Last Call for United Airlines flight to Los Angeles..

...which is something that every "California dreamer"would love to hear, and quite frankly after leaving the harsh minus temperatures of Vienna, I was looking forward to...but to have this announcement happen whilst still stuck in an impossibly long immigration queue at New York JFK...it was not really what i wanted to hear at that moment.

And the fact this was the Saturday before Christmas meant the likelihood of getting booked on any other flight in the near future was bleak (yes, thank you CNN for the news reports we could watch with eyes glazed over in that immigration queue, stating the busy season had started, airports were packed..and packing tips? pack your patience....). I kept the words in my mind of the Life Coach I'd been sat next to on the plane, saying if I didn't make it, I wasn't meant to be on that flight. Oh, and just to go off on a slight tangent here, I'd also gotten yet more confirmation that my decision to leave Austria early next year was the right one...as if I didn't have enough already

Right, so feeling relatively peaceful despite all this and some minor mayhem, myself and fellow traveller Sacki got the last 2 seats on a reasonably timed flight out the next afternoon, which would get us into LA in time to soak up a bit of that California sunshine. It had taken some time to be rebooked, but the atmosphere was rather 'gemuetlich' for the situation, which made my mind flashback to an article I'd read about sleep deprivation being much like being drunk. So off to the Ramada inn, which was your standard run of the mill airport hotel, but hey, free food, a bathtub and fitness centre, i was not really complaining. not to mention the chance at a proper nights sleep rather than the added 6 hrs of travelling to LA, and having a few laughs over dinner (well, some of it completely inane and putting paid more credit to the sleep deprivation theory) and breakfast and to be honest, it was one of the best missed or delayed flights i've ever had!

and the departure at JFK went incredibly smooth, as did the arrival at sun drenched LAX (and with much joy did i shed that woolly overcoat!).

so far so good for the beginning of the cheeky one month holiday...watch this page!