Thailand!!!

HI guys!!! Well, if i thought the travel would subside after quitting my job, I was wrong.

I went to Thailand for a week with 15 new friends (a school organized trip). Yes, it was basically like the Real World. We all met at the gate at Ohare...so litearlly we were complete strangers.

Anyway - a 3rd party had booked all of this travel for us (TravelMBA) so we had no say on the airlines or anything...but lo and behold, we were on United. Obviously, I was thrilled. So i cashed in some of my systemwide (intl) upgrades and flew business class the whole way. which was SO nice.

Now, as we've discussed several times on here...International upgrades are not all that fabulous on a domestic carrier (ie - United). if we'd been on on eof the partner airlines, i'm sure the business class would have been so much nicer, but it was decent. at least the seats reclined more than in coach. but i didn't have a personalized entertainment station. the food was ok. not fabulous, but ok.

we flew from Ohare to Tokyo (12-13 hour flight), then had a 2 hour layover in Tokyo, then flew from Tokyo to Bangkok (6 hour flight). needless to say, this was a LONG LONG day. we arrived in Bangkok about 11pm or so, and then headed out for the night. We spent a few days in Bangkok, then a few days in Pattaya (um...look it up...crazy), then back to Bangkok for 2 days, then flew home.

The trip was awesome, I met some fun new friends, and saw some BEAUTIFUL stuff there. I would like to go back without a party of 16 (i mean...it makes EVERYTHING difficult), and to see some different parts of the country. We didn't get to some of the southern beaches (the really famous gorgeous ones), and we didn't get to the northern part of the country (chang mai, in particular). So now i have a reason to go back! Preferably not during the HOT HOT HOT humid humid humid monsoon season :)

Lets see - what else. Last weekend I flew to Denver for Chris & Erin's wedding (Congratulations!!!!). Flew on American since United was crazy expensive. The flights were delayed in both directions (clearly not AA's fault, but because of the monster thunderstorms that sat on top of chicago all weekend). I have to say, AA wasn't my favorite. Maybe bc i'm so used to Economy Plus on United, but the seats were TINY, the planes are smaller too. so for example, the seat config is 2-3. so on the 2 side of the plane (seats A&B), there isn't space for roller bags because the bins are too shallow. meaning....there isn't really room on the plan for all the luggage. poor design, if i say so :) what else....they had a nice variety of snack packs for purchase (I didn't). otherwise, pretty much the same as any other airline.

I'm flying United again next week to go to Dallas for my cousin's wedding, but that's a quick trip (24 hours) so hopefully no delays!!!

Once the travel slows down (should be another few weeks), then I"ll start posting about obnoxious business school trends and peopls (dont worry, there's tons)

bye!!!

also - SHOUT OUT. my dear friends Steve & Amanda are studying abroad (they're in law school) in Madrid this fall. I put their blog link on the right!!!