Hello there! Thanks for visiting my blog…and now the warning! I’ve NEVER blogged before…this will be my first. For those who don’t know me, allow me to introduce myself and explain why I’m blogging in the first place. My name is Chris and I’m very blessed to be the director of a wonderful educational musical theatre program in Southern California called Children’s Theatre Experience. It’s a fulfilling job, but doesn’t quite pay all the bills…ah…what we do for the love of the arts! So a few years ago, I was blessed again with the opening of my latest business venture…Center Stage Travel Agency. I count myself lucky to do for a living the three things I love the most…theatre, education and travel.
Enough of the background…why am I blogging? I was very fortunate to happen upon some great clients who needed a high end luxury trip to Europe. So for the past year, I’ve been working on creating, planning and executing a dream vacation for my clients to highlight the theme: Lakes, Alps, Castles and Friends. As an added bonus, I get to travel with the group! Hey…they requested I travel with them…so yet another blessing!Okay…a little background on my last few months. CTE has kept me busy with 4 productions, literally in a row…and for those of you involved…you know that equals to over 8 weeks of intense rehearsing and performing. Our 2009 – 2010 Season has just ended and we are gearing up for our 2010 – 2011 Season…PERFECT TIME TO GET AWAY!
OH…have you met my son? Yup…I’m the PROUD Dad of an incredible young man…Brandon. He is currently serving our country in the US ARMY in Iraq. He’s a member of the 82nd Airborne, RECON Unit. I just learned the great news that he gets to return to the US of A in mid-July…so this trip is extra important…for one, I’m technically closer to him than being back in Los Angeles, and two…it’s the perfect time killer…the next few weeks would be driving me crazy knowing I get to see him again real soon!Now you know why this entry was titled “FLY AWAY”…many meanings, many applications…but now let’s blog about my trip….
Started FAR too early on Monday morning…had gotten to bed by 2AM Sunday night…so 4AM Monday morning came around FAR too quickly. Darn international flights….check-in 2 to 3 hours early! You’re killing me! My flight leaves LAX at 830AM so had to get there by 6AM to really play it safe. Thanks to my best friend Kelli for picking me up at the unearthly hour of 530AM…the least I could do was treat her to a Starbucks!
I got detained during security at the airport…go figure! I was traveling with my laptop, a printer and a computer bag FILLED to its brim with documents and electronics so I tripped the system, and me and my personal effects had to be scanned three additional times and checked for explosives. Geesh…
Fast forward to my first flight. US Airways offers in-flight WiFi! How cool is that? I can’t sleep on planes and the thought of a 5 hour transcontinental flight, followed by an 8 hour transatlantic flight was almost unbearable…add to that, I promised my business partner with CTE that although I was gone out of the country, I’d maintain certain obligations to the weekly rehearsals…namely, creating and distributing our weekly eNewsletters for the four programs. So this was cool! I was able to make the first flight zoom by by being online at 35,000 feet above the United States and getting three of the four eNewsletters written and sent off for approval! And yes, I couldn’t resist Facebook-ing my adventures with this already popular picture. That’s me in seat 17D on US Airways flight 710 to Philadelphia and then on to Zurich, Switzerland. I think I look like crap in the picture…but hey….I only got 2 hours sleep after a grueling weekend of registrations and presentations (auditions) for the theatre…I was wiped! It would have been a PERFECT FLIGHT, but my battery ran out 2.5 hours into the flight. DARN…and I was almost completely done with the eNewsletters. I’m going to need to invest in some spare laptop batteries if I intend to continue to fly with whomever has WiFi in the skies!So I landed in Philadelphia…30 minutes late and now off to make a mad dash from one terminal to another (of course on the opposite end of the airport) to make my connecting flight. Luckily they decided to delay the flight…something about a bent counter top that might be dangerous to the flight crew. The wait was humorous because very few of the passengers on this SOLD OUT flight across the Atlantic spoke English and confusion was thick at departure gate A10.
Finally onboard and off for Europe. Like I said…I can’t sleep on planes so this was an exceedingly grueling flight. Thank goodness they offered meal service. And let me tell you…the food was GREAT! I love airline food…especially if it’s free! I actually think they should package the meal I had and sell it in the frozen food section…being a single Dad…I’d totally buy it! Chicken with rice and veggies, a salad, roll and the most amazing chocolate brownie/mousse/cookie-crumble-top I’ve ever had…I almost asked the flight attendants to bring me all the desserts people didn’t eat…but that would have been too tacky and far too desperate for decadence!
