Last year, my travels came to a screeching halt when I canceled my Mar 16 flight to Chicago the previous day. Pandemic took over the world and I did not get on to a flight for almost eleven months.

Exactly a year later – on Mar 15th – I am back to my work travel. Car in the same spot at the airport on a Monday morning, finished my banana and threw the peel in the same trash can before getting into the airport, same routine of picking up a paper boarding pass, Clear Pre check thru …

Felt almost like the good old Monday mornings with a few differences… the call to India on the drive to the airport was to my brother and then sister instead of my mom, the airport was fairly empty (but not like what I saw in Feb) and of course, everybody was wearing masks.

By the way, in that whole one year, I completely forgot to fix the wheel of my suitcase that got broken in one of the last trips last year!!!

Good to be back in the air for work again!!

… after a long time. The last time was for a business visit in my previous job probably four years back!

I-75 was completely shut down north bound. Fortunately, I was going south bound. The unique thing is this was not due to your usual accidents, construction or VIP visits. Found out that a 48 year old man from Mississippi had climbed over the overpass and jumped down to the highway and got smashed to his death by a trailer! What a tragedy! 🙁

We will see how far we can get past the gate first…

Update at midnight:
That plane did not even have a fighting chance to get out of the gate. Eventually, it was a different plane, a different equipment, 7 – yes, seven – delays amounting to a full 5 hour delay (we could not find our crew, the cleaners, the baggage folks apparently gave wrong information to the pilots, de-icing mix up – all sorts of fun that you can only take in your stride after you have put in about 8 million miles of flying) finally in Atlanta at midnight.

Strangely, I feel my world is normal again!!

Not sure why but airports just get me like nothing else can. Always excited by airports.

I am one delay or cancellation in my flight plans from being completely normal again!!

This is JFK Terminal 4.

I checked in last night into the Marriott in Brooklyn downtown. This being my first stay after nearly eight months at a Marriott, I was not sure what the new rules were given all the pandemic stuff. So, I asked the old, African American, helpful but rather stern lady at the front desk if she could tell me what all has changed. She saw my profile and immediately realized I was used to being pampered by Marriott.

After checking me in, she came out and took me thru a whole list of things I cannot get or cannot do any more. No more restaurants in the hotel. No more bars. The lobby is not open. Even the business center (which I normally use for printouts) was not open. I had to wear my mask all the time other than when I was in my room. I could not get food delivered to my room either. She lectured me on all those stuff – in a nice way – but in a nice, school-principal way.

Subsequently, I made a habit of reading up all the notices Marriott had put up all over the place. They certainly have taken all the efforts to keep the visitors safe and make sure the visitors keep others safe. In the morning, I noticed something in the elevator. There was a notice that only two people should get into the elevator at a time (unless it was a family). But something else caught my eye. And I took a picture of it.

Unfortunately, my friend was not there at the guest counters. Ah! Well!! I went about my day. In the evening, as I was on my way tp pick up my dinner, I noticed that she was there in the check in counter and all by herself.

I went up to her and told her that I had a question about the Covid rules.

She instantly recognized me. She came out from behind her desk and asked what was it.

I showed her the picture of the elevator floor I had taken.

“The elevator allows only two passengers at a time”, I said.

“Yes, sir! We are strict about social distancing”.

“I get that. But last night when I left you and got into the elevator, somebody was already there. And she was occupying the two feet corner. I had to take the other corner and stand up on one foot all the time. How does that help with Covid?”.

She had no clue what I was talking about. She saw the picture.

Then looked at me, perhaps wondering how daft I was.

That was when I winked!

And that stern principal laughed so hard that her mask came off! And she apologized for it!!

It was a good start back to my travelogs again!

That too from 10,000 feet in the sky! That is the New York beach below. And yes, that is all snow next to the beach…

Nothing speaks to me that the world is getting normal again like watching people scampering to catch a flight that they might otherwise miss. The claustrophobia that Covid had wrought upon me got a ozone-hole sized puncture as I took to the skies today!

Exactly 11 months and 1 day earlier on Mar 13, 2020, I had taken my flight back from Chicago to Atlanta. And that was that.

The breakaway had all the hallmarks of the yesteryears. Made a reservation on Delta and Marriott to go to New York City. As I was wont to do before, I called them back next day to let them know that my plans had changed and I needed to change reservations. Down to even the last bit of calling Delta up this morning enquiring if they could change me to an earlier flight. Which they did.

Sure enough, the flight was delayed since the crew was not there. And yet, we came earlier than planned since the schedules are heavily padded.

One thing – seeing everybody having their masks on, I found myself wondering at times if I was in a Japanese or South Asian airport!

Covid is lurching around enough that I am still not into Joy Adamson-esque “Born Free-Living Free-Forever Free” mode yet… but my personal freedom which is defined by my ability to check into much delayed flights and noisy Marriott rooms undoubtedly got a boost today.

Eleven months and one day after my last flight!! Ever since I took my first flight of my life – a Damania Airways flight from Bombay to Kolkata towards the end of April, 1993 at the age of 27, never ever have I gone for this long without being in a plane. To put this in perspective, the previous year – in 2019, I was in 141 flights with 8 different airlines.

I feel like some normalcy was reached today!

Walk from check in counters to T terminal to the train tunnel and then walk all the way to terminals A, B, C, D and then E. This used to be my exercise of the day (invariably could not run on those days I had to fly). Felt good to re-live it again this morning!