Beam me up Scotty... Oh and Beam me down again, but a little bit to the left, yes about 3000 miles!

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be many things, it might be the reason why at the end I really never went for anything and let life decide my destiny… and I can’t complain, it went well… although it’s always difficult when somebody asks me what do I do for a living, my answer is…. “it’s complicated” I can’t say I’m in sales, nor manufacturing, nor a doctor, nor a lawyer and maybe I’ll leave for another blog, what I really do… but my friends just believe that I have a nice job, really, nice on, that I have lots’ of fun, it’s creative, challenging and believe it or not, it’s in an office!

So, one of those many things I wanted to do when I grew up was to be air hostess or a pilot… I just thought it was so fascinating, I don’t know why… When we lived in Scotland, we would fly one or twice a year to Venezuela, that would be 4 long haul flights a year, at the age of 7 I was an expert on international travel, I had my frequent flyer passport and when I showed it on the plane it meant that I was special, that I was going to be introduced to the pilot, fly a little bit in the cockpit with the pilot and they would let me pretend that I was flying the DC-10, I was 8 and I already knew the different type of aircrafts! It felt like home… as soon as the plane had reached the navigation altitude I would immediately go around checking if there where two available seats that I could sleep in, being 9 and having two seats was a guarantee of having my own bed… and then of course there was this silly competition between me and my sister to see who could get the most goodies out of the airplane, that mean, butter, marmalade, salt, pepper….

So, it brings me to the year 2007… and my fascination with flights and plane are still there, although when I’m asked what superpower would I want to have the first one that comes to my mind is teletransportation… when I answer polls; I’m normally in the category of 10-20 business trips a year and 1-5 leisure trips so some teletransportation would really be appreciated, but then… I still love to travel… and when I think what am I good at, this is one the first things that comes to mind… I’m really good or great at traveling:

* I can “check in” in less than a minute, even for international flights… I know what they want, and what they are going to ask for, so I’m ready! :p

* I can also go thru security, pretty quickly, I don’t use belts nor any metallic item when I’m traveling, shoes that I can slip on and off very easily, my laptop in an open bag so I can just slip it in and slip it out… and then the most important point, the order that you have your things go thru the check machine…
1. The box that has your bag, sweater, coat or anything that you had to take off, that way it’s the first thing that comes out and you can start dressing up.
2. My computer bag, so when the laptop comes out I just need to grab it and slip it in.
3. My laptop… it goes with second :p
4. And last my carry on luggage when I have it with me, by that point I’m already ready to just pick it up and move on.

* Then there is the secret of where to sit on an airplane, if I have my carry on with me, I go for an aisle seat at the front of the plane, that way I’m first out and don’t have to wait to much… I have a friend who hates that I’m out first, he normally has this rule that he arrives at the airport one hour after the arrival time, he is assuming that between the plane arriving, you leaving the plane, getting your luggage, that’s what it takes you, but I’m always out in about 15-20min so he is always late to pick me up…. And if I check my luggage, I still like the front rows, you have your food faster and with your drink… it takes more time for the drinks than for the food, so normally by the time you finished eating they come by and say, would you like something to drink? That is if you haven’t choked because you ate your food without any liquid.

* If it's a big plane, the one that has 2 seats, then three or four and then two again, sit in an aisle of the middle, you have the most chance of not having anybody sitting next to you.

* I hope I'm not freaking you, although I think I'm freaking myself... but is it my fault if I've optimized business travel? OK, I better stop, wait, no... one last tip… if you are flying on an intercontinental flight and they offer you bread, put it on top of your hot meal, so it gets nice and warm while you re eating your salad ;)

* Oh and if you are traveling domestic, try Continental, it's one of the best... and if it's overseas, don't, British Airways, Air France, Lufhtansa, KLM are your best bets in that order.

* OK, I'll stop... pity I didn't have the chance to tell you how to get upgraded to business class on flights overseas :D

It would be easier if Scotty could just beam me up and down... it will for sure help my sanity!