November 7, 2019
Further Preparations
The morning was really busy. I had a checklist of things to take care of before leaving my house for a week. Chihuahua had to be dropped off at the parent’s house. Kroger run for toothpaste and face wash.
Watered the plants. Tidied the kitchen. Washed the dishes. Made the bed. Engage the security cameras. And more. Whew!
But I had a major fail…
I wishfully intended to go to the gym this morning to pump a little iron before leaving for this trip. But! I didn’t end up doing so. Between the cold and rainy weather and lack of motivation + being really tired…it just didn’t happen.
Which this kind of stinks because I’ve had a pretty good routine and consistency up until today. But! That’s alright. I’ll figure something out.
My goal this pilgrimage is to not gain too much weight and still maintain some discipline in fitness.
“Take Your Son To Work Day”
One of the ways I save money going to the airport is…riding in with my dad to work. He works for American Airlines as a luggage loader, primarily.
In planning for this trip, I did keep in mind of flight departures and arrivals that gave me the option to ride with my dad to/from work. It helps with logistics. I don’t need to leave a car at the airport. I don’t need to pay for an Uber/Lyft to get to the airport either.
With a departure time of 4:35PM and my dad’s start time of 2PM…this worked out quite nicely. I did feel awkward being the only person on the employee bus not dressed in uniform…
Before going to Israel, I’m going MAD
If you remember from “How I booked airfare to Israel for $157”, I booked this trip to Israel such that I have a 9-hour layover in Madrid, Spain. Like Israel, I have never been to Spain so I’m looking forward to spending some time exploring the city.
I’m supposed to land at like 8AM local time “tomorrow” (Nov 8). And my flight to Tel Aviv isn’t until 5PM.
While in Madrid, I’m gonna shoot for:
- Visiting the cathedral
- Eating tapas for lunch and enjoying a sangria
- Enjoying the hop on hop off bus
DFW Airport
I only had about 2 hours of waiting around before boarding after passing through airport security. The particular TSA security checkpoint I used seemed to be running slow for TSA Precheck because they were only running one conveyor belt.
TSA Precheck is a known traveler program at US airports that you can pay into so that you don’t have to be subjected to a full security scan or check. It saves time, usually, because passengers are not required to take off their shoes, remove liquids, or remove large electronics. I only have it because it was included as part of my Global Entry membership, which is a similar thing but for US Customs.
I attempted at hitting up Minute Suites because I get a free hour as part of my Prioprity Pass benefit, which I have due to my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. Priority Pass is a network of airport lounges. Minute Suites are cool because you get a day bed, desk, and TV to yourself by the hour, which is a nice retreat from the busy terminal. Alas, they were sold out, and I didn’t feel like waiting!
So…I pretty much just spent my time waiting trying to take the picture featured in the header of this post…and looking through social media. I hadn’t done a good job of responding back to people who commented on my posts, so I mostly did that. Also, Jennifer Fulwiler featured my tweet across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook…and that caught my attention for a little while.
American Airlines #36 Economy Class DFW to MAD
Mmm. I’ve been anxious to get on a plane for a while now. Also, I don’t want to sound too pretentious, but it is nice NOT sitting in business class across an ocean for once. I don’t want to develop an attitude of entitlement when it comes to frequent flying.
The flight got delayed by about 20 minutes due to us waiting for late-arriving connecting passengers. Not a problem at all because we were scheduled to arrive in Madrid way earlier than the original arrival time.
Once on board, I noticed that these Economy class seats were really familiar. Even the Business class seats when I passed by. And by familiar…I mean…that…I used to work at the company that designed, manufactured, and assembled them. :-X
I like to joke that only now am I field testing our seats!
While in flight, I:
- Watched Big Bang Theory episodes
- Watched MIB International, Detective Pikachu
- Blogged a bit
- Napped a bit
- Prayed Evening Prayer and Night Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours
As a side note, I’m wrestling with the idea of writing a flight review and have set myself up to do so. I’ve taken notes and pictures, but I’ll probably write it up later.
Current Stats
Total Pilgrimage Cost So Far = $157
- I didn’t buy anything at the airport, but those Auntie Anne pretzels by my gate were largely tempting
Pokémon caught in Pokémon Go = +3
Priests or religious seen at the airport = 0
Today’s Insight
Traveling can be stressful with everything that has to happen. When things go wrong, how do I respond? Do I respond with frustration or humility? Do I remember God either way?
What do you do when waiting for your flight?
Navigate to other days:
- Prev> Day 0: Preparations and Initial Thoughts
- Next> Day 2: Subway Struggling in Madrid
- Day 3: The Fastest and the Slowest
- Day 4: Up In the North
- Day 5: A Day At the Beach
- Day 6: Avoiding Missiles and Apollonia
- Day 7: Let’s Avoid More Missiles Today
- Day 8: One Last Time Before Leaving
- Day 9: A Fly Way To End It
JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.