Pod Love!

Living overseas and traveling a lot, my best travel companion is my iPod. It fits in a pocket, I don't have to buy an extra ticket, and it never complains about what I want to do or eat. Plus, it keeps me up to date on music and news (thanks to NPR podcasts).

Well, I have found a new "pod" to be in love with. I recently discovered Gorillapods. These things are great. I have traveled many places and have taken a lot of pictures, but there are none with me in them. The Gorillapod now makes that possible. If oyu aren't aware of what this is, it is a small little tripod, which fits in my favorite sightseeing attire, cargo shorts, and is super lightweight. The three legs are fully flexible. This is the feature that makes it awesome, you can wrap the tripod around a pole, or anything and mount your camera. All you need know is a timer and you too can star in your own travel photos! I used to take "Self portraits" by holding the camera in front of me and facing me. Now, I can get much more creative! :) iPod and Gorillapod ... don't leave home without it!

The Hills are alive...

So, a few months back, my neighbor decided it would be fun to take Paul for a ride up to Gasthaus Petersburg. Of course, he didn't tell me this until it was too late to redirect the route. I made it that time, but it wasn't easy, and with a profile like this, it shouldn't be!


So, I thought it would be good to train a little bit and then go back and attack it again! Well, Saturday, June 30th was the day. We left at 10:00 across the river to climb the hill. This time, it went much much better. It is amazing what a little bit of preperation will do.

Although, at the same time, that works against you. When we first moved here and I started riding, going up the hill to get back home was a challenge. Now, a two hour ride is an easy ride, which means to push it, I need to go out for a few more hours, not exactly family friendly. But, it is a good thing!

Well, that is all for this post. Next few will come quickly as I catch up on a few topics.

Gold is Good, Right?

So, as the title of my blog implies, I travel, a lot... In a previous blog I wrote about the size of my passport compared to the normal, standard issue one. Well now I have another battle scar of travel...

The only saving grace of traveling a lot is the frequent flyer/visitor clubs. And for those that travel a lot, getting to "premium" levels of membership has privileges, express check in, priority baggage handling, lounge access and even express security in some airports. My question is, if one attains a "premium" level, is that a good thing or a sign of something else?

Early in June when I flew to Mexico and back I hit my 50,000 mile mark on a Star Alliance airline. For those not familiar with these milestones, this is only counting from the beginning of the calendar year, yup in just over 5 months, I flew 50,000 miles. Since my frequent flyer club is Dividend Miles with US Airways, this makes me a Gold member. They even reminded me that I travel too much by sending me a html e-mail with the gold banner glaring at me.

Now, the really sad thing is this is just the end of June. I currently have over 58,000 miles (Mexico was worth 16,000 alone and they have only credited half the trip so far). Since summer is coming, I only have one trip officially booked which will get me another 2,000 miles. However, my home trip will be on a Star Alliance airline which will rack up 14,000 miles. I also have to make at least one additional trip to the US which will add another 14,000. In total, another 30,000 miles to get a grand total of 88,000 miles. I figure it will be about mid-August when US Airways sends me yet another reminder that I am away from home too much when I get the Platinum topped e-mail after 75,000 miles... If I make one additional trip to the US I will go over 100,000... I wonder what color will be at the top of the "Chairman's Club" e-mail...

The Longest Day of the year

Well, besides all the rain, this is a wonderful time of year here, mainly because of the long days! Yesterday the sunrise was officially 5:19 AM and sunset 9:49 PM. That being said, the sky has been staying light until at least 10:45. I couldn't tell you how early it is actually light, I do my best to avoid being up that early, and have been pretty success at it so far.

That is about it for now - enjoy the weekend!