Travel and fanfic

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

 
Got back yesterday (Sunday) from a business trip to Denver. I can't believe it but since 2020, this is only the second time I've been on an airplane for work (I did also have a one-night business trip that I drove to, last year).

So the timing of the trip wasn't great - I had to leave first thing Friday and return home Sunday, so there goes the weekend. But I have zero complaints....not one thing went wrong on the trip:

- No airplane problems, no flight delays
- Hotel was very nice. I slept well both nights
- The hotel had a nice fitness center, a pool, and a hot tub and I managed to use all of them
- Oh yeah, the work stuff? That all went great. Basically I had to attend and speak at a reception on Friday and attend a graduation Saturday. The bigger event of the two was Friday; one of my company's PR people came and I had to funnel people her way for video. That all went really well too. Got to hang with some good people on both days. 
- No issues getting food either. I can say that of all the trips I've taken in the past 4 years or longer, I've had no problems getting vegan food. It's partially due to plant-based eating going more mainstream, but I think the real superstars are the delivery apps. Before, if a restaurant was further than a block or two from the hotel, it wasn't realistic for me to get to it on a business trip. I'd often just call room service and pray. :) Or ask at the front desk if they had menus from any Chinese places that would deliver. But now with all the delivery apps, all I really need is a vegan-friendly place within delivery radius and I'm fine.
- And thanks to Ann, I got to watch Shadow and Bone on the plane! Just watching these characters that I love makes me feel so good and nearly forget that I'm on a frickin' business trip on a weekend.
- One thing I don't know what to do about. On the way there, I carried on my rollerbag. It's a pain though. Gotta lug it and my backpack through the airport. Gotta cram purse into backpack so I don't board the plane with more than 2 items, and gotta hoist the heavy rollerbag into the overhead. So on the way home, I checked it. And then promptly regretted it as I stood at baggage claim for nearly 40 minutes. I honestly never know what to do here. 
- Even though I slept fine at the hotel, last night back at home in my own bed? OMG....I had deep, rich, restful awesome sleep and it was amazing
- And Doris picked me up from the airport on Sunday, and she'd made stir fry

Some fanfic stuff:

- Got a comment on my multi-chapter WIP from a new reader!
- And I read a really, really good fic. I am generous with comments though rarely do I honestly ever read a fic that I like as much as my own stuff. But I found one that i do love. (Also, gotta stop comparing myself but this fic has 154 kudos. I have two S&B fics with more than that, and I guess I just noted that because I'm happy to be in the company of such a good fic) 
- And a discussion on Reddit led to another new reader reading one of my fics and leaving a great comment

Comments

[nytshd3]

Glad the Denver trip went well! It's really only the second time you've been on a plane since 2020? Wow! It feels like there must have been more than that. I'm so glad the trip went so smoothly, and glad downloading your show to watch on the plane worked as expected! Yay!

Personally, I hate lugging my luggage around and I always check it. Yes, it's kind of a pain in the butt to have to wait for the luggage to arrive, but there seems to be no reason or rhyme for how long it takes. Sometimes it's there right away, sometimes it takes forever. The only time I regret checking a bag is if I"m traveling with someone who didn't and they're stuck waiting with me for my bag to come through. But not having to drag the bag with me (and being able to throw whatever size bottles I want to take with me into the checked luggage) is worth it to me. A couple of times I have checked everything except a purse and it was so freeing to just be able to walk around not dragging a bunch of stuff with me. Also, since I need a first class seat for my larger body, at least one checked bag is included, so I might as well get my money's worth for it.

Yay for more kudos on your fanfics!

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

It was only the second *business* trip by plane since 2020. I did have 2 personal trips (Alessandro! Sachin!) too.

Thanks again for the tip on downloading the show.

That is good perspective on the checking bags. Truly my only reason for avoiding doing so is in case of things like having to change delays or the bag being lost. But I am so tired of hauling my rollerbag wherever I go.

[nytshd3]

Ohhh maybe that's what I was thinking of!

One more thing about downloading the show - the download doesn't last forever, so the next time you have to go somewhere, you'll want to double check and see if it's still there, especially if it's been more than a few weeks.

I mean, I would probably be anxious about checking the bag if I had connecting flights. But if I'm flying direct I definitely consider it worth it, especially since I usually get to the airport pretty early and I don't want to have to be trapped in one spot with all of my stuff with me, like if I decide I want to go sit down at a restaurant to eat, I just have my little bag instead of having to try to figure out where to stash my big bag. I also like that if I check it, I don't have to worry about if it's too heavy for me to easily lift over my head, and I don't have to try to jam it into the space above the seats - I just have to keep it under the max weight (50lbs) and I can toss in what I want/need.

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

You know, you really got me thinking about the rollerbag situation. I think maybe all these decades in corporate America have gotten me wanting to do what most of my coworkers do...cram everything into their rollers so they always have them with them. It's like I feel like I *should* do it instead of checking a bag, and that just makes no sense. Maybe on my next 2 trips, I just need to check the damn bags and not even give it another thought!!

[nytshd3]

I mean, full disclosure, when we go to Savannah I will be checking my bag!

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

I am 100% supportive of that! I might just see how I feel on the day of.