Day #56 - STL to Istanbul

Arriving into Istanbul

Fired up and ready

Arriving into Istanbul

Ready

Sunday, May 9th

Happy Mother's Day!

OK - I'm back in the game. After a short stint on the DL, I'm ready to play again. I want to say "Thanks" for all the good wishes and messages. I really appreciate the concern and support. I'm feeling 100% better. A little rest, some good food, and a few antibiotics - wa-la. The doctor gave me his seal of approval on Friday: "You're fine - now get back in there"

I've learned a few things the past couple weeks. One, I'm really lucky to have such a strong support system. This is not something I just realized, but it certainly drives home the point. From my family to friends, and the doctors providing international consults - "Thank You". Secondly, a lighter bag and a few more vitamins can go a long way.

My time away was both relaxing and productive. I have officially sold my home and the money has been depositted into my account. A special "Thanks" to my real estate agent Mary who has been nothing short of amazing from Day 1. With the market conditions, it was not easy to sell a townhome in Minnesota. We worked together to make it happen. I painted the interior, had new carpetting and flooring installed, and bought a few new things. Mary staged the house like a true professional. The place was awesome. I am homeless. All my worldly possessions can now be found in a 10ft x 15ft storage shed in Minnesota and a 2005 Honda Minivan (225,000 miles) in my parents driveway in Bloomsdale, MO. That's a really good feeling. It's been hard filling out forms lately, address - N/A, profession - N/A, phone - N/A, job - N/A. I'm the most stable, unstable person one could ever meet - AND - I like it that way.

I also updated all my pictures on my site - http://www.makeitcount.smugmug.com/. I'm only able to place a few pictures in the blog daily - the rest of them are on this picture site. I don't have everyday of the trip - but all the memorable ones.

I've made a few strategic alterations to aid my travels in the upcoming months. Today, when I boarded the plane in St. Louis, I had a 46 pound bag (this included some food and books I would be eliminating right away). I had removed 12+ pounds from my earlier travels. I had been carrying nearly 60 pounds for many hours a day. A good rule of thumb is to not exceed 20% of your body weight for long periods. I was way over. I also bought a new bag. It's a roller backpack - Osprey Meridian. I did alot of research on this one. This pack weighs 4 pounds more than my earlier bag due to the built-in wheel assembly; however, the advantages it offers far outweigh the negatives. I now have the option of rolling my bag whenever needed - this is huge. I can mix it up and keep the back fresh. This pack also has a snap on day pack. Easy on/off at the airport and train stations. I can now keep my computer and research materials in my daypack all the time. The new pack also opens as a suitcase, not like a military duffle. This should give me an extra 15 minutes daily where I was packing before - yields extra sleep in the long-run.

I'm also armed with a case of power bars, some energy gels for runs, centrum vitamins, and energy mix for my water bottles. These should help me transition back. It's like anything, you just need to figure out what works. I'm burning more calories on this trip than I can take in - extra vitamins will help.

So, I'm writing this on a plane from Chicago to Madrid. I'm taking the same route back that I came from 10 days ago. STL-Chicago, Chicago-Madrid, Madrid-Istanbul. When I booked my flight, it was 9 hours before I was to board. I played with the return date to get the cheapest rate possible - $810. I picked Sunday, May 9th out of the air - it actually worked out perfectly. Although expensive, I didn't think it was too bad. Considering my hotel and food savings over my time off - I'll call it a wash.

I just finished reading a book by Dan Brown titled "Angles and Demons". He's the author of "The DaVinci Code". Great book - especially if you like twists and mysteries. It also gave me some perspective on Rome where I'll be visiting later in the year. I watched the movie - "The Tooth Fairy" - with the Rock (WWE wrestler). It was OK. Not as good as "The Blind Side" that I watched on my last international flight.

They haven't announced anything, but my flight is ready to land in 30 minutes, and it has taken us an additional 2 hours in the air. They are showing the flight plan on the screen. We took a dramatically southern approach to Spain. I've heard the ash clouds are acting up again in Iceland - most likely the reason. We're landing at 11am and my connection to Istanbul is 11:40am. I don't think I'm going to make it. Who knows when I'll get to Istanbul.

Later

I'm writing from my hotel room in Instanbul. I made the connection - but my bag did not. When I made it off the plane - I realized the line was relatively short and my gate was only 10 minutes away. I double-timed it and made it just in time - 11:34am. When I arrived at the Istanbul airport, I had to fill out some paperwork to have my bag sent to the hotel. I'm told the bag will arrive at 11:30pm and will be delivered to my hotel tomorrow morning.