One bag policy...

I've been traveling the majority of my life - hopping on planes to go here and there. I swear travel is getting harder...and it has nothing to do with national security.

I don't like removing my laptop, liquids and stripping down to my skivvy's just to enter the gate area, but I understand this is their means of protecting our homeland. I still think anyone with the intent to do harm will find ways to accomplish that goal in spite of the rules, but whatever, I'll comply with your requirements. Security checks aren't the subject of this post.

In recent years I have experienced more flight delays and travel frustrations than I can recall experiencing previously. Space on the plane is cramped - more seats equals more money but less comfort. There used to be such a thing as customer service and a meal on a long flight was standard. Now there are airlines that will charge exorbitant prices for a small meal. Major restrictions on luggage weight, anything above that is charged a fee. Carry-on luggage is being highly scrutinized - one personal item (laptop or purse) and one bag per customer, no exception; which encourages passengers to check baggage. Now this...a one checked bag per customer policy. A second bag will cost $25 each way for a round-trip ticket. US Airways will even charge a bag fee for international flights.

In a couple of weeks Kenyon and I are going to New Mexico to visit family. Because of all the crazy rules related to cashing in airmiles, we decided to purchase tickets from cheaptickets.com. Shortly after purchasing the tickets I received this in my email inbox:

Dear Sheri,

This is a CheapTickets update to let you know that Delta Air Lines plans to begin charging most passengers a $25 fee each time a second bag is checked.

The new fee, which takes effect on May 1, 2008, is not included in your ticket price and can be paid when you check in at the airport.

Delta Medallion members and passengers traveling in first- and business-class cabins will still be allowed to check up to three bags at no additional charge.

If you have questions about this policy, please call Delta Air Lines at 1-800-221-1212.

Thanks for traveling with CheapTickets.

Sincerely,

CheapTickets Customer Care


Can someone please explain the logic behind this policy change?! Everything I can come up with is related to money - less baggage, equals more space to sell to businesses for transporting goods. Or, less baggage means less fuel, thus reducing costs. I am an efficient packer, I can pack for a two week international trip in a carry-on. This policy effects me, because usually I use my checked baggage for transporting needed materials to the field. In my upcoming trip to Ethiopia, I have a duffel bag full of items requested by field staff. In my India work, we transported gifts for the children and much needed medical supplies in our check baggage.

I will have to change my travel habits, again, or plan to pay $25 at each stop to check two bags - or maybe I should join the world of the elites, they can check three bags at no charge. What's up with that?

Bootstrapping...

You've probably heard the saying: "pulled up by your own bootstraps." It usually means someone helped themselves out of a difficult circumstance. By sheer will and their own power of determination they improved the condition of their lives.

I'm reading a book titled: A Billion Bootstraps. It's about Business solutions to ending poverty, focused primarily on microcredit. In the book they give the origins of "bootstrapping."

Baron Munchhausen was a German eccentric who served the Russian military in two campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in the 1740's. Returning home to his manor in Bodenwerder, he acquired a reputation for telling outrageously tall tales about his adventures. According to one such story, he escaped from a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair. In later versions of that story, the Baron used his own bootstraps to pull himself out of the sea, giving birth to the term bootstrapping.

So, the idea of pulling ourselves out of difficult circumstances started as a tall tale. I'm starting to believe it still is. That it is nothing more than a farce to believe we can save ourselves.

I see poverty all over the world...extreme poverty (defined by World Bank as living on less than $2 a day). I've read many books on how to combat poverty ...The End of Poverty: economic possibilities for our time, Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America, and more.

The conclusion I am coming to, is that we cannot do it alone. I'm not advocating a view of the American super hero who flies in to save those who can't save themselves. Instead, I am growing increasingly convinced of the need for a hand up and not a hand out. Often people in poverty around the world aren't lazy, rather I find them to be quite industrious; they aren't stupid, but rather quite intelligent in spite of limited educational opportunities. It is often the circumstances of their lives that shackles them to poverty...remove the shackles and watch them fly.

Bootstrapping...a tall tale we should stop telling and instead offer our hand to pull someone out of the muck of their lives.

20 seconds of joy

Friday and Saturday night Kenyon and I attended the Banff film festival at the local college. It was the biggest event I've been to in Boone - 1,700+ people in one place at one time. We watched movies on base jumping, kiteboarding, mountain biking and climbing. It was an overload of adventure films. My favorite is titled "24 solo." It is about a 24-hour mountain bike race. The bicyclist rides for 24 hours, round and round on the same course until time runs out. The man who won nearly died and spent the next week in the hospital. I was amazed at the
endurance of spirit in the athletes - no quitting whatever the cost.

There was also a movie about a base jumper who ends up getting hurt. She shattered her femur bone and in spite of the pain and years of physical therapy she said she would do it all over again for 20 seconds of joy.

I could easily be an adrenaline junky. I want a motorcycle (my husband bans me from having one), I have skydived a couple times and can't wait to do it again, I love adventure. I may take risks, but I view them as calculated risks after I've weighed the costs.

It led me to think, what is the craziest thing you've ever done for a thrill?

Top Ten list

My employer made the top ten list:

10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of
These 10 charities work throughout the country and the world. They are large, complex organizations with budgets exceeding $100 million, and at least $65 million in net assets. They became household names in part because of their exceptional financial management, no easy feat considering the scope and size of their operations. Charitable givers should feel confident that these national institutions put their donations to good use.

To view the full list, visit: Charity Navigator

We were #10. To view our report visit: Samaritan's Purse rating

Go KU!

We won the championship! Hip-hip-hooray! Even if my team hadn't of won, it was a really GREAT championship game. I had watched both the semi-final and final game at the home of friends. I had planned to watch the semi-final game against North Carolina at a local sports bar, then decided that might not be wise. One crimson and blue fan in the midst of a sea of baby blue. After watching the beating Carolina took I was glad that I was at a friends house. I would have had to leave the bar and pray I didn't get jumped. :)

I am so happy KU won. I was glad to be in town to watch the games. It just isn't the same reading the ESPN scoreboard from Russia.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!