Life Moves Too Fast

Road trip!

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

Even today that is one of my favorite quotes about travel. As I went on in a post earlier this month, to deny yourself the opportunity to visit and take in culture, history or simple endulgence is doing yourself a disservice. And traveling by car on a long-distance road trip is far and away one of the best ways to quench that need to ‘get away’. Many friends would call me the ‘road trip king’, for my many attempts to outdue myself during the younger years. Some people read, some watch television or listen to the radio, I drive to relax. And with the summer season upon us, let it be road trip season.

At least once a year I must quench my desire to hit the open road and drive. Ever since receiving my license, I have enjoyed the simple pleasure of being behind the wheel on the interstate. Visions of the 1960s family vacations, piled in the station wagon, surely come to your mind. But nontheless, any trip that involves travel by car counts here. I was raised in a home that considered travel the cornerstone of our family. I would say our trips by car and plane were equally divided, 50/50, but I have fond memories of riding in the backseat to Grandma’s in Alabama. My mom would gasp, but I clearly remember sitting on my dads lap at seven years old on our trip from St Louis to California. In my own driving years, a buddy and I once left high school and drove to Chicago on a Friday evening. Our parents would never have approved of this stunt, and therefore we only had enough time to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe before driving back. We just wanted to take the car out on a nice spring day.

Memorial Day has typically ushered in road trip season. I am curious to see how gas prices affect peoples’ choices to travel this summer. I would say that current prices will need to double before I put this tradition on the shelf myself. I am craving to plan where we can go this year. Here are some memorable trips of the past few years:

In 2004 the newly-wed wife and I left St Louis on a Wednesday evening on a week long trip through the American Southwest. Our itinerary tried to get us to the Grand Canyon by sundown, Thursday, and despite needing a nap at a Super 8 in Oklahoma, we made it just in time to see the canyon at dusk. We spent the next few days making our way home slowly through the Navajo nation, Monument Valley and southern Utah and Colorado. Colleen even stood in four states at once.

In 2005 I piled into the front of my brothers SUV and we drove all the way to Seattle from St Louis in 3 days. This trip was memorable to me for being able to see the vast wildnerness of states like Wyoming and Montana. You cannot truly appreciate Montana’s motto Big Sky Country until you drive across it. I claimed Devils Tower for my own on that trip.

In 2006 we drove to Montréal, Québec. I got to take my wife to see Niagara Falls and she got her first taste of converting speed and distance to the metric system. I never knew how truly beautiful Montréal was.

In 2007 we regrettably made most of our trips by air and I regret this very much. To reconnect with the road, one weekend we simply woke up and decided to take a trip. We had no plans and no destination, but ended up later that day in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Never knew Arkansas had so many gems. This was probably one of my favorite trips to date, we had a lot of fun.

So where do we go this year? The quest is quickly pointing to getting us to the final states we have left to visit. I have but three: North Dakota, Alaska and Oregon. Obviously the states that have little convenience by road from our home. The wife - she has yet to visit Minnesota or Wisconsin. An idea has been thrown around to drive to the Northwoods for some hiking and camping. But secretely I’d love to take another week off and drive west. We will just have to see what tickles our fancy.

Some road-trip fun facts:

• The first recorded road trip was attested in stele in the court of Ramses II. He was said to “come down on the Medeans in his chariot after driving allnight from Memphis.” Road trips were important throughout antiquity. Alexander’s march into India was described the historian Nearchus. During the Roman Republic it was not uncommon for young patrician men to gather together to tour the Roman world. Jung even identified the Road trip as persistent element of human culture.
  Although the modern road trip can trace its roots to post-WWII America, road tripping in general began long before The Great War.

• The first successful transcontinental trip by automobile took place in 1903, and was piloted by H. Nelson Jackson, Sewall Crocker, and a canine by the name of Bud. The trip was completed using a 1903 Winton Touring Car, dubbed “Vermont” by Jackson. The trip took a total of 63 days between San Francisco and New York, and cost US$8,000. The total cost included items such as food, gasoline, lodging, tires, parts, other supplies, and the cost of the Winton.

