But thankfully not on this AA flight!

Philadelphia is a fascinating place, but it’s airport isn’t one of it’s best bits. The car park is almost impossible to navigate and it’s public spaces are just all wrong. There’s nowhere, for example, for an emotional farewell as passport control is squeezed into a space between the escalator from check-in and the bridge from the carpark. There’s no sense of leaving as you go air side. So I kiss Linda good-bye and head through passport control and into the de-humanising security procedure.

Do you have a boarding pass? Stupid question. Of course I’ve got a boarding pass, I couldn’t have got this far without one! My boarding pass is in my jacket, which has just been x-rayed along with all my other possessions. “It’s in my jacket” I mumble. I really hate this procedure. Belts have to be removed. Laptops have to be removed from bags. My laptop bag fits like a glove around the iBook. It’s all that’s in there so I why I have to remove it I don’t know. Still, it shows I’ve good taste in IT. I didn’t take my shoes off. They didn’t notice. I get dressed, reassemble my possessions, wave LA good-bye again and walk away.

But this wasn’t supposed to be another nightmare journey story. I’m travelling BA, so what could possibly go wrong? I’ve had a great time on this trip, meeting up with lot’s of great people, in order of appearance: Jeanne, Morti, Tony, Todd & Cathi, Larry and Jennifer, Cheryl & John, Dawn, Lara, Louise, Barbara and Arthur, Patti, TC, Sally, Suzie and friend (sorry I can’t remember your name), Stanley, Ian, Shana, Sammy and Cat. Thank you all. Now it’s time to return to reality. I just wish that Linda could come with me.