"Somebody ought to write a book..."

In January of this year I flew to Chicago to visit a friend from my days in Vietnam. I have created some "rules" for myself about flying. At the top of the list is to consider the length of the flight (from Boston.). If it is over three hours I ask for more legroom. Under three hours, to Washington, D.C. for example, I don't care. The flight is just over an hour. And, when possible, I travel to Europe, where I have family, I fly on Icelandair. Its business/first class is a mere thousand dollars more than an economy seat. That seems expensive until you start comparing the cost of a Saga class flight to a business or first class flight on a non-stop international carrier like Air France or Lufthanza.

I also prefer to fly non-stop if I can. Getting stuck at an unfamiliar airport can become a real challenge.

The flight time from Boston Logan Airport to O'Hare is just about three hours. Despite the fact I had had my right shoulder replaced six weeks earlier I opted to fly economy class, and requested an aisle seat. My seat was on the left side of the plane. What a mistake it was not to purchase the upgrade. And to choose the left side of the plane. I was squished. And there is a lot of me to squish. I was using a fanny pack instead of a purse because of the shoulder surgery. Between the fanny pack, which I chose not to take off, and my girth I had to ask for a seat belt extender:embarrassing. Oh well.

The real problem came with trying to get up to use the bathroom. There really wasn't enough room to stand between the seat in front of me and my seat. I had to push up with my newly replaced shoulder. I knew I would not dislocate it, but it did hurt. As I struggled to sit down and buckle myself back into the seat I thought, "Somebody ought to write about the pitfalls of traveling with replaced joints." Then I realized that with six replaced joints I was the perfect "somebody." And thus the catalyst for this blog.

THE LESSON LEARNED: Choose the seat with the larges pitch (the distance between your seat and the one in front of you) whenever you can.

Here is a website that describes the seat pitch for all major airlines in the US and abroad. The list is by the size and the type of plane (i.e. a Boeing versus and Airbus), the class (economy versus "upper classes"), and the airline. www.seatguru.com.