Travel Nightmare | orchard.it

Between Jackson Hole and Genova…

I’m not one to make a mountain out of a molehill, but getting back home from Jackson ruined what was an otherwise excellent trip. With no car at the moment, the journey over was somewhat laborious : a lift to the station; train from Genova to Milano; subway to the suburbs and an overnight stay with cousins; subway to Linate; flight to Munich; flight to Houston; Uber; workshop with Deloitte; Uber; flight to Denver; meet-up with Bill; flight to Jackson Hole. Jackson was glorious and productive. I left on Saturday…read more

Between NY and Vegas…

It’s been good to get back on the road. The last couple of weeks I’ve visited Génova, Milano, Frankfurt, Boston, Chicago, Albany, Saratoga Springs, New York, Frankfurt, Milan, Génova, Milano, London, Las Vegas, London, Milano, and Génova. Quite a trip. Things were going smoothly until I collected my car at the airport in Milan last Friday and headed home for the weekend. Thirty minutes later I was rear-ended by a young woman who had been distracted enough to miss the queue of stopped cars in front of her. I guess…read more

…to Chicago

This was a doozy. Scheduled for a Monday morning flight landing in Chicago at 1pm, I received a series of texts from Lufthansa rescheduling me through London (3 hour delay) and then Rome (6 hour delay) – all due to a storm that was forecast to hit Northern Europe the next day. Knowing my chickens (as the Italians say), the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck in Rome, and so I began calling Lufthansa offices in order to better understand my options. Italy : no answer. Germany…read more

…from Vegas

A new record! Total accrued flight delays of 18 hours within a single 4-day business trip! First the baggage handlers broke the door seal on the plane in Frankfurt, requiring us to deplane, change aircraft, leave for Denver 8 hours late, miss the last flight to Vegas and finally arrive 15 hours after our original ETA. On the way home the valve that balances the fuel between both wings stuck (fortunately just before takeoff). We sat on the plane for 3 hours while someone hit it with a hammer before…read more

…from San Francisco

What’s the worst thing you can imagine happening to your plane? Late arrival? Blocked toilet? How about exploding engine mid-flight? It was already 10pm when we took of from SFO -> Munich, so we could see the flames engulfing number 1 engine as a series of explosions shook the fuselage. There were a lot of “Oh God, oh God”-s and the girl next to me went into full panic attack and required restraining. I broke the rules and wrote a short note to the wife. Fortunately the captain was able…read more

…from NY

After a good couple of days in Brooklyn that included an evening at Flushing Meadow to see Serena Williams and Federer… …Alitalia went on strike – delaying my Rome -> Genova flight for 9 hours. Groovy. Best option : train. Rome Airport -> Rome -> Milan -> Genova. 6 hours. Then taxi to Genova airport to pick up the car, and finally home.

…from Detroit

This one was particularly memorable. The first leg of my 7pm flight Detroit -> Chicago -> Munich -> Genova was delayed due to storms in NY where the plane was coming from. This meant missing the international flight, so United changed my itinerary to Detroit -> Chicago -> Copenhagen -> Munich -> Genova with an arrival delay of just 4 hours. So far so good. Next, SAS cancelled the Copenhagen flight before I made it out of Detroit. Back into the queue for the service desk. To cut a very…read more

“Open Up – This is the Police”

Mostly my stays in hotels are OK. I occasionally have to go back down to the lobby when my keycard doesn’t work, or (like this week in Munich) I get less sleep than I’d like because thousands of Oktoberfesters sing in the street until the early hours. Like I said – not a big problem. Sometimes though shit happens that not only ruins the trip, but also makes you wonder if we aren’t living in a simulation… A couple of weeks ago I visited Chicago – a splendid city that…read more

To San Jose…

This is more of a boast than a beef. I may have set my new record for ridiculous business travel. OK check this out : Monday Genova -> Rome -> Detroit -> Phoenix Tuesday -> Salt Lake City -> San Jose Wednesday -> Cupertino -> Santa Cruz -> Los Angeles Thursday -> Paris -> Genova

…to Chicago

Voltaire wrote in his poem “La Bégueule” that “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien”. Sometimes perfection is the enemy of the good; and in my attempt to arrive in Chicago at a perfect 1pm (waking at 4.30 and connecting through 3 cities), I ended up in Frankfurt, delayed for 6 hours. It’s a common story, but frustrating nonetheless. A relatively tight connection, a slightly delayed flight, and UTTER INCOMPETENCE from ground crew, and my productive day turns into a waiting game. In this case I was first off the plane,…read more