Journal : OpenRoadWorks

Life's a journey and not a destination. Or something like that said by someone around 1920 .

All roads lead to Rome . An idiomatic expression that has less relevance for today's Classics-agnostic culture , but when the center of the western world was Rome, every road did actually lead there from the provinces.

Quiet time on an airplane is one of the last bastions left for every day meditation. I took advantage of my flight time this week to have a think from the window seat.

From beach wedding to barren cupboard - that's what really happens on a homecoming.

From cold and grey... You know how I said it was cold earlier this week? I went and did something about it.

Winter is starting to drag in the US. Which is why I've started dreaming of Maldives .

How and where these words originated I am no longer a privileged flier. Call it premier, advantage, select, platinum, elite - I am none of those, these days more of a standard flier. Which leads to more middle seats when flying and the feeling of resignation that accompanies the struggle for elbow room - window and aisle seats have access to the extra space their positions can afford. I can think of the symbolism of this middle seat, seat 21B to be exact. Sure, it's an exit row, which means more leg room. But it does not accord privileges that spend, flight segments, and miles do - likely what led my row companions to capture the window and aisle seats flanking my position. The work and sacrifice to accumulate what becomes currency is worth it in the end for that seat over, right? Maybe even moving up a class to Business or First? To gain a different level apart from others, even though we are all ultimately heading to the same place on this flight. That's O...

The far reaches of bungalow island destinations (those blue pins) on Google Maps Vacation planning often mimics the same anxiety, frustration, and exhilaration of the trip itself.  Case in point - today my wife is trying to work out a trip to Japan with her brother that coincides conveniently with a remote beach destination.  Of course, we encounter a couple of hiccups: Remote beach destinations are quite remote - literally in the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles from anything Traveling in and out of Asia with US airlines is not as well networked and connected as Europe (read: multi-stop flights are difficult to arrange) Airline award flights are challenging to book, particularly with "saver" awards, for lack of seats available to use those miles Rewards points and status with particular hotels get you quite a bit with those hotels - but only with those hotels, which leads to a search through a particular hotel's directory for attractive destinatio...

Nostalgia can be a powerful sensation. A feeling of longing, ghosts real as persons filling the senses of what recalls a place. These things are lurking just beyond reach but perceptible nonetheless, often palpable to the blood coursing through veins. I remember this same hotel, a room similar and a brisk night when I met my wife for the first time. I remembered the same last year when I visited then, and this feeling is fitting. After all, nostalgia is powerful like that.

A fresh start in the bush Every day is a fresh start.  I was reminded of this while on safari in South Africa (we just returned), where every day began at 5am for a drive in the bush.  Some mornings, the dew hung heavy to show the countless spider webs in the trees.  Some mornings, the sun was already stretched and ready to run hot across the sky.  Other mornings, the sky was a grey magician, not revealing its true intent until after our return  for 9am breakfast. A fresh start is a good reflection for "rebooting" this blog and resuming the habit of more regular musings.  Stretching the fingers for more than business correspondence and deliverables is definitely a good thing.

Nothing better than a Bellini while watching the Regatta Marriage can be hard work.  Which is why I feel so blessed for the relationship with my wife.  And which is why our five-year anniversary required a journey befitting of the wonderful places we have been over the years.  It started on safari but finished in a city which marked the best part of our honeymoon - Venice. Our anniversary also coincided with the biggest day on the Venetian calendar - Regatta Storica - which also coincided with the biggest annual international event in the city - Venice Film Festival .  We celebrated both in between passeggiate around the city, a lovely place for impromptu sights and rediscovering the sounds of city life before the over-run of the automobile.  A fantastic day to celebrate five years worthy of the occasion. Italians know glamour at their marquee film festival

When I was a child, the idea of seeing an elephant "in the wild" seemed remote and exotic.  As I started to travel, I tended towards the the "cultural" wild of historical sites and locales versus the "natural" wild of a world that our humanity continues to overrun.  So when my wife suggested a safari as part of our big trip to celebrate five years of marriage, I was surprised and intrigued by the possibilities. South Africa turned out to be an amazing journey and a place we will not soon forget.  To be in the wild makes one feel alive, and the wonder of feeling small striding next to our mammal cousins is something we should all experience at least once in our lifetimes, to be where the wild things are.

