The great out there….

So, yeah, I’ve been sort of missing in action for a couple of months. Rest assured, I haven’t fallen off a cliff, been eaten by a pack of wild weasels, or left to become a Hare Krishna. No, like usual, it’s the simplest explanation that’s to blame for my complete absence: travel.

…and not just a little travel either. In just under 10 weeks I’ve:

Gone to Australia on vacation. But of course, I can’t do that the easy way….I went via London / Paris / Tunis / Dubai / Singapore. Because…why not…and half the fun is the voyage! The way back got messed up by the strike at EVA Air, so I ended up having to take United home…not exactly the most exciting way to end an AvGeek trip….but I’m going to get started on posting this trip asap!

I was only back from vacation for three days, and had to head off to Switzerland for what is possibly the longest work trip I’ve ever done: 24 days. At least I was mostly able to take the weekends off and see a bit of Switzerland, so I’ll write that one up next!

Back from Switzerland for…all of three days again, and then it was off to South Africa for work. I probably just should have gone straight from Switzerland, but a combo of cost and time made me want to come home…even if it was for just three days!

Then, back from South Africa (because the change fee was exorbitant) for all of 24 hours, before flying off to India for work. Yeah, insane…and I was completely trashed by the end of it. But now I’m home – in theory for over three weeks – and I plan to do some catching up! But, to put it in perspective:

Just under 78,000 miles in 10 weeks. The mileage itself isn’t crazy by many standards, but all the back and forth definitely did a number on me! So, here’s what you can expect in the coming weeks:

• DC to NYC with Amtrak Acela First Class
• JFK to LGW with Norwegian Premier, op by Evelop!
• London to Paris on Eurostar Business Premier
• Paris to Tunis with TunisAir A330 op by GetJet
• Tunis to Dubai in Emirates First Class
• Dubai to Singapore in Emirates A380 First Class
• Singapore to Sydney in Qantas First Class
• Sydney to Perth in Qantas Business Class
• Perth to Melbourne in Qantas Business Class
• Melbourne to Sydney in Qantas Business Class
• Three nights in Sydney
• Sydney to Bangkok in Thai First Class
• Bangkok to Singapore with Cathay Pacific on the A350-1000
• Singapore to Hong Kong on the Singapore A380
• Hong Kong to DCA via Newark with United
• DCA to Zurich with Air Canada
• Switzerland Part 1
• Switzerland Part 2
• Switzerland Part 3
• Zurich to IAD on United
• IAD to Johannesburg with United/SWISS…including a surprise!
• South Africa
• Johannesburg to IAD with Lufthansa…including some first class love
• IAD to Delhi with United/Lufthansa…and the Munich First Lounge
• India
• Delhi to IAD via Frankfurt with Lufthansa

Wow…apparently I’ve got a bit of work on my hands! As long as I crank out one entry a day I should be able to get this done before my next trip. With that….I’ll wrap this one up…and start writing!!