The carb overload helped me get about 2 hours of sleep, but that was all I could do…AND NO INTERNET! And I would have watching the inflight movies, but they were played on that single video monitor hanging from the ceiling….10 rows up….I couldn’t see it, so decided to skip it.
Okay…I’m writing too much for a blog…so let’s just end it by saying…I got to Zurich safely and totally excited to meet up with my Swiss Family waiting for me at the airport!
Enough of the background…why am I blogging? I was very fortunate to happen upon some great clients who needed a high end luxury trip to Europe. So for the past year, I’ve been working on creating, planning and executing a dream vacation for my clients to highlight the theme: Lakes, Alps, Castles and Friends. As an added bonus, I get to travel with the group! Hey…they requested I travel with them…so yet another blessing!
OH…have you met my son? Yup…I’m the PROUD Dad of an incredible young man…Brandon. He is currently serving our country in the US ARMY in Iraq. He’s a member of the 82nd Airborne, RECON Unit. I just learned the great news that he gets to return to the US of A in mid-July…so this trip is extra important…for one, I’m technically closer to him than being back in Los Angeles, and two…it’s the perfect time killer…the next few weeks would be driving me crazy knowing I get to see him again real soon!Started FAR too early on Monday morning…had gotten to bed by 2AM Sunday night…so 4AM Monday morning came around FAR too quickly. Darn international flights….check-in 2 to 3 hours early! You’re killing me! My flight leaves LAX at 830AM so had to get there by 6AM to really play it safe. Thanks to my best friend Kelli for picking me up at the unearthly hour of 530AM…the least I could do was treat her to a Starbucks!
I got detained during security at the airport…go figure! I was traveling with my laptop, a printer and a computer bag FILLED to its brim with documents and electronics so I tripped the system, and me and my personal effects had to be scanned three additional times and checked for explosives. Geesh…
Fast forward to my first flight. US Airways offers in-flight WiFi! How cool is that? I can’t sleep on planes and the thought of a 5 hour transcontinental flight, followed by an 8 hour transatlantic flight was almost unbearable…add to that, I promised my business partner with CTE that although I was gone out of the country, I’d maintain certain obligations to the weekly rehearsals…namely, creating and distributing our weekly eNewsletters for the four programs. So this was cool! I was able to make the first flight zoom by by being online at 35,000 feet above the United States and getting three of the four eNewsletters written and sent off for approval! And yes, I couldn’t resist Facebook-ing my adventures with this already popular picture. That’s me in seat 17D on US Airways flight 710 to Philadelphia and then on to Zurich, Switzerland. I think I look like crap in the picture…but hey….I only got 2 hours sleep after a grueling weekend of registrations and presentations (auditions) for the theatre…I was wiped! It would have been a PERFECT FLIGHT, but my battery ran out 2.5 hours into the flight. DARN…and I was almost completely done with the eNewsletters. I’m going to need to invest in some spare laptop batteries if I intend to continue to fly with whomever has WiFi in the skies!Finally onboard and off for Europe. Like I said…I can’t sleep on planes so this was an exceedingly grueling flight. Thank goodness they offered meal service. And let me tell you…the food was GREAT! I love airline food…especially if it’s free! I actually think they should package the meal I had and sell it in the frozen food section…being a single Dad…I’d totally buy it! Chicken with rice and veggies, a salad, roll and the most amazing chocolate brownie/mousse/cookie-crumble-top I’ve ever had…I almost asked the flight attendants to bring me all the desserts people didn’t eat…but that would have been too tacky and far too desperate for decadence!
The carb overload helped me get about 2 hours of sleep, but that was all I could do…AND NO INTERNET! And I would have watching the inflight movies, but they were played on that single video monitor hanging from the ceiling….10 rows up….I couldn’t see it, so decided to skip it.
Okay…I’m writing too much for a blog…so let’s just end it by saying…I got to Zurich safely and totally excited to meet up with my Swiss Family waiting for me at the airport!
Great stuff, Chris. Love the pictures. Keep it up!
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