I recently rediscovered my old blog, so I figured it’d be fun to see how things have changed. In today’s entry, I take a look back on traveling.

Journal entry from Monday, December 2, 2002

Well, yesterday I made the long journey back to Oakland. I got to the airport 2 hours early and was still only part of the B boarding group — curse Southwest!! Eh, whatever, I guess for the price it’s all good. Around the holidays you expect to be crammed in around the usual suspects. You’ve got the crying/rambunctious kid. The person who wants to tell you their life story. There’s the large jocky guy who sits with his legs a full foot apart. And the guy who sleeps through your pleads to use the bathroom so you can avoid wetting yourself.

Traveling in 2020

Well, obviously, no traveling for me this year. While I have never particularly been a fan of breathing other people’s recycled germs and farts, I’m definitely not trying to do that shit in 2020.

But, thankfully, Southwest changed its check-in process. Now instead of getting to the airport hours early and trying to get a place in line only to be disappointed that you ended up in the B group, you can be disappointed 24 hours early when you check in online at the exact minute that the flight opens and you are still part of the B group. It remains disappointing, but at least it saves you time.

Noise-canceling headphones have vastly improved the ability to ignore screaming kids and chatty seatmates, so that’s a plus. Sadly, no technology has yet been invented to help guys realize they don’t need to sit with their legs splayed apart taking up your space.