The Redeye, and Giving LA One More Chance
March 27, 2004
As luck would have it, my first trip to LA combined two of my least favorite things about business travel—(1) being too busy with work to have any fun and (2) flying the redeye.
I didn’t know flying the redeye was one of my least favorite things because I had never done it before. Several things told me to never try it:
- I need my eight hours of sleep or I get really whiny
- I am not the type to sleep on any moving object, let alone a plane. All of my energy and concentration are required to keep the plane in the air, so I better not fall asleep on the job
- I have always preferred flying first thing in the morning, believing that a perky pilot is a safe pilot
However, I did manage to sleep, in a long series of catnaps over about a four-hour period. I actually think I would have slept more, but it is essentially impossible for someone of my height (6’2”) to get comfortable in a coach seat. As I drifted in and out of sleep, I kept wondering if they would let me lie down in the aisle.
As I alluded to earlier, my trip to LA was all highway and hotel, with brief sidetrips to—I kid you not—Kinko's and Universal Studios. This is not my kind of trip. First of all, I like to walk around (and go for runs) to experience a new place. I also like to get out of the hotels and go to businesses where locals might happen to gather—a diner or cafeteria for breakfast, maybe a pub for dinner.
So, at first glance, LA was a washout, and the redeye could have been the final punctuation. But I am more than ready to go back if I have to, and can even say that I am looking forward to it. Why, pray tell? Well, from what I can tell of Southern Californians, I like them. Granted, almost every local I spoke with was waiting on me—at the hotel, at Kinko's, at Universal Studios—but even in these engagements I sensed a consistent, kind regard that I don't experience in Boston. Of course, I could be fooling myself, but it is probably worth going going back and finding out.
Posted by Bill Trippe at March 27, 2004 5:30 PM
