We started out with some solo hikes / runs around the hotel. Then we went o the Sedona Airport Loop which had great views on the hike. It might have been a good idea to all turn back as it ended with two of us running in the rain. However, then we all claimed a lookout to take some pictures in the rain. Finally, we drove back to Phoenix (through hail nonetheless) and played games with Kent, and hung out with Great Grandma Gott before the big kids and I had to run to the airport. Such a great short trip with tons of family time.

What started out as an overcast day of shopping and good food in the hotel as well as the Cowboys Club for lunch. Turned out to be a great afternoon of blue sky as we were able to take a hike on a trail by our hotel.

Devil’s Bridge like that I am still shocked that all kids hiked the 2 miles there and 2 miles back with smiles on their faces for the most part. Also, we got to spend the day with Cousin Anna. After that we had Ice Cream, swam in the pool/hot tub, and ended the night watching the sunset.

Morning hiking, afternoon in the pool 😂game time with Kent, and dinner with Grandma Gott.

I am no road warrior when it comes to traveling but I feel like over my 15+ year career I have traveled a fair amount. However, most of my travel comes in waves, a lot in a row and then nothing at all.

For example, right now I am currently traveling and will get back later this week. I will be home for 2 weeks then a vacation with the whole family where we will be traveling for about a week. Once I get back from that I will have a weekend with the family before boarding a plane again. That time, however, will be an international trip which always adds to some travel complexities.

I typically don't mind traveling except that I have to be away from my family and potentially miss activities of theirs. However, what makes things worse is the pending appointments of flight departures. The hurry up and wait of it all is really nothing special. I am sure I was annoyed with it when I was fresh out of college traveling but maybe I didn’t care as much now. Or it might have been because I was so much younger and didn't have anything else going on.

What makes that even worse is when you have a flight later in the day and your whole day gets sucked into making sure you can leave on time. Or even worse then you feel you can't do anything all day as you want to make sure you leave at the optimal time.

There are too many variables when flying that sometimes suck the enjoyment out of air traveling. Let’s start from the top and work through a couple of items that make the pending appointment of air travel less fun.

Getting to the Airport

Travel times, yep you know what I am talking about is there traffic and if so how bad is it? Should I drive or call a car? If I take Uber or Lyft, will they be on time? If I drive, how long will it take me to park and get to the airport?

Security Line

How early should I really arrive? What if the security line is really long and it takes over the allotted times.

Delayed flights

The flight is delayed, should I leave later? Should I still go at the same time because remember that time the switch it to later and then the plane came in early and it wasn't as long as they said. How delayed do you think it will be? Will I make my connection? When will I get to my destination? Do you think the flight will be canceled? If so, how do I rebook or get a new flight?

You see all of those questions that run through your head and then you have to calculate the time back to your starting point of leaving the house. Not to mention if you have a flight later in the day you keep thinking about it and wondering if the time you planned to leave for the airport is right or if you should go earlier.

Then after you think you have answered all of your questions for airplane travel, you realize you haven't consulted the Weather! Well, that throws a wrench into everything and you have to start at the top again to see how that might affect what you already decided on ideal departure.

This seems out of place

Well hope you enjoyed these random thoughts while I sit in the airport for a 3 hr delayed flight that was supposed to leave at 8:30 pm but we are now not leaving till 11:30 pm and arriving around 2:30 am local time. Don’t worry though I only have an 8:00 am meeting to make sure I am awake for. ?

Miscalculated or having time to Kill in the Airport?

Just as I was going to hit the publish button this came up in my feed so I figured I would share it in case you made a mistake in your calculation or are delayed 3 hours like I was, 10 ways to Survive a Long Airport Layover by Jodie from Travelettes.

Have you ever been gearing up for a trip and fell into the trap of buying a lot of things because of that upcoming “trip”?

Earlier this year I went on a 2-week business trip to Germany and the above scenario happened to me in the weeks preceding me leaving the US. It started with the question of how can I pack most efficiently as I didn’t want to check baggage through since I wanted to be somewhat mobile on the weekend. So as I was looking over my typical packing, which is normally pretty minimal as for a week travel in the US I use my Kelty Versant Duffel.

However, knowing I was going to be gone longer and over the weekend, I knew I would use a little bigger bag but really wanted to try to squeeze everything into a small carry-on suitcase order to make travel from hotel to hotel much easier. So I decided to update my list a little bit before I knew it I was looking at my things and thinking there was probably something better than I could buy instead of taking similar items that I currently own.

The Problem Started Brewing

While packing my clothes I got this idea that if I bought some pants that would be comfortable enough to wear walking around but still look nice enough to wear to work a couple days over the trip that would be money worthwhile. So what did I do, what everyone does when they want something by heading to Amazon. However, it didn’t stop there…

I wanted to work out so I was going to take some running shoes, however, the ones I had wouldn’t work for casual at work and running as they are bright yellow and pretty worn at this point. Speaking of shoes though, maybe I should just get some new casual / dress shoes so I might not have to bring my actual dress shoes. Don’t you think some new socks are in order too? Also, I didn’t want to take my two phones along (long story), so I needed to buy a new phone workout band for the time I was away. Finally, I needed a different phone charger as the long cord just wouldn’t cut it as I didn’t want all that excess cord in my pocket when it was charging on the go. Before I knew it I had a list of “Needs” that probably totaled more than $400 and in 2 days boxes started showing up from Amazon.

You see what just happened there, it was so easy for my mind to justify purchasing and elevated things from a “Want” to a “Need” prior to my work trip. Once I had my mindset on packing light, I opened the floodgates of unnecessary purchases and I ended up with things I typically wouldn’t have bought myself till it was absolutely necessary.

