Smooth

I’m getting better at this travel-to-the-UK thing. Last night I had another trip across the water, one that I was not really looking forward to. I do like attending events, and meeting new people/seeing friends, but with Tia coming out of surgery, I didn’t want to leave. Add that to the fact that I am spending 32 hours traveling (1pm – 5am door to door one way) and 43 hours in London, it seems a little silly. However that’s the price I pay for this great job and agreeing to support my company with events in their native country.

With the surgery, and managing the house, I was pressed to go. Fortunately I almost have a go-bag packed. Tues night, I threw in two changes of clothes in about 10 minutes, added contacts and vitamins (my “usables) and my roller was packed. I dropped my laptop and cord in the other bag, and I was packed. I ‘m glad I checked for my passport, which I’d pulled out for some reason after the last trip, but it was in my desk and once that was added, I was essentially ready to go in 15 minutes. We’ll see if I brought everything tomorrow when I speak.

I’ve tried a few flights, but the 3:44 from DEN->IAD, and then the 9:55 IAD-LHR is the best flight for me. I land in DC, get off quickly and walk down to the other end of the terminal and within 5 minutes, I’m boarding the next flight. As long as the first one isn’t delayed, this works out great. For the first time this year I was also upgraded to First, which was nice. That means I had 3 glasses of wine, managed to stay awake after being up at 5:00am, and then fell asleep almost immediately on the next flight, only awake for about an 2 hours of the 6+ hour flight. I was actually fairly refreshed when we landed.

I used to worry a bit about getting around in the UK, but I’ve become more comfortable. I bought a ticket on the Heathrow Express, had a quick 25 minute trip into town and then a couple Underground stops to get to me hotel. I hadn’t mapped it beforehand, but thanks to the wi-fi on the train and a smartphone, I found the closest tube stop, and saved the map on Android so I could find the hotel. I walked over in a few minutes, couldn’t check in, but grabbed a table to work at for a few hours.

My office for a few hours, and I’ve been productive so far.

No checked bags, almost no stops in the Heathow airport to get from the airport to the train, and I feel pretty good.

Now to practice some presentations.