayed flight. But it was still very late. It would get us into New Jersey that day, but very close to midnight local time.

The only other option they offered was standby on the noon flight, which was actually earlier than our original departure. We went through the security routine, grabbed some breakfast quickly, and then went to the gate when they called it for the noon flight.

When boarding finished, there was exactly one seat available.

My wife and I talked it through quickly, and I got on the plane. She stayed behind with the kids and planned to try to fly standby on the 3 p.m. flight, and if that did not work, take the 6 p.m. flight we already had confirmed.

The idea was that I would meet my mom, get a car, and head either to my sister’s place or the hotel.

That part did not work out.

I landed without issue and got an Uber to the hotel. My mom’s flight was cancelled entirely. She was rebooked to JFK, while I had flown into Newark. From there, she took the AirTrain, the Long Island Railroad, and New Jersey Transit, and went straight to my sister’s.

My wife was not able to get on standby for the earlier flight and ended up on the 6 p.m. flight after all. She managed to rearrange the rental car and arrived at the hotel close to midnight New York time.

So in the end, we all got there. Just not together. And not in the way we expected.

To be fair to the airline, there had been a major blizzard the day before. By the time we landed, things were slowly getting back to normal. Still, the whole experience felt like planes, trains, and automobiles in real time.

Hectic, exhausting, and strangely memorable, for all the wrong reasons.

Minor note. I wasn’t sure when I was going to post this one. Since it involves travel and today the girls and I are flying home from our term break holiday I thought it was appropriate to post it. If all goes to plan we should be boarding the plane home a few hours after this posts.

Always Have a Ticket From The Airline Flying the Plane

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There are some travel lessons you only learn the hard way, like never packing a full bottle of shampoo in your carry-on, or trusting that a “short layover in Paris” (or worse, thinking you can sprint between Terminal A and Terminal D in Atlanta) will actually go smoothly.

But the one lesson that’s stuck with me through years of work trips and personal travel is this: always have a ticket from the airline flying the plane.

If the aircraft says Virgin Atlantic on the side, buy your ticket from Virgin Atlantic, not from Delta, not from Air France, not from whoever happens to be codesharing that day.

I learned this the hard way, a few times.

Once, I booked a Virgin Atlantic ticket from London to New York. Except it was actually an Air France-operated flight. I didn’t think much of it at the time. A plane’s a plane, right? Wrong.

Everything was fine until the airline changed the flight with a new time, new number, the usual shuffle. Our assigned seats (carefully picked because, you know, kids) vanished.

I logged into Virgin Atlantic’s website to reselect our seats, only to find that Virgin politely told me to contact Air France. Air France, to their credit, were actually very helpful, they just couldn’t do what I needed. The systems didn’t talk to each other properly, and no one could fix it. Since the schedule change was on their end, I had the option to cancel, which I eventually did. I rebooked with my lesson learned and, thankfully, no price change.

Fast forward a bit and you’d think I would’ve remembered that rule. But no.

This time I had a Delta ticket for a Virgin Atlantic flight. Thanks to my American Express Platinum card, I should’ve had access to the Delta lounge. When I showed up, they told me I wasn’t eligible because the flight was operated by Virgin, not Delta. Same metal, wrong ticket. No lounge.

It’s one of those maddeningly small distinctions that make perfect sense to no one but airline lawyers.

From now on, I’m sticking to my own rule: always have a ticket from the airline flying the plane. If you don’t, be ready for drama.

I wrote this late last year. It appropriately is posting while the girls and I are on a plane off on a holiday. And yes I have learned my lesson it’s the same airline flying the plane that is on our tickets.

The Slow Goodbye to My Sony Alpha 6000

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When A was around four or five months old back in 2014, I finally went out and bought myself a Sony Alpha 6000. I keep calling it the 8000 in my head, but I am pretty sure it was the 6000. A mirrorless camera. Lightweight compared to the big DSLRs. And honestly, I loved that thing from the moment I took it out of the box.

I had been thinking about buying a “real” camera for a long time, probably since right around when T was born. We had those little point and shoot cameras back then, the kind you take on dates, vacations, and early married life. They were fine as long as the baby was not moving very fast, which babies do not for the first while. Slow focus, mediocre quality, but acceptable.

Eventually we drifted into using our phones. M held on to her BlackBerry camera longer than I ever wanted her to, and I tried to convince her to switch to an iPhone sooner, but that is a whole separate story. Either way, point and shoots faded out, and phone cameras took over. By the time A arrived, I was completely reliant on my phone for photos.

I know this because so many of those early pictures of her are grainy. Not unusable, but definitely early smartphone camera quality. Ten years ago, that was just how phone photos looked. They were fine, but nowhere near what a proper camera could do.

And then I bought the Sony. You can basically see the day it entered our lives just by scrolling the photo library. Everything suddenly goes from grainy baby in poor lighting to “wow, that looks like an actual photograph.” It was night and day.

I did not use the Sony all the time, but when we went to the park, to a family outing, or on a holiday, it came with me. That camera could shoot thirteen frames a second, which blew my mind. Hold down the shutter and it would just fire off shot after shot until the buffer filled. If the kids were jumping off a diving board, I would get every moment of the arc from takeoff to splash. It was incredible.

And the thing is, it is still an incredible camera. It works perfectly. The only thing it really lacks is built in GPS or any sort of modern connectivity. Even back then Sony sold an add on for that, but I never bought it. Aside from that, I truly have no complaints. It is a fantastic piece of kit.

