O.T.: Trip (Mr. Monk and The Airplane)

OK folks. I have to go out of town this week on a business trip for AccuWeather to our Wichita office. I'll be gone from Wednesday through Saturday inclusive, so it's hard to say how blogging will go, especially on Wed. & Sat.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN!

Did you know? I've never been west of Oklahoma City (which I flew to in Summer 2004 for AccuWeather). Prior to that, Louisiana was my record. I've only been out of the U.S. once -- to Niagara Falls, Canada a year and a half ago. You can see my entire life on this map. Blue is driving, red is planes and purple is this week's trip. All of these places were temporary visits; I have never lived outside of North Carolina or Pennsylvania.

My longest trips:

- In 1984 (I think?) I flew with Mom to visit my Aunt in Hartford, Connecticut
- In 1987 (I think?) I drove with Mom to visit my great grandmother in Fort Wayne, Indiana
- In 1993, I went to New Iberia, Louisiana to help rebuild homes after Hurricane Andrew (PHOTOS)
- In 1995 I flew with college cronies to visit The SPC [JessePedia] in Kansas City, Missouri (it's since moved)
- In 2004 I flew to Oklahoma City (through Cincinnati) (PHOTOS) for AccuWeather
- In 2005 I drove to Niagara Falls, Canada with my wife and stepdaughter (PHOTOS), then later drove to Albany, New York in October (BLOG ENTRY) for AccuWeather

WHY I DON'T LIKE TO TRAVEL:

I don't like to travel. Let me repeat that: I don't like to travel.

Here's the thing. I'm a little Monk-ish [JessePedia]. And by that I mean that I am a bit of an obsessive compulsive germaphobe who has allergies to everything, so I don't "travel well." I kind of wish I hadn't just watched the episode of Monk "Mr. Monk & The Airplane" yesterday.

I'm not afraid of flying per say, but you could count the number of times I've been on a plane on one hand (in fact, 4 fingers). I know that the major airports in the U.S. successfully deliver 1,000,000 passengers per year (recent stats from CNN on-air) and people say it's more likely to be struck by lightning (well, for me, even more likely I'd be struck by lightning because I'm always out in thunderstorms). Truth be told, it's actually considerably MORE likely that you'll die from an accident in an airplane than being struck by lightning, according to the National Safety Council's death odds list and this National Geographic "ways to die" graphic. But then there are the ironic cases of planes crashing as a result of being struck by lightning. The thing about being on board a plane is just the lack of control. If you're in a car, you're either driving or perhaps could reach the steering wheel and guide the vehicle to safety. You can't do that when you're 30,000 feet up.

Overall to me, travelling is a royal pain, unless My Beach [JessePedia] is the destination. Travelling is brutal -- tiring, confusing, and usually exposes one to an abnormal amount of germs (I typically fall ill when I return). I don't like "new" things, i.e. people and unfamiliar places. And due to Murphy's Law, my wife also has a knack of developing a life-threatening condition while I'm gone (she's healthy the rest of the time!)

I also don't fly enough to remember the rules of air travel (which change every few months anyway). And to make things worse, I understand that I can't even carry most of my (obsessive-compulsive) toiletries unless their bottles are smaller than 3.4 oz.

As such, I have steadfastly refused to travel for AccuWeather several times in my nearly 10 years there. "Can't someone else go?" I'll ask. But this time, like the last time I travelled by air for them 2.5 years ago, I couldn't find any excuses. We're having a big meeting at the Wichita office regarding the products for which I am most intimately familiar with. So I took a deep breath and said, "OK."

WHO'S GOING?

The only good thing is that I'll be travelling with good company:

- Jim, my meteorologist and all-around good boss of 6 years. Jim is a good person to travel with because he is down-to-earth and travels frequently.

- Henry Margusity (Meteo Madness Man), a friend and fellow storm chaser who helped me move into My New House [JessePedia] last year.

- Jon Porter, a fellow weather & IT geek.

- Steve, a friend, meteorologist and IT guy whose house I considered buying last year.

ANY OTHER REDEEMING FACTORS?

The only other good thing about flying is that it gives me a chance to do aerial cloud photography, which is really awesome. You can check out some of my photos from the 2004 flight to Oklahoma on this page.

BUTTERFLIES, ENTER STOMACH WHEN READY:

So I was already worried before I saw the GFS Forecast Model's [JessePedia] dire prediction (see below, from our Pro site) that Saturday we'd be both trying to drive AND fly in a massive ice and sleet storm (could they have picked a worse time to fly from the Northeast to The Plains than the dead of winter??)

GFS Predictions Dire

Plus, just now my boss Jim said he will be unable to go on the trip with us. So now the butterflies in my stomach are multiplying and I'll feel much better when this whole thing is over. Whatever happens, I'll do my best to bring it to you live on my blog when conditions allow me to access it.

THE INTINERARY:

We'll be flying from State College, here in Central PA, to Cincinnati Wednesday morning, then from Cincinnati to Kansas City, then driving to Wichita Wednesday afternoon. We'll stay in Wichita until Saturday morning, when we'll drive back to Kansas City and reverse those flights.

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