Well, at least the Andy part of Riding Phrius.
By being car-free, we prevent all these carbon emissions by riding bikes, taking public transportation, and only using cars when we absolutely have to. But unfortunately much of that savings gets blown with airplane travel to Ohio and Pennsylvania and other distant states to visit family and friends. But this time I have really blown it... by going to Greece with my dad.
Dad is 87 and loves to travel. He discovered Penn State University trips several years ago and has gone on at least half a dozen. They are a good deal and they are run by an excellent tour leader who likes having him on the trips. But he hasn't been able to go on one for over 2 years. Every time I see him, he mentions how much he wants to travel. So through a collective family effort of Hillary letting me go for 12 days as she stays with the boys and my brother staying at the house with mom, I am the one that gets to accompany dad on this group trip to Greece. Rough.
I was a little leery of this trip. I did the last trip with him 2+ years ago to Spain and Portugal. Four hours before we were going to fly home from that trip, Dad discovered that he had lost his passport. With a trip to the Seville police station, a lucky connecting flight past the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, and some fast foot work on the part of the tour leader, he managed to get another passport. Do I really want to travel with this guy again? Well, obviously the answer was yes.
Late this afternoon we arrived in Athens. Just as we were getting to the passport inspection station we hear over the PA system, "Passenger Mr. Holdsworth, please come to the service counter". Oh boy, what is it this time?! After worrying about the worst things it could be, we learned that the airline had left dad's suitcase at London Heathrow. As the tour leader said, this guys is cursed. We should have the luggage by sunrise and we hope he has gotten this out of his system for the rest of the trip!
By being car-free, we prevent all these carbon emissions by riding bikes, taking public transportation, and only using cars when we absolutely have to. But unfortunately much of that savings gets blown with airplane travel to Ohio and Pennsylvania and other distant states to visit family and friends. But this time I have really blown it... by going to Greece with my dad.
Dad is 87 and loves to travel. He discovered Penn State University trips several years ago and has gone on at least half a dozen. They are a good deal and they are run by an excellent tour leader who likes having him on the trips. But he hasn't been able to go on one for over 2 years. Every time I see him, he mentions how much he wants to travel. So through a collective family effort of Hillary letting me go for 12 days as she stays with the boys and my brother staying at the house with mom, I am the one that gets to accompany dad on this group trip to Greece. Rough.
I was a little leery of this trip. I did the last trip with him 2+ years ago to Spain and Portugal. Four hours before we were going to fly home from that trip, Dad discovered that he had lost his passport. With a trip to the Seville police station, a lucky connecting flight past the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, and some fast foot work on the part of the tour leader, he managed to get another passport. Do I really want to travel with this guy again? Well, obviously the answer was yes.
Late this afternoon we arrived in Athens. Just as we were getting to the passport inspection station we hear over the PA system, "Passenger Mr. Holdsworth, please come to the service counter". Oh boy, what is it this time?! After worrying about the worst things it could be, we learned that the airline had left dad's suitcase at London Heathrow. As the tour leader said, this guys is cursed. We should have the luggage by sunrise and we hope he has gotten this out of his system for the rest of the trip!