Backpedaling to my Frugal Self

In the end, I came to my senses before it was too late and started to backpedal on what was really a need for this trip. Thankfully all of the items I had purchased had free returns. I did still end up keeping some of them and I feel good about it to this day as I know I have used them every week since.

Ok, two more plugs as I am still running in those Asics shoes above and the prAna pants are amazing too. I can get by wearing them to work because they look good depending on what shirt I wear.

When was the last time you were getting ready for something like a big trip and you all of a sudden let the floodgates of purchases happen?

Over my life, I have traveled to quite a few different airports in the US and overseas.  During most of my trips, I need to get a rental car in order to get to my final destination.  I just got back from my last trip and this really made me think about how the travel industry (looking at you Airlines) is moving in this direction of buy-ups. As always, Tripp and Tyler have done it again by giving everyone a glips into how it sometimes goes down.

My Thoughts

I have to admit as much as I enjoyed the video, I can't remember the last time I had rental car issues.  However, since travel frequently most companies have my profile on file that allows me to walk up and grab a car and drive away. Avoiding that discussion with a sales agent trying to get me to buy more. I remember when that wasn't the case and I felt they were trying to sell me every part of the car and all I got was the shell. I just remember being confused what was really included in the quote when I ordered the car.

Airlines are in this game as well but to varying degrees based on the airline, you travel. It seems more airlines are going in this direction as well and it is really disappointing but a the same time I get what they are trying to do. They are trying to make people feel they are getting a great price at the time of purchase only to find out it didn't include everything. The worst part is all of these "fees" really add up for airlines and more than likely going to the bottom line.

It is very common these days that if you are not a regular flyer or have a credit card for the airline you are flying you more than likely will have to pay baggage fees. Some airlines are now going to start charging customers for full size carry on's depending on the ticket you purchase (Thanks United!) Then, of course, there have been the odd one from a while back where one airline was charging people to use the bathroom. Yes, the Bathroom. I believe that didn't stick around but you can see that you need to be careful when booking travel and make sure you know what you bought.

What are your thoughts? Do you think companies should just give you one flat cost and have everything included? Or should they give you a base price and then have you pay for upgrades / additional services.

Rounded

One of my favorite Light Houses to visit mostly because the hike out to the Light House has to be timed just right and you don’t want to get stuck on one of the islands along the way.  Not to mention you can find lots of animals during that low tide that would otherwise be under sometimes 22 ft of water.

Danger!

Atop

Path

I am flying back from a 3-day work trip, and thanks to the WordPress offline app I can write while at 10k feet.

One of the strange tricks my mind tells me is that when I am going to go on a work trip I will have more free time.  It tells me I will have time to explore the city, write, read more, watch a movie at the hotel or even work out more.  However, most of all that is a myth as what ends up happening is going to the office at my normal time but staying much later than normal.  Then that is normally followed up by going out to dinner with consultants or co-workers which always lasts much longer than anticipated.  Now I am not saying I don't have fun eating and chatting with others (much better than eating by myself) but it is things my mind always forgets happen when I am thinking/planning for an upcoming trip.

In the upcoming months, I will be traveling about once per month and I am hoping it will allow me to do more of the things that I have hoped to do when traveling.  Since I have found with most things so far this year, creating a habit or setting a goal would be a great start.  I will make sure to keep you posted on how it goes and hopeful can share any tips/tricks I might have found helpful.

Have you ever fallen into this travel myth?

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I am on the second day of my vacation and am finally finding time to finish/publish this post I started. In case I don't write another post before Christmas, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Edge

“You weren’t born to just pay bills and die."

My wife sent me this quote the other day and it really made me reflect on things so I thought I would share.  I decided to put that quote on a photo I took while hiking with a good friend in Colorado a couple of years back.  In fact, my wife bought me the plane ticket to go see my friend for my birthday and looking back it was a great present as it got me to do what I had been talking about doing since I left college but kept saying to myself I was too busy.

I was more out of shape back then as I hadn’t gotten into the swing of running again but it was well worth it once we made it to the top.  It was a gorgeous day and the view from the top of Estes Cone was awesome.  Luckily, the trail we took, which started at Longs Peak Trailhead, wasn’t too strenuous and I would suggest it to anyone that finds themselves in the area.

Here are a couple other pictures I took from the peak, hiking up, and from the base of the mountain to give you a feel for how high up we were.

With Google Street View you can now visit Machu Picchu and walk around just as you were there in real life but from your home.  Since I have been fortunate to visit Machu Picchu two times in my life I had to check this out after finding this video published today.

Using Street View to check out the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu and it is almost just as amazing walking along looking at it on my computer as it was standing there.  Still to this day I remember walking around the site that is sitting at around 7,970 ft (2,430 meters) above sea level.

I decided to find a place on the street view map that I knew I had a photo of as it is hanging up in my house.  Here is two pictures I took back in December 2009 when I last visited there.  As you can see it was a wonderfully rainy/overcast day.  However, that didn't deter us from making the most of it and wandering around the place.

The specific place at Machu Picchu we took those photos from is called the "House of the Guardian to the Funerary Rock."   So I used the Google Street View to find that exact spot show below (you can start there by clicking here as well).

As you can see the people at Google had great weather and clear blue sky's which makes for a great Street View to click around and see the ancient city.  Another interesting find is that you can actually take a walk on the entire Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which I have never done before so this was definitely interesting to see what I have missed (*add to bucket list).

Also, if you are into more history you should check out the Google Cultural Institute collection titled Wonders of Machu Picchu as they teamed up with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture for the initiative.

I have so many more stories of my time in Peru that maybe I will share pieces of it at a later date.  However, now that I have scrolled through the Street Views and looking at old pictures again I think I am ready to go back and visit....  Anyone else?