January 1, 2019 - Airport Excitement and Guadalajara

My dear friend Kyle Kincaid works for United airlines.  One of the perks of the job is having a pass that he can give away to a friend which allows low-cost, standby travel anywhere in the world that United/United Express fly.  He generously gave me the pass for 2019 and I want to make sure I take full advantage of it.

Flying standby out of Orlando is rough.  Flights are generally full all year because if it isn't a holiday, we make one up.  Spring break used to be a week.  Now, thanks to Disney's band and cheerleading competitions, it lasts for a couple of months.  February isn't just for snowbirds, we also have Bike Week (half a million people come every year) and Speed Weeks in Daytona.  I talked to an Orlando-based United flight attendant yesterday and she said she generally can't fly out on United metal but takes American flights to Charlotte, then flies to a United hub from there.  Because of pass rules, I don't have that option.

My theory was that a 7:22 a.m. flight out of Orlando to Houston on New Year's morning was a good option.  All those people who had great intentions of getting up that early might just oversleep.  When I left home at 4:30 a.m., the flight had 11 seats available and I was number 15 on the standby list.  The next flight looked a bit better but not by much and flights the remainder of the day were full.

I was correct - over 20 people didn't show up for the flight and I get an exit row seat.  Even better, the woman in the window seat asked if I'd take that so she could sit in the middle, next to her husband.  But the 20 minutes of watching the boarding process and praying the gate agent would call my name were a bit stressful.  Kyle, I really tried not to be too loud as I did my victory dance up to the gate.

In Houston, I confidently walked up to gate agent because I knew the flight to Guadalajara was only about 2/3 full.  Felipe, my new friend in Houston, quickly handed me a boarding pass for a first class seat, even though boarding wasn't for another 45 minutes.

Two easy flights for a cost of $53 (taxes and fees).  Had I paid the regular price, it would have been over $500.  To make it even better, immigration was the easiest I've ever experienced.  I was #3 off the plane and in line.  I only had a carry-on bag (another limitation of flying standby) so didn't have to wait for baggage claim.  Just sauntered up to the customs official and answered his few questions.  Two things about customs here.  One, most countries, if you have nothing to declare, you don't talk to anyone, you just walk out the door.  And after I spoke to the custom's guy he had me press a large red button, which lit up a green light.  Was it connected to anything?  Some high tech apparatus to test my veracity through my finger?  I think not.

Next stop was the Cajero Automatico (ATM) to get some local currency.  Then the kiosk to reserve/pay for a taxi.  The half hour ride was about $15.   45 minutes after touching down I was at my hotel.

Hotel Morales is one of the oldest hotels in the Centro.  Rated 4.6 on Tripadvisor and Expedia it is only $43 a night.  It is beautiful.  Attention to detail, spotlessly clean and beautifully decorated.  My only complaint was that I had to wait almost 3 hours to check-in.  But to compensate for that, they gave me a free voucher for breakfast this morning.

My first day in Guadalajara was spent wandering around the historic downtown area and then a quiet evening in my room, with a great dinner delivered by Uber Eats.  Less than $10 and 45 minute delivery for fresh hot Mexican food.

I slept very well and now am ready for a day of exploring.  Here are some photos from day one.

United employees went all out decorating the gates in Orlando. 

Christmas trees as snowmen in Orlando.

A surprise in Houston.  I think it was Kyle's mom letting me know she was with me.

The approach into Guadalajara.  Lots of farming, a huge canyon and sadly, lots of smog.

Candy Munk, I think I'll be able to find some tin handicrafts.  This Christmas tree was in the hotel lobby.

A taqueria across the street from my hotel.  Yay!

Christmas decorations in Centro Guadalajara.

Guadalajara doesn't get a lot of American tourists.  I don't know who this guy is but I know which team he likes.

There are a LOT of hotels in the Centro.

One of the reasons I chose Guadalajara is the food.  This restaurant is just up the street.

Most places were closed for New Year's Day, including this restaurant.  2 blocks from my hotel and supposed to be the best in the city. 