    Tags: Road Trip, Roadtrip, Travel

How Would We Live Without It

Somedays I take technology for granted. The speed at which emails can make it around the office, a phone call from Europe sounds as if it were made next door, the wonder of SMS or perhaps just the microwave in the kitchen, all of it is impressive. It is the simple conveniences in life that make it worth living in this generation, right? Or maybe we’ve all just become lazy. Nevertheless, you cannot ignore the sheer advances we have been afforded in the last decade or less.

Today, for instance, between attempts at being productive, I followed live text feeds via the BBC from the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow. Through the power of the web, almost real time updates by the second of the match and the goals, penalties and kicks appeared on my desktop. Without the ability to watch live, these ‘live casting’ feeds are the next best thing for sports fans stuck at the office on match day. Oh and I am happy to see Man-U defeated Chelsea.

So when the match ended, conversing with a buddy via instant message, we realized ESPN HD was showing a reply at 6pm. I certainly did not think ahead to record this on another technolustable device, the DVR. But alas, DIRECTV lets you access your DVR from the web and schedule programming. Just log into your account, find your saved units, and browse the TV listings. Anything you want to record, just click the program, make a few choices and voila your DVR is set. Now how about that.

Sure, these applications and advances are nothing new, but stop and look at some of them every once in a while. My next investment in technology will be to make my house ’smart’. That means connect household appliances to be powered via the web or remote. One of my lusts is the ability to constantly monitor the temperature at home via the web and adjust my thermostat accordingly. Wait, I see you rolling your eyes. But really, it is a shame not to take advantage of these toys, right?

And yes, technolustable is a word. I just made it up.

Microsoft riding the coat tails again?

Image courtesy Apple

I read last night the cover article of Fast Company’s May issue. Can Crispin Porter + Bogusky resurrect Microsoft’s image in the marketplace as the ‘do-it-all’ consumer and enterprise company, or is it simply riding the coat tails of their good friends in Cupertino? I grew up a Windows user. I typed my first report on my parents’ Windows 3.0 machine, and have drank the Redmond coolaid ever since. On the contrary, my wife prays to Steve Jobs every night and is surrounded at all times by the almighty Apple logo. Our household is, shall we say, a little like the Hungarian Revolution, with almost daily revolts. But lets get back to the story at hand, shall we.

The article goes on to talk about how Crispin’s mac-loving staff is wrapping their hands around Microsoft’s products and embracing them to understand how to appeal to the masses. Is it possible? Crispin is responsible for the ‘return of the king’ Burger King ads, many of Volkswagen’s memorable numbers, and everyone remembers the Mini Cooper-blitz when the car maker re-established itself in North America a few years back. If there was anyone that could put MSFT’s money to good use, it would be Crispin.

The Apple crowd frowns on Redmond as if it were the gates of hades. My understanding of Microsoft, however, is more of acceptance. Is that the right feeling? Eh. Basically, MSFT accomplishes it’s own success simply by bullying the other schoolyard kids. Much like a tobacco lobbyist, they throw their weight around with hardware and software vendors to such an extent that Apple and the other inventive kids are left to find their own playground. So, we all have to come to terms and live with Windows. I do not particular loathe their products, just how they go about doing business. (I did opt for XP when ordering my new Dell laptop in December, so…). And business is something I enjoy talking about. That is why I would be interested to see how the public, not just the I-have-no-other-choice enterprise customer, receives Crispin’s work. They certainly have their jobs cut out for them.

My dear wife tells me that all MSFT does is ride the coat tails of Apple. She points to products like Vista, or Office 2007, all with very similar Apple features. Now hiring the same ad agency that produced the MSFT-bashing ‘Mac vs PC’ ads, seems a bit of a stretch. If it were any other agency, I would expect to see a ‘PC vs Mac’ spoof. But, luckily, I think we’ll get some really creative pieces here when the campaign gets underway in July. Can MSFT be respected again? We will have to wait and see.

