Road Signs

Travel Day Monday was one of the best on record.

All Road Warriors have little signs on the Road. On-time departures, good room, good car, the powerful Checker-Inners hooking you up—these positive signs indicate a good week is ahead. All of my signs lined up today. This has never happened to me before. Never ever. Must be the Luck o' The Irish.

Or, maybe TDM wasn’t that bad, because Pack Day Sunday was an absolute nightmare. I spent the good part of Sunday recovering from St. Patrick’s Day and packing for twelve days. And six flights. And four airports. And three rental cars. And five hotel rooms. And three airlines. And two climates. And, there are tennis players, brothers of tennis players and multiple Road Boyfriends involved. I was packing all sorts of things: button downs, going out shirts, going out bags, night clothes, day clothes, jeans, juicys, flip-flops, work shoes, baseball hats, canvas beach bags, sneakers, work suits, bathing suits, sweater sets, cover-ups, sunblock…it got complicated. The result: two carry-ons and two small checked bags. This Road Warrior firmly believes that it’s better to overpack than underpack.

I started Travel Day Monday on a slow note. It was hard to get out of bed—I knew that I wouldn’t be back in it for about 12 nights. I said goodbye to Fah and Buster and finally got out of bed after eight snoozes. I have six snoozes built into the morning, so I was running late to the plane. Vital drove the speed limit. And, so I got to the Check-In Counter one minute over the cut-off time, but Check-In Counter Man just let me on the flight. No real begging--just a sarcastic little one-liner that I would lose my job if I didn’t make the flight. He was like, ok, Ms. Jammahs. Here ya go. It was so easy. I said my usual Monday morning greetings to the Delta Shuttle ID Checker. She wished me a safe flight. I was on my way.

As I sat in an Open Seat Window, I finally relaxed. The packing was done, Vital only charged me $7 for waiting time, I had made my way onto the flight and there was no one sitting in the Open Seat Aisle. Things were good. I turned on my Airplane playlist and even fast forwarded through Adam Duritz singing, “You get what you paid for, but I just had no intention of living this way….I need a phone call. I need a plane ride. I need a sun burn….” On Travel Day Monday, I often need all of those things and it’s comforting to hear that others do, too. But, today, Jammahs was going to listen to something more upbeat like L.O.V.E. by the talented “artist”, Ashlee Simpson on my Gym playlist… “All my girls, stand in a circle and clap your hands this is for you….” The flight left on time, there was no unexpected turbulence and there weren't any Talkers near me.

I made my way to the Avis preferred parking lot. My name was on the board. My car was in the spot. And, the car was clean. There was a WSJ on the seat. And, my car is normal and sort of bad-ass as far as rentals go. It’s a Jeep. Not a model that I’m familiar with, but close enough to bring me back to my old high school days of when I shared a Grand Cherokee in white with Sister. The Avis Wizard pimped my ride.

As I was driving to the client site on the pretty GW Parkway, cruising in my Jeep, I flipped through the radio stations and on came Mr. Brightside by The Killers. I only know like every four words, but found myself belting out “It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss….” Wise words. I was singing. It was sunny out. I was energetic on a Travel Day Monday. And, I hadn’t had any caffeine. Was I possessed? Still drunk from St. Patrick’s Day?

The good travel karma continued as I checked into the Marriott. I know that all you readers of MLWTCO have been sitting on the edge of your airplane seats, wondering and anticipating my room assignment. Well, CIM gave me a really nice room. With soft pillows. I hate when you get a room with all hard pillows. It’s a King size bed, away from the ice machine and elevator. And, it has a view of the parking lot—which worked out well, b/c I left the lights on in my mid-size Avis rental. How fortunate is that? Things just lined right up.

Maybe the positive road signs will keep up for the next eleven days, five flights, three airports, two rental cars, four hotel rooms, two airlines and one climate change. Yeah, right. Too many factors there. And, we all know that Jammahs has the worst travel karma. I guess it's just important to embrace and appreciate the love from Counter Check-In Man, TSA, The Avis Wizard, Hotel Check-In Man, etc. while they throw it your way.