Heading Home
Posted on October 1, 2023 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
I’m on my way home to the US, but it was a near thing; my flight out of Budapest left late and I had to run across most of Munich’s airport to catch my connection and barely made it before they closed the doors. If I had to run a minute longer than I did I might have given myself a heart attack; a reminder I really need to get back into shape.
Be that as it may I am now in the sky just past the British Isles and above the North Atlantic. With luck I’ll land in Ohio just before midnight and be home 90 minutes after that. Then: sleep for a day. Maybe two. It’ll be good to be home.
— JS
We’ve done that. Munich is so HUGE. It’s never a good sign when you get to the boarding area and they great you by name…
He’s on his way back! Quick, pick up everything! Put it all back in place. And when he comes back in, act cool. Don’t let him know what we were up to.
Hooray. Safe travels home.
Congratulations on you award, John. And we’re glad you’re coming home. Stay safe
John
Travel safe, travel well…the rest of the way, at least!
Safe travels!
Also, it can’t be coincidence this is the second time today I see Aberystwyth. The first was on a page on famous Limericks, selfsubtitled as not for the faint of heart, so you have been duly warned.
Said page: https://kingoflimericks.com/14-of-the-most-famous-limericks-literary-classics/
Safe journey and slow down. Having a heart attack is not worth making the plane. There will be others.
You’re too valuable a human to die so young.
Quick walked across Munich airport to find that my gate closed 20 minutes before the flight as that is when the bus leaves the gate to drive out to the plane far out on the tarmac.
The upside, however, that I got to take a fast train from the airport to Bonn. Nice.
Very glad that you didn’t have a heart attack! I am with you on needing to be in better shape, which I hope will happen after I have a severely arthritic knee replaced later this year (right now just walking across the room is agony, never mind anything more strenuous). Safe travels the rest of the way, and sleep very well in your own bed tonight!
I had to do that recently transiting through Kuala Lumpur. I did make it to my gate just in time, was waiting to board and then got called up and told I wasn’t on the plane. My airline had very kindly taken me off the next flight as “I might be late” – so then I was stuck in KL for a day (oh and they lost my bags as well). The glamour of flight!
Welcome back. We kept the lights on, in the end. As requested.
Guess who’s in this month’s Locus? I haven’t opened it yet, but I’ve seen the cover.
Keyword “ridiculous situations”
I just read Starter Villain on the plane back to the US from India.
Enjoyable! A few puns short of Androids Dream, but right up their with your best.
Now I’m thinking of Zombieland. Rule 1: Cardio
you got a dog… just take long, long walks and as you compose aloud your next magnificent piece of prose… dare I say it… KPS II: The En-biggen-ing?
great thing, your phone can record it as you improvise it… and for $199.95 an app can convert it into text…
One time I arrived in Salt Lake and had to run from the E terminal to the C terminal. I’m in fairly good shape from riding the bicycle, at the time I often did 20 to 25 miles a day, 4 days a week (more these days), but I live in Virginia, basically at sea level. Running halfway across the airport at 5000 feet was a challenge. Made it, but I think I was an hour in the air before I caught my breath.
My luggage made it, too…
Non sequitur: Growing up, my dad was a pastor, and one of his pastor friends was from Aberystwyth. He’s the only person I’ve ever met who could pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Still mystifies me.
We didn’t TOTALLY wreck the place while you were gone.
John, if you’ve never read “The Road To High Saffron” by Jasper Fford, treat yourself and put it on your list.
Aberystywth, from your photo, features prominently, if invisibly.
I’ve flown into/out of Kastrup (Copenhagen) and Arlanda (Stockholm) at least ten times and got to see the Aurora Borealis from my little airline window in the sky nearly ever time. Having lived a couple of winters in Stockholm and Uppsala, Sweden, I also got to witness this spectacular display of Earth science from the ground several times. It’s the kind of thing you can’t take your eyes of.
Anyway, welcome home! You’re lucky inasmuch as your trips are typically pretty short. Traveling nearly halfway around the globe can be tough – especially with a pregnant spouse – but my wife worked for a good multinational company [is that an oxymoron?] who offers its employees – female and male – 6/mo of paid maternity leave plus 6 additional unpaid months, so she and our sweet little baby boy got to spend a year in Scandinavia and Europe, and if not for free, then heavily sponsored by the universities and other entities I worked for.
Going to Budapest is cool as hell and I hope you took advantage of your limited time there and got to walk around and check out the museums. Definitely one of the top ten ‘Beautiful Cities in the World.”
I wish more (most) Americans could see the rest of, or at least other parts of the world, experience different cultures and exotic cuisines. I think this could be a different country if more Americans realized there’s a great big world out there, and we ain’t necessarily #1.
Like Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” Amen, my brother, amen.
@Mike
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch just means socks. I could be wrong. ☺️