Heading to the Helmsley Sometimes I work in NYC, and this is my office.  More precisely, there is a desk in the upper floors of this distinctive building that has a major thoroughfare running through it that I inhabit while typing up documents and conducting meetings in the city.  It is nothing exceptional, usually the work and sometimes the desk at which I sit, but the surrounding city is commanding, ever-thriving, and never-still. If I pay close enough attention, I am reminded of the countless things that make this city unique among the many cities I have had the pleasure to live in and visit.  But on this brisk morning, when winter gusts barrel down Park Avenue as I hustle the blocks from Lex to the building entrance security guards, I pause long enough to snap this picture.  That pause is enough reminder that I am lucky to be here, and New York City is ready to give me its best shot (I'm still not sure if the city is better personified male or female). ...

Nighttime over Lex Once upon a time, I looked out similar windows to discover the end of a brief relationship.  Once upon a time, I looked out similar windows to fret over the first date that would change everything.  It was only a few months between those vistas, and when I come back to look down on the same Lexington Avenue nearly seven years later, I am enchanted. Life has a way of winding past the same curves in the road but taking those turns at different speeds, catching familiar bends and traversing them differently than we remembered.  I catch myself in a moment, pausing to contemplate what meaning there might be in returning to this same hotel, with the same view, with the same longing for something else than sitting this night in a hotel room. Ah, but the circumstances are quite different.  My first once upon a time was a dud, made crueler by the "Xanadu" moment of crafting one of my more brilliant poems (if I say so myself) in anguish to a lost re...

I just returned from New Orleans.  Interesting city, which got me thinking - what has become of the cities of our grandparents and great-grandparents?  Would they recognize the world in which we live every day?  What would they think of it and why? I ponder these thoughts in relation to wandering Vieux Carre', or the French Quarter, over the course of several days.  My first reaction was some level of disappointment.  My second reaction was some level of intrigue.  My third reaction was some level of comfort in the waves of humanity that have washed over the quarter.  My fourth reaction was some feeling of blankness for what the quarter has now become.  It led me to read a book on the quarter called Madame Vieux Carre': The French Quarter in the Twentieth Century .  I was curious as to what the twentieth century had brought to that part of the city and what life after Hurricane Katrina looked like.  In short, fullness to emptiness. ...

Sandwich at Musee d'Orsay , a set on Flickr. A week ago, I was standing on the steps of the Musee d'Orsay, stretching my legs before tunneling and shuttling on the RER back to the airport for my return flight to the US. I had one last craving to tame, that of taking a bite out of a baguette panini that comes from any number of bars, carts, and patisserie that huddle around trafficked areas in the city. With a jambon fromage in hand, I stood calmly and savored the mixed flavors of a fine sandwich, fulfilling my final wish. And when I was done, I looked around to capture the moment as a personal postcard before heading down the tunnel for catching the commuter train out to the airport. It was a fitting end to a successful week of reflection - both work and personal - to catapult me through the end of the year. And it is this reflection on a simple panini which is especially appropriate for Thanksgiving - namely, that the simple pleasuress are for what we can all be ...

It's always been a wonder to me how cultures intermingle in the streets of New York City. I'm here on business, an overnight trip of curious dimensions (I got a "free" hotel night at the Hilton for agreeing not to stay somewhere, which was a blessing and curse all the same), noticing the rhythm of the city again. Starting on 42nd Street at 2nd Avenue, it was a British invasion. Specifically, two gentlemen boarded the elevator on the 16th and 11th floors, both British, and both with a Pfizer business card affixed to their briefcase or roller bag. Of course, it made sense, as I walked out of the hotel - Pfizer's world headquarters was across the street, which likely prompted some sort of meetings or working sessions and the trip stateside. As I walked across Lexington Avenue, I started to perspire; another heat wave has descended upon the city, which is meant to only get worse, and I realized that it would create a furnace affect on my trip through the ...