Today’s Daily Post prompt asks:

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, or car? (Or something else entirely — bike? Hot air balloon?)

How appropriate this question is, after returning from a five-night trip to Detroit! When planning for the trip, the wife and I asked the same question. Driving was out of the question, because my narcolepsy makes me unreliable for long distances and my wife is not comfortable driving in the city. As for a bus – we did that the last time we traveled to the Motor City and we have sworn never to do so again. The bus is eighteen to twenty hours of torture, and having a one year-old is a huge factor in our decision as well. That’s why we didn’t go by train, not to mention that the trip duration is just as long and that takes time off of our vacation. So we went by airplane, naturally!

People fly every day, and some people fly hundreds of times during their career. But I have only flown a handful of times and I’m still not entirely comfortable when the ride is bumpy or downright freaky. The flight out was great, the flight back had its issues. I thought the pilot of the Canadair jet from Minneapolis to Bismarck tried to dodge a pterodactyl about two seconds after leaving the runway. But the trip takes just a few hours and the only travel fatigue is the pain in my neck from wearing two carryon bags crisscrossed over my shoulders.

Forget that, forget the bumps, and forget the fact that our layover coming back was cut really close because of heavy air traffic. The cost of flying is somewhat prohibitive, isn’t it? Given the benefits I would prefer to fly any day when we’re talking about an interstate trip, but the cost of a single plane ticket is enough to make a guy weep these days. Are there any alternatives? There’s talk of bringing Zeppelins back, only filled with non-flammable helium this time (and I’m guessing these would be non-smoking flights, too.) Then there’s the idea of bringing back supersonic jet travel, but that would cut down on time, not expense.

So in other words, I’m going to have to figure out how to game the flight industry. Any ideas?

(My vacation was great. If I missed any comment replies or anything I apologize, but I was probably on WordPress more than I should have been!)

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