Flying Home & Final Reflections

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Geo: 48.1391, 11.5802

Travelling is a funny sort of thing. Especially big trips like this one. You build it up in your mind and try to keep the anticipation in check. Then the trip arrives and it's a flurry of traveling and getting settled into the trip. The first few days always seem to go at a nice steady pace, and then by the time you are halfway through, it seems like the afterburners kick in and before you know it, you're on a plane again, heading home.

This trip was no different.

I awoke around 4:30 am. Unable to fall asleep again, I jumped online to check us into the flight ..... aaaaand we're delayed. After I did the check in, I tried to catch up on this travel blog a bit but I was just fuzzy and disconnected so I tried to close my eyes for a few minutes ... to no avail. We met at 8:00 am for our last breakfast extravaganza, and after breakfast we went to our rooms to finalize the monumental task of the re-pack for the trip home. There's not alot to tell about the trip home. The flight delay kept getting pushed back to the point where we missed out 3:00 connecting flight in Philly. American re-booked us on the 8:00 so that was good. Once through security, we had access to the British Airways lounge so we parked up there for several hours. Heather and Laurie went down to pick up some last minute schwag for friends and family. We finally headed down to board around 2:00 only to discover it had been postponed until 2:25. at 2:25 they started boarding. The one really nice thing about flying First\Business Class is that you're first for everything. In this case, we were first to walk down the stairs and get on a bus. Once the bus was full they drove us to get on a train ... which took us to a boat which .... LOL ...That's what it felt like. After being bused to the plane and then standing on the bus for what seemed like forever, we finally were allowed to board the plane. In surprising efficient order, they had that plane loaded and were taxing out .....

As the plane took off and climbed out headed northwest, I watched the German countryside shrink before me. I was sad. For the second time in my life, I was leaving a country I truly love and cherish. Back in 1995, the sorrow was a little more profound, as with that departure, I felt like I was leaving home. In a way I was. This time, I was leaving a country I wish so very very much was much closer. As I reflected on the past week, so many things come to mind ... I don't even know where to begin .....

When the idea for this trip first came up, I have to admit, I was not 100% on board. as much as I love Germany. The history, architecture, people, culture ... Everything .... I left in 1995 for a reason. As much awesomeness that Germany held for me from the early part of 1992 to the end of 1995 ... There sure was a lot of misery and heartache. Escaping that was the best thing I have ever done, so I wasn't sure what sort of memories returning was going to stir up. That, and to be honest, when you travel with another couple you have never spent more than a few days with at one time is a risky proposition. You just never know until you're knee deep in the trip whether or not you can travel well together. Well I'm overjoyed to admit that Germany elicited no negative feelings, and the four of us ..... Tim, Laurie, Heather, and I are phenomenal travelers together. As I said before, we all bring our own skills to the team, and we all seem to have the same basic idea on what we want from the trip. I would vacation with those guys ANYTIME.

Now for Germany ... My second home. There are so many things we could learn from Europe if we would just listen. They are not earth shattering things either. Small things. Simple things. Like taking pride in your town and your property. We saw virtually no hovels on this trip. Even the "poor" houses were well kept. Everything was clean. I suspect even the scant few places we did see trash, it didn't last long. Dogs. Dogs everywhere. All leashed and well behaved. Responsible owners picking up after them. You can take you animal into stores. Never saw an issue ... not even once.

First Class. Never travel First or Business Class. Not that it's a a horrible experience, mind you. It's the exact opposite. It will absolutely ruin you for all future flights. With another overseas flight scheduled for next September, I'm already scheming ways to fly in style on that trip. The price tag is high ... I just haven't talked myself out of the worth ..... yet ;-)

At the end of the day, this has been one of my most successful, memorable vacations. So many variables come into play when taking a trip like this, and so many things can go wrong. For whatever reason only known to the universe, this one was about as smooth as one could ask for. Maybe because it was a homecoming of sorts. Maybe it was just luck. Whatever it is ... I will forever look back at Sept 3-13, 2016 with nothing but a warm and fuzzy ..... Live, love, laugh? We did all that in spades!

EICHHÜNCHEN!!

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