the year ahead in travel

I have rung in almost every New Year from my hometown in Montana. This has not always been by choice, but holiday ticket prices and family obligations have tended to conspire against more exotic trip-planning at this time of year. I'm here again this year, laying low at my mom's place in between seeing friends and visiting family.

In a way, it makes sense to contemplate the year ahead in travel from here. Montana is where my travel habit got its start. In high school I used to drag my friends to the small parking lot abutting the runway of the local airport. We'd hang out in the car, listen to music, and wait for planes to land (which happened, at most, once-per-hour.) It was from our single terminal, single runway airport that I took off on my first big trips: Portland with mom, school-hunting in Chicago, France with the French Club.

Today I head to the same airport en route to New York on what will be the first official travel of this year. Tomorrow I'm back at work. And while I'm less than enthused about the weeks of winter that lie ahead in a cold and grey New York, the year ahead in travel looks bright. Excursions to Australia, San Francisco, Montreal, and Peru already dot the 2010 landscape. More short itineraries are in the works.

And yet a new year in travel brings with it a new year in travel anxieties. I already foresee conflicts with my boss over time off. A weak dollar almost guarantees money will be tighter on overseas trips. And with new security restrictions in place at the airports and planes packed full, I worry about my own my patience with the travel process wearing thin.

Where are you going in 2010? What are your travel anxieties? Will you have enough time off work? Do you have the money?

take-off

A few months ago I boarded a flight from JFK airport in New York for an extended weekend in Madrid. After eight and a half hours of recycled air and fitful dozing in an economy class seat, I arrived in Barajas airport under-slept, stiff, and annoyed at the ample morning sunshine. It was jet-lag at its worst: an entire day and a foreign city loomed large. What, I thought as I walked down the eerily quiet arrival hall in Terminal 4, am I doing here?

Truth told, I ask myself that question with more frequency than I like to admit. I am a travel fanatic. In the past twelve months I've been lucky enough to manage four separate international trips interspersed with a number of domestic jaunts from my base in New York to the west coast. All of this I manage while holding down full-time work.

But I always wonder, is it worth it? Part-time traveling presents its own challenges, ranging from the practical (can I get that extra day off?) to the existential (what exactly is my carbon footprint?) Yet for all its annoyances and frustrations, the alternatives, whether giving up work to travel full-time or reducing my travel to a once-off cruise or beach vacation, both seem undoable. Regular travel keeps me sane. And something's gotta pay for the travel.

Weekend Wanderer is my little space on the internet dedicated to surviving my own travel lifestyle. I'll do my best not to regurgitate the well-worn travel blog. There won't be tedious entries documenting where I went I what I saw. And there won't be lists of 'how-to's' and 'ten best things to see in XYZ city.' Since I'm just getting started, I'm not sure exactly what's in store. But if you're like me, maybe you'll have something to say about living life as an avid part-time traveler, whether it's about killing time in airports, fighting for time off work, efficient packing, obsessing over frequent flier miles, or maximizing 48 hours in a new city.

I'm taking off on a trip in the next couple of days. And, if you're reading this, you are probably planning something, too. I hope you'll share your part-time travel experiences on Weekend Wanderer. And I'll see you (at the airport) soon.

Brian