I love the hop on/hop off busses as a way to get acquainted with a new city.

Christmas tree in the lobby of Hotel Morales.  The next group of photos are of the hotel interior.

Back out on the street - this HUGE pile of poop was next to a crowded bus stop.  Not sure who/what left it but they must be feeling better.

Who doesn't love a city with taquerias on every corner?

A crowded street food stand next to my hotel.  $13 for a taco is $.65.  Bite me, Taco Bell.  Lonches are like submarine sandwiches, btw.

Note the bikes?  Have the app, pay and ride.  Oh, and there's lots of pizza here.

I need some formal attire for the world cruise.  What do you think?

The Cathedral is the largest and oldest of many in the city.  All around the city are renovation projects.

Want to shop?  No problem!  Most stores were closed because of the holiday but clearly there's no lack of places to spend money.

What is it about loud music that so many find appealing?

This was my second choice for hotels.  Slightly better location but $20 more a night and nice but no history.

More Christmas decorations.

I grew up in southern Arizona and have been to Mexico more times than I can count.  But the first time I ventured beyond Baja and Sonora was a trip to Mexico City when I was in college.  I was with my college roommate and her family - her dad worked in Mexico City for the US government.  One of the first stops we made was to Sanborns to have Enchiladas Suizas.  That was back in 1969.  Sanborns is a department store, with a restaurant and still has Enchiladas Suizas on the menu.

Sanborns also sells fresh pastries.  And giant flat screen tvs.

And they sell chocolates.  And clothing.

Another restaurant I may have to try when it is open.

It seemed to be a pedestrian only street - and then came a car.

Lunch for two - $2.80.  The pizza looked awful, though, to be honest.

All you can eat Chinese buffet for $4.00.  The next few photos are some of the dishes on offer.  It was doing a booming business.

Heaven forbid there be one place in the world without Subway.  

In the middle of the pedestrian mall an area was marked off with tape.  It looks like part of an archeological dig that has been glassed over.

There was a church service going on in this templo.  And outside, about a dozen shoe shine stands like this one.

It was standing room only at mass.

The city has beautiful statues and many homeless people, from what I've seen so far.

New Year, New Adventures

Did you know that it is a tradition in Mexico for women to wear a pair of new yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to ensure good luck and wealth in the coming year.  I realized that I've never owned yellow underwear, unless one of my "days of the week" pairs from when I was eight was yellow.

Why am I talking about New Year's Eve traditions in Mexico?  Because my pass to fly free on United in 2019 takes effect on January 1 and my goal is to head to Mexico that morning.

The pass has some limitations.  I do have to pay taxes and fees, which can get fairly high when traveling to a distant country in business (Polaris) class.  Still, we're talking about a ticket costing hundreds instead of thousands.

Travel is stand-by.  I'm typically a planner.  I love to research before I travel.  To me, the planning and anticipation are a big part of the fun.  I like the comfort of knowing I have reserved the perfect seat on a flight that leaves at the time most convenient for me.   With stand-by travel, that's not an option.

Here's how it works.  I'll have access to a United website dedicated to employees and pass-holders.  It functions like a regular reservation site but provides more information.  In addition to showing the number of paid passengers in each class of service, it also lists those on stand-by.  That's key because while a flight may look only 3/4 full, there may be 50 people on stand-by.  The other important piece of information the site provides is the prioritization of all on the stand-by list.  Pass-holders are lowest in priority, although among pass-holders we're prioritized by the hire date of the employee who gave us the pass. 

In order to get through security, you need a boarding pass.  By listing myself on the website as standing by for a specific flight, I'll receive a stand-by boarding pass.  Once at the gate, the excitement begins.  While waiting, I can monitor the stats on the reservation site.  If there are ample seats, the gate agents may opt to assign seats and hand out confirmed boarding passes to stand-by flyers.  More commonly, everyone boards the plane and the stand-bys wait anxiously for their name to be called.

