It was a day of client meetings in London on Wednesday, December 11th, and while I settled down nicely once I arrived at Radisson Blu Portman, from that long trek the night before, I had difficulty falling asleep. Of course. It was about 5 AM when I did, but then it was difficult to get up at 7 AM, as I planned.
I managed my cash rather well on this European tour, and I am thankful that my client took care of flight and hotel expenses. So I just had to have cash for the taxis to their office and back to the hotel. It was £12 each way, and £2 tip must've been generous, given how thankful the drivers were.
I napped for an hour, and rested for a handful in all, before hitting the gym in the evening. I used to want to get out and explore the city, but with all the traveling I've done, I know that rest and exercise trump sightseeing. This way, I'm in the best possible mind-and-body for working and meetings.
I had a 7:05 AM flight to Milan the next day, Thursday, December 12th, and I arranged my pickup to arrive at 3 AM, so I could be at the airport three hours ahead of time. These days I am a far cry from the last-minute traveler I used to be. Hurriedly finishing my packing, making my pickup at home wait for me, then waiting tensely at and sprinting to points in the check-in and on-boarding process.
Still I was way too early arriving at Heathrow. The self check-in for British Airways didn't work, even after a few attempts. No problem, I connected to the internet, and did work until about 4:45 AM.
I learned that the clerks didn't come on duty until 5 AM, but these ladies were rather slow and a bit inept. I must've been queued up for an hour. Even when one of them tried to hasten the movement of the queue, some chaos ensued and it took more time.
I knew, then, how to better time my arrival at Heathrow, the next time I have to catch an early morning outbound flight. I extracted the algorithms.
The flight to Milan was packed, but I have little memory of it, as I slept for most of that two-hour journey. I am thankful that I sleep well on airplanes.
One of my favorite memories is from a few years ago, when I was frequently shuttling between the US and Middle East. I must've dosed off upon settling into my seat. Then I thought it took forever for the flight to take off. At some point I woke up, and realized that we had been in flight for an hour. I must've been in Stage 2 sleep, and dreaming actively, maybe even lucidly.
So it was for the five flights of this London-Milan-Amsterdam tour.
Thankfully my transport was there at Milan-Malpensa airport, although I had to go back to double-check. The driver had the client logo on a tablet, and I must've either missed it on the way out the first time or he didn't have it showing properly for me to see it.
I was in sleepy land, and the cool Milanese morning air felt a tad surreal. The drive to the hotel was through heavy fog, and that, too, felt surreal.
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