When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. – John Muir

I imagine there are more convenient ways to fly from Raleigh to Kraków other than including a way-too-long layover in London, but I couldn’t find them. I may not be as travel savvy as some, but this trip did tip me over the 40-country mark and I do learn something new every time.

But first I need to backtrack two years. Because what we learned on our last visit to England (“Derek & Rebekah’s Epic UK Adventure“) was that:

• A) Business Class (courtesy of Rebekah’s special retirement gift) is amazing and we never want to fly long-distance Coach ever again. And…
• B) We could never afford Business Class in a million years!

So we were spoiled – beautifully and without regrets – and at the same time left with the prospect of disappointment every time we flew for the rest of our lives!

What I learned this time:

This time around, however, I learned that the Premium Economy option is significantly more affordable yet still extremely comfortable. In fact, we enjoyed it every bit as much as the super-pricey Business Class. Wider seats, more legroom, really good service (including food) and a genuinely premium experience across the board. Kudos to American Airlines.

The other lesson (and I only found out about this literally two days before our return flight) goes like this: If a long layover is long enough – like ten hours – then it’s worth booking a tiny but comfortable room at Heathrow’s Terminal Three “Aerotel.” Getting six hours of sleep Thursday night was an absolute lifesaver.

My favorite part of flying is when conditions are just right and we are soaring through the air just above a visible layer of cloud; it’s as if we are in another magical world.

This is not an easy phenomenon to capture when I am sitting away from the window seat and when I am not in possession of my Nikon telephoto lens. But I did my best and I think these photographs communicate.

Take a look at the video, too (a the bottom of this post). It’s just nine seconds and does a great job of showing the way our airplane is moving into the thick layer of cloud as we begin our descent. I love the colors and the contrasts and the texture of the clouds. The ride got a little bumpy – as I’m sure you can guess – once we dipped into the visible strata.

Creation really is, as naturalist John Muir put it so well, “an infinite storm of beauty,” and any time I get the opportunity to look from a different perspective I feel privileged.

It’s pretty obvious to me that I am becoming a little soft here as I begin to approach the end of my sixties! Next thing we know I’ll be trying to trade in my little VW zommy-zoom Golf TDi for an “old guy” vehicle, something with a longer wheelbase and maybe leather seats. You know, a car that won’t make my back spasm every time we spend more than an hour on the road!

We still call our travels together “Rebekah and Derek’s Great Adventures,” but it doesn’t hurt to dial up the comfort level on occasion, even if just a little.

As I phrased it in a post several weeks ago, in London and on our way over to Kraków, “Still wandering, but not lost.” – DEREK