To start, I have always rather liked airports and airplanes, and am looking forward to getting back into them. Some treat both of these as if they should be shunned, but I have always seen them as a marvel and a beginning.

A “marvel” because the fact that we can travel to anywhere on this glorious planet in one or two days is often treated as passé. We were so used to traveling that planes had really become something of a normal way of life for many of us. But think of it – we can potentially see anything on this planet we want to see via them (and their cousins – cars and ships of all stripes). Essentially, we can be transposed from our current location by a machine of our devising which travels about 500 miles an hour (or over 800 kms/hour) at a height of about 35,000 feet or 6.6 miles (that’s almost 11 kms in Canadian) … Numbers are hard though, but think of it this way… The average person can jump about 17 inches high – so, about a foot and a half – and again, a plane flies at about 35,000 feet! Just stop and think about that – a plane is 6.6 miles up and headed to somewhere you may have never been before. Anyway, planes are a miracle imho. A long way from stone axes and wheels to be sure.

As for a “beginning” each time I am on a plane, or at an airport, it marks the beginning of an adventure. There is no way to really know what is going to happen from that point on. It is my job to plan geeky adventures, but really “no plans survive unchanged after contact with…” the destination. I always meet new people and always see new things no matter where I am traveling. Planes and airports are also, as I have said, a means to see friends, loved ones and new people in new places. When I step off the plane there might be a good game waiting for me on the other side, or a monument, or a battlefield or some natural wonder. Or frankly – in the post Covid world – a heartfelt hello, hug or warm greeting from a reunited friend. Sometimes when I am looking for one, I will find the other.

So here I am at the start of another adventure into the marvelous world.

How has covid changed how I travel though? Well for one I am now in self isolation. Yes, two weeks out and I am making a real effort to be even more distant than at the height of the pandemic. We are masking in the house and sleeping in separate rooms. This all as most restrictions are being dropped around the world. The reason is not that I am particularly worried about the disease (as above), but that if I contract it now, I will not be allowed to cross the Canadian-US border. I do believe in the restrictions (we all have to do our best to limit the disease’s spread and to keep new variants checked), but a positive test would be quite devastating for me. It would stop me cold on any upcoming adventure. I would be denied my airports, my airplanes, my friends, my international community and perhaps even your camaraderie.

It sucks, but I have to do my best to see you. It is not all bad. It means I will read more, solo game some Ghost Archipelago, watch a movie or two and get some painting done. Not all bad, and my wife seems happy for some reason…not sure why… 😊

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you soon. Be well and fill up your life.

Teras