Roadtrip!!

Road Trip! Who does not feel the twinge of unknown excitement when you hear those two glorious words. Inhibitions disappear and happiness grabs a hold of your total being while you day dream about what lies ahead. It does not matter where your going, it matters that you are going. I wonder why we do not approach every day like it was a road trip.

The spring semester at Heslington has ended. Our mid term exams are on Wednesday and with some effort I need to grade my exams and have the marks entered by the end of the day. I have 5 classes with a total of 40 students so I had my work cut out for me if I want to get on the ADO bus to Puebla. I do have breaks in the day and between classes plus I can mark papers while students are writing their exams which is a time honored teaching tradition. I figure by the end of the day I can easily finish all my work at home by 10:00 pm which will make it a long day but the morning will bring a spring in my step as I bound out the door. It will be so.

On another note I booked my flight to Toronto from Mexico City for 12:20 am on Saturday August 13th arriving at 5:50 am. It is a direct flight and the extra $$ I paid for it is worth not stopping over in the States on the way home because I just want to get there. A 5 hour direct flight beats the crap out of a 14 hour flight with stop overs even though the longer flight is a bit cheaper however the flight back to Mexico will be different. Anyways things line up pretty good. I land around 6:00 am and figure 60 to 90 minutes to get through customs and pick up my back pack. Who knows how many planes will be landing at that time so it may be a shit show and the lines brutal. Who cares I will be steps away from a large Timmies. I will have up to 90 minutes to get to Union Station for the direct GO train to Niagara Falls which leaves at 9:00 am and arrives in Niagara Falls at 11:04 am (that should be an uneventful 2 hour nap). I am being picked up by Lynne at the train station and then off we go. I was recently informed that on the weekend I arrive there is a craft beer and food truck festival downtown so I know where I will be living that weekend, sorry Mom.

I booked my return flight to Puebla with stops along the way in Cleveland and Houston. I will have to put on my happy face and endure what can be American Customs and Security, it really is hit and miss with them. I will be heading back to Mexico and The United States is just a blip on the trip but oddly I do love watching the bored TSA agents who are the front line to my supposed safety. Puebla puts me 2 hours from Tehuacan instead of the 5 from Mexico City. Landing late and I am sure frazzled from the shitty flight I will book a hotel near the airport and start the trip to Tehuacan the next morning. I always think is is best to start fresh after flying, especially after multiple stop overs,  and I will ready to revisit morning tacos and coffee.

A thought about booking flights online. I use to be loyal to Orbitz.com however they merged with Expedia a few years ago and that killed that. As you know there are hundreds of booking sites out there. Some are re-sellers and others are re-sellers of re-sellers. There is not a huge difference in prices from one to the next. I like my PC points but PC Travel is the most expensive of any other them. Here is the rub. A flight on the Air Canada website sells for $400 and the same flight on Orbitz is $400, no big deal right. The flight on the Air Canada site is in Canadian Dollars and you guessed it the same flight on Orbitz is in American Dollars or about $120 more. Be diligent and have no loyalty when it comes to booking online. Some websites have more flight options which is nice but they are not Discounted at all. Look at your airlines website first for their pricing and go from there, it may surprise you. One site that was sent to me is surprising, Secret Flying. You need to be flexible and most travelers can be.

Anyways, there may be surprise deals out there if you are persistent and have nothing better to do than spend hours and hours searching online to save $50. Usually the cheapest flight is also the longest and has the most stops so look down the list a bit because. For $20 more your options increase and become better. My advice is stop looking for the cheapest flight because when you have a 10 hour layover you spend cash on food and drink, think about that next time you are excited because you think you got the best fare.

My Next stop is the UNESCO World Heritage city of Puebla and the nearby town of Cholula which combined is home to over 700 Catholic churches. 700 Catholic churches, man that is a lot of guilt in two towns.