I learned in Houston it pays to be close to the gate agent as they begin calling names.  I was 53rd on the stand-by list, with three open seats.  I figured I'd be spending the night in Houston.   Then I realized that the gate agent was starting to call names.  He'd say a name, glance around, and if no one immediately responded, he'd move on to the next name.  He was calling the names in a conversational tone and I suspect that many on stand-by didn't realize what he was doing.   I stood in front of him and he finally called my name.  Score!  He laughed at my excitement and gave me both my boarding pass and a hug before I walked down the jetway.

But when I had the pass in 2017, my name didn't always get called so I learned to be flexible.  One day, I didn't get on the flight from Houston to Tucson.  I checked the departures board and saw that a plane was getting ready to leave for Phoenix from a nearby gate.  I ran over, asked to fly stand-by and got on.  For $25 I took a one hour bus ride from Phoenix to Tucson.  Not as convenient but much better than staying at the airport to try the next day.

On January 1st, I'm hoping to catch the 7:22 a.m. flight from Orlando to Houston (can you tell Houston is a United hub?).  Business travelers won't be flying because of the holiday and some people may oversleep and miss their flight, which is why it's always better to try for early morning flights.

From Houston, I'm hoping to go to Guadalajara.  But if I don't get on that flight, I'll try for Oaxaca.  And Puebla.  And Buenos Aires.  I've researched hotels but made no reservations, since I'm not sure where I'll end up.  It's a different way of traveling.  And I'm looking forward to the adventure.

By the way, another Mexican tradition is to take your luggage for a walk on New Year's Eve.  The farther you walk, the more you'll travel in the new year.  I guess I need to invest in some yellow undies and get walking.

Baby Boomers VS Millennials

A meme on Facebook and the associated comments by a bunch of Baby Boomers made me want to write this.  The meme was a "joke" about how stupid Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is.  The people commenting on "how she could be so stupid" and how stupid, entitled and lazy her entire generation is were primarily white, Baby Boomer women.

Here are some of my thoughts on the topic:

• I don't think it's smart to make fun of Millennials.  I'm probably going to need one of them to wipe my butt some day.
• We gave them Trump and a whole bunch of old white guys in government.  We need Millennials to clean up this mess.
• When I was coming up there weren't a lot of women in positions of power to mentor/help me.  Now, we have an opportunity. Instead of making fun of Ocasio-Cortez, how about cheering her on and supporting her?  She's not just bitching on Facebook, she's acting.  Even though I disagree with her Progressive beliefs, I support her efforts.
• Back in the day when I was protesting Vietnam and abortion, my parents' generation thought my friends and I were nuts and just needed to get a job and get into the "real world".
• But seriously, Millennials.  You can be a bit annoying (so can we with our black socks and sandals).  Quit whining about your student loans while paying a fortune to Starbucks.  And if you want some avocado toast, give me a call.  It won't cost you $15.

Life Choices

One of the challenges of being single is that I don't have a significant other to help me with major life/financial decisions.  On the flip side, not having to take anyone else's opinions into consideration is also a plus of being single.

When I retired I had a lot of decisions to make about finances.  It made me nervous but so far they seem to be working out.  Yesterday, I made another big choice.

I won't bore you with the backstory and all the mental to-and-froing I did before I made the decision but bottom line, I plunked down a deposit on the Holland America World Cruise in 2020.  Not my first, I first sailed the Rotterdam on the 2000 World Cruise.  In 2020, I'll be on the sister ship - the Amsterdam.

This will be home for 128 nights.

That means I'll be on a strict budget (and diet) for the next 1 1/2 years.  And will be doing a lot of planning and research.

The itinerary for this cruise is what sold me.  It will let me visit my 7th continent and 92nd country.  And most of the places at the top of my bucket list, including the Maldives, Seychelles and South Africa.  Check out the whole itinerary here. 

Am I nervous about spending this kind of money on a one-time adventure?  Oh, yeah.  Am I uber excited about it?  YES!

Now I just need to figure out a way to help finance this trip in case I live to be an old lady.