Don’t You Forget About Me

I’m a sucker for 80’s movies, lets just state that as a fact. I am clearly infatuated with the movies of this decade, much to the chagrin of my stepfather in law. Something about the mindless humor, character relationships and, I would argue, well-written scripts has made me a fan for life. I would not qualify myself a film connoisseur as the definition is known to be. A buff perhaps. Nevertheless, throughout my childhood and frankly most of my adulthood, many of my stories will relate to a movie filmed or produced between 1984 and 1990. This conveniently aligns with when I was probably at my most influential age. I have no doubt my parents would regret letting me watch Beverly Hills Cop at age 10 if I had known what Eddie Murphy was really talking about at the time.

Lets start with the easy ones that have had a good influence on many: the brat pack flicks. The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, or St Elmo’s Fire. These movies all resonate with many of us. Before I even know what perceived strife these teens were going through in their character roles, I felt connected.

Ask anyone and they will tell you how I admire John Hughes and his characters. Hughes’ ability to write and produce amazing characters that people everywhere related to, is hard to ignore. I admit, I am just a idolizing fan. John Candy, to this day, is one of my most favorite actors. Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, need I continue. Again, mindless movies but such great entertainment. Nevertheless, the rainy Sunday blues can always be cured with an afternoon of John Hughes.

Of course, nothing compares to the adventure movies of the era. Who raised between 1980 and 1990 cannot relate to The Goonies. Goonies never die! Of course, Indiana Jones and Marty McFly were household names. Their box sets sit proudly on my DVD shelf.

My Top 20 favorite 80s movies:

#1) Ferris Buellers Day Off
#2) Spies Like Us
#3) Planes, Trains and Automobiles
#4) Aliens
#5) Real Genius
#6) The Great Outdoors
#7) The Secret of My Success
#8) Can’t Buy Me Love
#9) Die Hard
#10) A Fish Called Wanda
#11) Ghostbusters
#12) Goonies
#13) Crocodile Dundee
#14) Sixteen Candles
#15) Gung-Ho
#16) Big Trouble in Little China
#17) Spaceballs
#18) Stripes
#19) War Games
#20) National Lampoon’s Vacation

What are yours?

Is traveling First Class still worth it?

I upgraded to first class yesterday on both legs to and from Dallas and it begs the question, does anyone pay full fare for First these days? Like myself, I am sure most that sit ‘up front’ upgrade using points or cash when the seats are released. What strikes me enough to warrant a topic on this is how this luxury has changed over the last few years. From my point of view, domestically, paying full fare in first leaves much to be desired.

My first leg was on a Super 80 aircraft. What makes you scratch your head first is your seat itself. While offering a better pitch and wider seat, you are forced to use the same tray-table-that-folds-from-your-armrest contraption that still, decades later, is an invention that should never have been made. Secondly, no PTVs. Thankfully this flight is short, but American uses the same equipment for even longer legs such as St Louis to Seattle or Dallas to New York. Would you truly pay full fare First and not get in-flight entertainment? Lastly, we were served absolutely no food. Nothing. My orange juice was served in a real glass, which is a treat, but that was it folks. Again, for a 75 minute flight, few could get hungry enough to enjoy a formal meal, but the principle here still is, this is First.

I upgraded on the flight home, which had a late 9:30 departure, on a 757. Same story, no PTV and no food. Though this time I simply slept.

I remember as a kid flying in First to Europe. Aboard a huge TWA 747 for Frankfurt, I tried caviar for the first time. You paid for the pleasure of being waited on hand and foot. The standard was prime service and an impressive menu. Nowadays, the service still exists, but only on long haul flights using larger aircraft. The simple principle of First Class service has changed, nevertheless.

What airlines and aircraft still operate domestic First Class service? Share your experiences in the comments.