Setting out July 2011

I love flying. And international flights are the best. We're sitting here on the tarmac at Frankfurt International, awaiting departure to Johannesburg, South Africa after walking in to find our seats are A) behind a bulkhead so extra legroom B) we're the last row before business class so we're not on the way to the lavatory C) we have a lovely overnight pack with toothbrush, eyemask, etc. D) the wine is a delicious South African merlot.

It is this love of exploration and adventure that forces me to merely nod my head when people awe at how long the flight will be.  Flying from JFK to Johannesburg is something like 16 hours and I can hear the horror in people's voices. But inside I'm ecstatic. 

It's also this love that brought us to a two-day trip in Frankfurt Germany as a prelude to our adventures in South Africa. When our flight from DC to JFK was delayed for 15 more minutes (the fourth such delay), our first thought was, well where in the world should we go?

We calmly joined the customer service queue while simultaneously calling United's 800-number. We got to the front and explained that we were part of the United 14 - a name I had dubbed for the 14 passengers delayed in Washington-Dulles airport and therefore missing our connection to Johannesburg. Our agent, an energetic blonde South African woman appeared to be leading the charge and calling out a myriad of possible re-routes to the other agents on the same quest. She proposed Doha, Bahrain, London, Frankfurt. "Doha! Oh I love that airport!", "Ooooh Bahrain would be new!", "Oh god not Heathrow!!", "Frankfurt! We could go there!". In the end Germany won out.  We took 2 of the last 3 seats and quietly moved away from the line while a angry throng of other passengers moved in.  Thus ended my hopes of filming a TV show about our group's trials and growth as we try to make our way to Africa.