I'm inevitably reminded of "Up in the Air". A lot of us must have looked at George Clooney's character and said "That's my life!"
His life was full of travel and lounges and wide seats. A pile of elite cards. An encyclopaedic knowledge of perks and tips and inside info. He knew all the terminals and their layouts. He got to the front of the line everywhere.
But, and there's a big but here, his life was arid. Totally centered on one person. He had no baggage in any sense of the word. His own residence was so uncluttered it resembled a chain hotel room, and the only personalisation we ever saw was a menu from a fast-food joint stuck on the fridge.
The romantic interest in his life had a better handle on things. Her home had a partner and kids and all the trappings that go with it. When she was traveling, she switched gears, but she always had a good grasp of what mattered and could dispense the relationship advice that Ryan Bingham struggled with.
What's really important to us? A wad of shiney plastic cards? A few drinks in a lounge?
I was there. Chasing status, spending money, missing birthdays. One evening I stood on top of a building in Manhattan and seriously considered throwing myself off.
Yeah, that was fun.
I'm back in the game now, but my travel is centered around other people. My friends around the world. A hug from someone on a chat group whose ups and downs I've shared. A cuddle with kids I knew since they were determined gleams in their mother's eye. Their father switched faiths to marry and when that family eats kosher, I eat kosher. Another friend is vegetarian, and though I love a good steak, I'll match meals with her.
One status run a year, and I'm aiming to make the annual holiday with my wife a pleasure for her. She likes the massages in the Flounge, the priority lanes, the upgrades, and she likes the way that I can help make the hassles of travel go away with a platinum card. Her smile is worth more to me than anything else in the world, and I'd lose my travel wallet full of chain cards, a full passport, and the next itinerary in a heartbeat, rather than lose her.
Travel is a hobby, but like other hobbies, if you are spending every evening in the garage commanding armies of metal elves and hussars, or online talking about wine or coffee or airline perks instead of doing the dishes and sharing the day's deeds with wife and kids, you need to think about where you are heading.
Do you really want to get to the end of your life, think back and sum it up, "Geez, I missed it?"
I'm not sure how it happened, but just when I'm contemplating going to Johannesburg for the sole purpose of getting a cheap airfare, I find that I've been handed a fundraising responsibility for a
school in Durban. I suspect that I may find myself a bit further out of the terminal than I really intended, and instead of just a carryon bag, it may be two big ports crammed with books.
Travel is fun, no doubt about it. But there's more to life than fun.