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Backpacker to Business Class Part 1: The Flying

by Keith on June 13, 2011 · 3 comments

I have just returned from my second RTW (round-the-world) trip in as many years. The first took me to 18 countries on 5 continents, took over 9 months to complete, cost me $31,124 (my half of the total) and was done as a self-funded backpacker. I just completed the second RTW trip as a business traveler. This time, the route took me east, over Northern Europe to Singapore, on to San Francisco, before the final eastern leg back to Philadelphia on June 12th. The trip took just over 2 weeks and will cost Johnson & Johnson a shade over $10,000 for me to attend a key regional meeting and an industry conference. To compare and contrast the two experiences, I will publish a series of upcoming posts about what was better, worse and just different between traveling as a backpacker and as a business traveler. Let’s get things kicked off with one of the biggest differences, flying business class.

While we did get a couple of nice upgrades on our backpacking trip, including an upgrade to economy-plus on the United flight from Chicago to Munich and the very clutch business class upgrade on Korea Air from Sydney to Seoul,

we were mostly back in economy. This was not too bad as most of the flights we took on the backpacking trip were less than 5 hours. Just enough time to read a magazine, write a blog post and maybe have a meal, as most international airlines, even the budget ones, still serve meals on flights of only an hour or two.

That is a huge contrast with my recent 18.5 hour flight on Singapore Airlines direct from Newark, NJ to Singapore, the longest direct flight in the world.

The entire plane is business class, with lay flat beds, personal entertainment systems and meals of seared tuna and fresh bread served on real china.

And while the amenities and services on the plane were a huge benefit, and made being in the air for that long not only tolerable, but downright enjoyable, it was the benefits in the airport that made the most difference in my flying experience. It all starts with the check-in. As I was traveling for business, I had a suitcase for luggage rather than my Osprey backpack, and there was no additional charge for checked bags (I am sure it is covered in the $6,500 ticket cost). I was then directed to the business class lounge which had complementary wifi, beer, wine, and small bites before boarding.

The flight was long, but covered the nearly 10,000 miles in astonishing comfort and speed. One of the key benefits of this long flight is that Singapore Air is a Star Alliance member, resulting in me achieving Silver status on US Air from this one flight. With Silver status I was able to get a free upgrade to domestic first class for the final flight back to Philadelphia, which allowed me to complete the entire trip in business/first class. And as Amy remarked when we quickly checked our luggage ahead of a very, very, long, bleary-eyed and irritated looking economy class check-in line at 5:15am in the San Francisco airport, “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it sure does get you a whole lot of convenience.” Not to mention a free bloody mary or two on the flight home. What do you think, is business class worth the dedication to slavishly flying one airline?

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Training It

by Keith on March 1, 2011 · 2 comments

We took a variety of transportation options while traveling, but one of my favorites was the multitude of trains. The picture above is me on a steam locomotive at the Modern Transportation Museum in Osaka. We took intercity trains in Egypt, Vietnam, China and of course Japan. We also took many intracity trains and subways in numerous countries from,

Duabi’s automated subway system to,

Kuala Lumpor’s private system run by 2 companies that never seemed to connect in a convenient way.

The differences did not stop there. Train stations varied widely across the different countries with the station in Aswan, Egypt ranking up there as the most uncomfortable and maybe even a little scary,

to the station in Kyoto, Japan as the most spacious and airy.

I would rather be at either of them when I miss my transfer in Trenton, New Jersey on my current work commute from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to New Brunswick, New Jersey. The station in Trenton, while it does have a Dunkin Donuts, does not have free wifi, sushi or the spotless bathrooms of Japanese stations.

The one serious advantage the train systems have here in the United States is the automated ticket machines in multiple languages. Buying my 10 pack of tickets for NJ Transit while waiting on the platform in New Brunswick for the 4:23 to Trenton is quite easy.

And having an English language ticket machine when we were in China would have saved Amy and I the pleasure of the 15 hour ride in Hard Sleeper Class, which we explore in more detail in this post.

I was inspired to write this post in part because my current commute has me on trains much more than I have ever been in the past. And having seen many different train systems from around the world, I think the system here in the Northeast U.S., is quite impressive. However, I do not think that this means we can stop investing in the amazing infrastructure that moves millions of people everyday. Septa alone moves 400,000 riders every weekday, and transports 70% of Center City Philadelphia’s work force into the city. This is a hugely sustainable option for these workers. Imagine if we lived with this density of population, and lack of interstates without this great infrastructure. The Schuylkill (I-76) would be even more clogged, which I am not sure is even possible.

If you are interested in the strategic development of rail within the US, I recommend looking through Amtrak’s vision for High Speed rail in the Northeast, which you can find here.

I will be following up this post with a detailed analysis on the rational behind our decision to remain car-free since our return. As you might have guessed, there was an excel sheet involved and much like the cost comparison of the Beast we looked at all the angles. In the meantime let me know what you think about trains. Should we as a country invest in more rail infrastructure? Do you rely on trains to get where you need to?

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A Traveler’s Perspective on the Unrest in Egypt

by Amy on February 2, 2011 · 2 comments

Yes, We Can Too!

These words were splashed across the screen on CNN’s all day broadcast of the uprising in Egypt. If you had told me a year ago that one day I’d see the people of Egypt staging an uprising, echoing the words of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, I would have suggested you lay off the hooka for a while.

The hostel we stayed in is only one block from the main protests in Cairo

Because, you see, for me, the news about the civil unrest in Egypt came as quite a shock. It’s not that we didn’t see the deplorable living conditions first hand. We choked on the brown air, were approached by children in rags chanting what seemed like the only word they knew, baksheesh (tip or money), and learned about the crushing poverty during our meeting with CEDARE. We even experienced the corruptness of the local law enforcement, being taken behind the velvet ropes by officers in uniform for better photos of the Citadel only to then be refused exit without paying a bribe.

What is so surprising about the images on the news is that the palpable sense of hopelessness among the Egyptian people just one year ago seemed impossible to overcome. Never did I imagine that a people so broken and depressed could be inspired to stage such an uprising.

River on the way to the Great Pyramids

Unfortunately, what has not surprised me is the looting and destruction of Egypt’s treasured antiquities. We saw how the pyramids were strewn with trash, and how shopkeepers swept garbage into the Red Sea reefs. We grappled with the notion of a country so focused on getting through today that there was no idea of tomorrow, let alone a better tomorrow to strive for.

I am often asked how travel has changed me. My usual response is that travel doesn’t change who you are, but it does change how you see the world. Two years ago the headlines about Egypt would have been interesting, but nothing more. After spending more than three weeks there, I now feel a personal connection to the country, and find myself often wondering about the safety of the hostel owner in Cairo whose building is right in the heart of the city, or how the staff at CEDARE and their families are coping with the chaos in their country. As I watch the terrific and all too often violent images on television, all I can do is hope that the Egyptian people get the government they are seeking and begin to rebuild their country with a renewed sense of hope.