But I do not use it anymore. Hardly ever.

Even though it is mirrorless and not some heavy DSLR monster, it is still extra weight. Unless I am going to a recital or a school performance or sports day, I just do not bring it. On those special occasions it shines. I get great photos. I am always glad I brought it.

But for everything else, holidays, day trips, everyday moments, I just use my iPhone.

The newer iPhones have such good cameras now. The optical zoom is surprisingly decent, the quick capture is good enough, and while it will never match a thirteen frames per second burst, it gets the job done. And more importantly, the phone is always with me. It used to be that the phone camera was “fine.” Now it is genuinely impressive for pretty much all normal everyday photos.

So the Sony sits around. I take it out a few times a year, but that is about it.

Part of me would love to upgrade it someday, mostly for the built in GPS so I could easily geotag everything. I still tag my photos manually because I like knowing where pictures were taken, but upgrading to a whole new camera just to avoid that step does not make sense.

And as much as it pains me to say it, I do not think I will ever buy another dedicated camera. Not because they are not wonderful, but because I do not want to carry one. Convenience wins. Even over something as genuinely enjoyable and high quality as that Sony Alpha.

It is a little sad, but it is also just reality. The best camera is the one you are willing to carry, and these days, that is my phone.

That Time Apple Air Tag’s Did Save The Day

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In recent years I’ve seen plenty of people recommending the use of Apple AirTags when travelling. Some airlines even let you share your AirTag location with them so they can help track down lost luggage. Looking back, I guess I was a bit ahead of the curve, because as soon as AirTags came out, I bought a bunch and put them on our bags.

In 2021, we flew to Madrid on British Airways and I had AirTags on all four pieces of luggage. The flight was delayed leaving Heathrow due to BA issues, and when we finally landed and were waiting at the carousel, I opened Find My to check. Three of the bags showed as nearby, but the fourth was still pinging from Heathrow. Immediate red flag. Sure enough, someone from baggage claim walked around with a list of names, and my bag was on it. The one with all my stuff, of course.

We filed the paperwork, went to our Airbnb, and I made do with what I had. The next day, baggage services still claimed they couldn’t find it, even though by then the AirTag clearly showed it sitting at Madrid airport. The people on the phone were rude, unhelpful, and not even located at the airport itself. After a full day of frustration, one finally suggested I go to the airport in person.

So I did. It was a 15 to 20 minute cab ride, not too bad. The crazy part was how I got in: I was told to knock on a door past customs, explain myself to security, and they just waved me through with no checks at all. As a security-minded person, that was insane. But it got me in. I showed staff the AirTag location, they asked for a photo of the bag (which I barely had), and after 20 minutes of searching in the back, they found it.

I was relieved. Without the AirTag, I doubt I would have seen that bag for days, if at all. It had already been two days and I’d had to buy clothes just to get by. The phone support was useless, and it was only the tracker that made the difference.

Since then, I’ve been completely sold on using AirTags whenever we travel. I’ve also learned to always take a photo of the luggage beforehand, and to make sure the AirTag batteries are fresh. It’s the only reason I got my bag back in Madrid.

Tapping Through France: A Cashless Holiday at Disney and Beyond

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We’ve just come back from a week in France. Two whirlwind days at Disneyland Paris followed by a slower stretch at a resort. The rides, the food, the lounging by the pool… all wonderful. But the thing that surprised me most wasn’t the fireworks over the castle we didn’t actually see because by then we were too tired and had already headed back to the hotel. What stood out was that I managed the entire trip without touching a single euro note or even pulling out a physical card.

If you’ve read my past posts, you know I’ve been on a bit of a mission to go wallet-less. In daily life at home, I rely almost entirely on my phone or, even better, my watch for tap-to-pay. The convenience is unmatched. That said, whenever I travel abroad, I usually hedge my bets. Extra cards tucked into the bag. Mental note of where the nearest ATM might be. Because international trips can be tricky: not every place is set up for seamless digital payments, and the last thing you want is to be stranded without cash.

But this time? Smooth sailing. Disney was as high-tech as you’d expect, and even the resort didn’t skip a beat. From meals to souvenirs to a quick coffee at the pool when we didn’t have our wallets or phones, a tap of the watch worked perfectly. No fumbling with euros, no need to break a bill just to grab a snack. I didn’t expect it to be this easy.

Back in the UK, it’s already rare that I run into a situation where cash is essential. Even the local ice cream van has a contactless reader these days. And while I know France isn’t representative of every country in Europe or the world, it was reassuring to see just how far tap-to-pay has spread.

The takeaway? For certain destinations at least, traveling cashless is no longer a gamble. It’s becoming the norm. That’s one less thing to worry about when packing, and a little more space in the pocket for, say, an extra croissant or two.

A Friends Friend

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I didn’t know Joey and Chandlers dog had a friend? And they ran off together to the hotel the Beatles stayed at in Cornwall!

The Kids Meal

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On a flight to the States a few years ago I commented to the flight attendant when my kids didn’t like the meal that I want the kids meal since they looked much better than the adult ones. The flight attendant said they are and she recommended that I ask for one next time. I felt a bit odd doing it so I never did.

That is till this week. I am going on a flight without the fam and the menu did not look great so I figured I would order the kids meal. Let’s see how awkward that looks when they deliver it!