I spent the first half of this week in Edmonton, Alberta (and getting to and from there) since I was giving a speech at a conference on Tuesday, and because of the timing, and the fact that there are no direct flights from my neck of the woods (PHL or EWR) I needed to fly in Monday and fly out Wednesday.
Soon, I connected in Minneapolis-St. Paul both times and, despite relatively short layovers, all went well. I was kicking myself for not getting Global Entry, though, while waiting in a 30-minute security line in Edmonton. Maybe I should go do it, though I’m not traveling internationally now for a while, so it’s easy to just kick that particular can down the road. (I have TSA pre-check — I cannot imagine flying frequently domestically without that).
Edmonton is a pretty city. Despite being in the middle of the plains (possibly the tundra?) it reminded me in some ways of the Pacific Northwest. Lots of pine trees and dark wood and stone in the architecture. Beautiful rivers and bridges. When I finally got to the U.S. customs officer stationed at the Edmonton airport, he informed me there’s only 7 weeks of summer, so I guess this is the time to go!
My husband (who does have Global Entry) was also out of the country for the first half of the week, but all went well. We both made it back to wish our now 12-year-old a happy birthday. We were both there for make-your-own-pizza night to celebrate yesterday.
So I accomplished my main goal for the week,
Though I realized at some point on my trip that I need to accept that for me, travel has to be primarily about the thing I’m traveling to do. I have a hard time tackling other work. I wound up reading a lot on my various plane flights, and listening to a ton of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (the NPR news quiz podcast). The version of Laura who was planning her week thought she would make progress editing her NaNoWriMo novel while traveling. The actual Laura sitting in her airplane seats and in her hotel room made no progress whatsoever.
An update on my weight loss post from a few weeks ago. I weigh myself after running (so I’m getting roughly the same time of day for an accurate comparison). Pre-spring break/Easter, I tended to be weighing 138 or 139. Yesterday, the scale read 131.5, which is definitely within the range I’d like to be. We shall see how easy it is to maintain, though. While on the road this week, it was just hard to eat the way I need to.
For instance, the breakfast on the first leg of my trip home was a giant apple-cinnamon muffin, a package of raisins, and a Chex-type cereal. This was almost a comical amount of sugary carbs. Fortunately, I had guessed something like that might happen, and got a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, and only ate half of the bread part, and then had half my cereal. And almonds from the snack cart.
The doughnut accompanying this picture was to celebrate my son’s birthday. I did not partake. But I will have a slice of ice cream cake when we dig into that. To make this stick for me, it needs to be about moderation.
No real big plans this weekend. The baseball games are coming fast and furious. My husband covered the game last night. He reports that our 9-year-old got a hit and scored a run so that was great, though the game itself went for 2-plus hours. I can’t even imagine if they went a full 9 innings….
In other news: New here? Please take a look around. I’ve been blogging for over 10 years! I have also written several time management books, including Juliet’s School of Possibilities, and Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. I hope you’ll check them out!
Neither my husband nor I travel for work so we only fly for vacation and to visit our families. Last April we decided to splurge and get TSA pre-check. Boy am I glad we did! Since then, due to multiple family issues, I’ve taken 7 round trips (4 since Christmas). I smile every time I walk through that short security line. When I take the $85 it cost and figure out the cost per flight, it’s a bargain. And I still have 4 more years before it expires.
@Linda- Pre-check is so worth the money! I think if people fly once or twice a year it can pay off. Twenty flights in five years, saving 15 minutes per time is 300 minutes, or 5 hours. And really I think it saves more time than that because you never know how long security lines will be, so you wind up getting to the airport way ahead of time. With pre-check you don’t really have to do that. (Well, usually!)
Hi Laura – I emailed you from Calgary, AB a couple of weeks ago to say how much your book Off the Clock helped me. (Weeks later and the changes are sticking!) Just now I randomly checked your blog and see you were in Edmonton. So close!! Hope you enjoyed a brief touch down in Canada! Next time you’re this way I should have you come and speak. Cheers!
@Rowan – hello to you in Calgary! It wasn’t a public event – it was a private organization’s conference, so you didn’t miss an opportunity 🙂
Canadian here who is lucky enough to visit the far north a few times a year… where the tundra begins: http://www.hww.ca/assets/pdfs/factsheets/tundra-en.pdf
I don’t have any definitive plans to travel internationally, but for the extra $25 over Pre-check I felt like Global Entry was worth it. (Literally just applied a week ago!) There aren’t many things I dislike more than airport security lines and my husband and I hope to visit Europe again this fall, so I know it will be worth it.
So do tell what changes you made to lose the weight so quickly! I have been going up and down the last few pounds after losing 60 with my last pregnancy and just can’t seem to lose the last few to save my life!
I’m from Edmonton. It’s probably a bit misleading for someone to tell you we get only 7 weeks of summer, lol. It’s usually pretty nice here from mid-May to mid-September. We don’t generally get a lot of hot weather, but nice mild summer weather (65-75 Fahrenheit) for about 4 months.
Hopefully you had a chance to enjoy the river valley while here. It’s our claim to fame (besides the mall….) because it’s North America’s largest stretch of urban parkland.
Global Entry is completely worth it. Our whole family has it and will never go without again!
Great job with the weight-loss — I need some of that motivation!