A Wild Week

I'm a very seasoned traveler. I've been to Europe 17 times this year. I get postcards from stewards on the plane thanking me for my business. I have Diamond Medallion status with Delta, and am working toward my Two Million Miler status. Still, what I have planned this week is not for the faint of heart, and things are already going awry.

Let me just preface this by saying that I have a bit of princess in me. I like to think that I'm easy-going and low maintenance, but the truth is that I prefer my comforts, and you wouldn't find me dead in a tent. And those comforts are sort of growing over time, so things like sipping champagne in the Sky Club before my flight are now my base expectations. I know. I'm not proud of it. But there you have it. 

So it was to my dismay that I discovered that I was $5k short in MQD spend to keep my Diamond status on Delta for next year. I WAS GOING TO LOSE STATUS!! This was a tragedy. I researched a million ways to game this system and find a way around it, but no such luck. I was going to have to buy a business class ticket to Europe. And so I did. Obviously.

So here I sit on my second leg of a flight to Barcelona. Panting, with my sweater in my lap and a sweat-soaked tank top, while stylish and horrified Europeans eye me with mild disgust and a good amount of shock, as they sit in coats and scarves. But I've just sprinted through Charles de Gaulle airport, and all those Orangetheory classes didn't help.

Why don't I run through my itinerary??

I've been to Europe 17 times this year because my boyfriend lives in Italy. And I am madly in love with the boy. And in the end, it's no hardship to spend a ton of time in the Bel Paese.

And so I'm going back to see him, because, of course. But I'm no simple girl, so this time, I included some add-ons.

First: fly to Barcelona, via Paris. Why?? Last time I was in Barcelona, there was a terrorist attack, and I found myself shuttered in a bar while hordes of screaming people ran by. So what's taking me back? As luck would have it, my brother and his wife are there, on the tail-end of a 3 week vacation. And since they live in L.A., and I'm in Detroit, and don't see them all that often, I figured I'd take advantage of being on another continent together and pay them a visit! So that's where I'm headed today.

Tomorrow I'll fly to Italy, and stay through Friday...when I'll head to Paris for the night and stay with some friends there. I'll then fly the next morning to New York, where I'll meet my cousin and son, and where we'll watch my daughter in a dance performance. Then it's back to Detroit the next day. So 4 countries in 9 days... totally and completely doable.

Only .. I'm pretty sure my luggage isn't on this plane. 😏