Travel: It Figures

Walking towards the bus after a better than average trip, an attractive woman passes me. Very well dressed with a nice hairstyle. Why do I always see attractive women at the end of a trip?

She was merely walking in the opposite direction. Rarely do I break the ice. It could happen in hostels with travelers who had a like minded vision of enjoying the latest city.

Not everyone in hostels was interesting. When you have one chance to encounter someone- there are people recalled fondly. Others fade into obscurity. They could have made a difference in passing. Oh well, you never know the impact you might have.

There are people who recall off the cuff statements made at work. When someone quotes a line from one of my articles- in the comments of selfsame article- I recall it more than if I said something that seemed profound.

A bridge was burned when a man used my words against me. He is so superior to me that we never spoke again. Ironically, I met him while traveling. They can't all be winners.

It seems like I never meet anyone interesting until the end of a trip. Bangkok was a lesser experience for me. The only communication I had came from pushy salesmen. The million masseuses who bowed in the hope I would do business looked no different than the previous or the next one.

That trip was so awful I watched Star Wars: The Last Jedi and liked it. No one spoke to me until I made it to the airport. No one at BKK had ulterior motives as they spoke of good places to visit in Cambodia.

Not sure if I shall book a flight to Phnom Penh. The world awaits. I need to stay domestic until I can reach Gold Status. Taking an international flight was further away and cost more. It should help me move up a tier.

With the status I attained there are opportunities to sit in Economy Plus and sometimes- First Class. Somehow I always end up in First Class EWR-IAD. Forty minutes in First Class is nice

International flights are better with Gold Status. I was treated lesser as I sat in the back of a crowded airplane. Was it as bad as my seat mate who not only flew AKL-SFO in a middle seat or that her connecting flight was to Frankfurt?

She had not seen her family since before the pandemic and her grandmother was turning one hundred one so she did not mind two flights traveling across two-thirds of planet earth. My status is great in the United States. Internationally I am another face in the crowd.

It figures. They don't stamp passports anymore. That was a nice tradition. "Welcome to our country". It was nice receiving a stamp after visiting Mexican border towns. Ironically, Bangkok is like a Mexican border town. Not in a good way.

I seem to visit Mexican border towns in the morning. The moment I cross over there are barkers trying to entice me into a cab. If there is a place with lots of women (they all say that) two blocks away, why would I need a cab ride? At a young age my mother told me not to get into a car with strangers.

That was before Uber made that an industry. A couple wanted me to get in their car in Tijuana. Forget that. It would have been like Taken without having a father with a "Specific set of skills."

It's no accident the line to get into Tijuana is short and to get out is long. I never visited Rocky Point. That was the closest beach to Phoenix. It was in Mexico. Two pieces of advice I always heeded: never date a stripper and don't drive a car into Mexico.

Nothing good will come of it. In Geography class my teacher mentioned there is a great drive to the tip of South America and around. The problem with that is it is hard to find gas stations. I have yet to visit South America.

South America, Africa and somehow Italy are all there to be enjoyed. Even if Venice institutes a cover charge. New Zealand had one. Lucky for me the exchange rate is really good currently so that fifty seven NZD was less than forty USD.

Invest in yourself. Travel is my greatest investment. Couldn't breast implants count as "Investing in yourself"? If it makes you feel better. In that same era I was advised not to buy a woman breast implants because it would give her enough confidence to dump you and everyone in town would enjoy your six thousand dollar investment.

Most women I knew in that era were well endowed. Now that I am completely off topic; travel has a return on investment that pays dividends for life. Memories are timeless and there are always more cities to experience. You cannot go everywhere. You can go somewhere so make it somewhere new.