Air travel...

It's 13.5 hours from Sydney to LA. So to get to Las Vegas, where I was last week, entailed arriving at Sydney Airport 3 hours ahead of my departure time. I actually was there 3.5 to make sure things were fine and get a decent seat selection. It took 1 hour to get to the airport and I'd been up an hour to get ready. final packing, etc. So by the time I land in LA I've been up for 18 hours. Next flight is scheduled to leave 3.5 hours after my arrival. By the time I clear customs and immigration and get booked in, clear security I've got about 2 hours to kill, but if my flight had been scheduled any sooner I'd have risked missing it as security delays can be unpredictable. Flight to Vegas 45 minutes. So I've been up 22.25 hours at this stage. Takes 15 minutes to get my baggage (I was happy with that) and then an hour to get my rental car because they've just made a new car rental centre and Alamo had a bunch of people who got in just ahead of me on a flight from Germany. Drive over to Las Vegas Boulevarde where I was staying and get checked in takes another 30 minutes. 24 hours after I woke up I've arrived, although it's only 6 hours later based on the clock :-)

It's only mid afternoon and I need to adjust to Vegas time, so dinner with friends (those going to be married - the reason I was there) and a couple of other people keeps me awake another 7 hours before I finally crash.

I was lucky, there was an empty seat between me and the woman with the window seat (I prefer aisle seats so I can move whenever I want and get extra stretching room) which made it very comfortable. No such luck on the way back and the guy in the middle seat had his family spread all over the plane (not his fault) and had to often get up to check on his wife and kids etc. Not unbearably often and he always took a chance to move when I was up so he was good about it.

Flight back actually took longer. Security in the US is marginally tighter than here, but in Vegas and LA at least, has a lot more people moving through it. Also had the advantage on the way back that a fellow passenger I met as we were moving from the domestic to the international terminal was a fellow Aussie and has QANTAS club access (who have arrangements with American Airlines) so I was able to enjoy some complimentary drinks and snacks in the comfort of the lounge instead of sitting at the gate. I could have bought club membership myself but I don't fly much these days. Seriously makes me consider doing it, though.

At least it's all personal, on-demand video and audio these days with latest release (still in the theatre) movies, television, etc as well as older, popular and other movies and extensive CD collections that you can build a play-list from. Considering it was all economy (coach) travel, no complaints. Just a long way to get anywhere and the steel pin in my leg meant twice (ie not all which was surprising) going through US security areas I got extra screening and pat-downs and such - but the TSA folks were extremely professional and courteous (as I was to them, which I'm sure helps). They just need to be a little more strict enforcing cabin baggage allowances (some of the things people take in are crazy).

Flying's not the same as it used to be, but overall I think I prefer the security.