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After watching endless CNN reports about hellish, weather-related holiday travel experiences, Savvy Navigator does some end-of-year reflecting on why he still loves to travel. This top-five list is actually part one of a two-part series, and as he sits typing in his comfortable mountain home in front of a roaring fire (happily nowhere near an airport) here goes:

#1 Coming home with exotic injuries adds to the glam factor – This year Savvy Navigator returned home from his reconnaissance and gay tour planning trip to Botswana with a broken ankle. While he would otherwise like to attribute this injury to being chased by a raging adolescent male elephant, the sad reality is that he tripped down a flight of unlit stairs at his over-the-top safari lodge in the Okavango Delta (Vumbura Plains). Nevertheless, the fact that the injury was sustained while on a luxury safari generates incredible interest and everyone seems to be so curious about how the ankle was broken.

And upon reflection of injuries and illness past — the parasites from Ecuador, the broken shoulder from Telluride, the allergic reaction in Buenos Aires, and the food poisoning from Bangkok – Savvy Navigator is amazed at he is still healthy despite bringing home all these, ahem, souvenirs.    

#2 It’s cool to be an American abroad again – For the past 8 years, Savvy Navigator has been playing Canadian when traveling overseas (well, there is some legitimacy, SN husband is from Regina, Saskatchewan). As the USA has systematically opted out of playing nice in the world community, there is newfound optimism and excitement about the general direction the United States. On the latest trip overseas, 100% of all those Savvy Navigator encountered were excited about the Obama election and what it represents. The purpose of this blog entry is not to be political, at all, but rather it’s about noticing that the underlying love for America, that has always been present, is starting to bubble to the surface again. 

#3 Visiting foreign vineyards means wine list literacy back at home – Savvy Navigator has spent many hours visiting boutique vineyards and tasting wine in places like Stellenbosch, South Africa and Mendoza, Argentina. As he manages to sniff out some amazing boutique vineyards, his wine knowledge has increased exponentially and his ability to be intimidated by a robust wine list has been reduced. Just last week, a sommelier was waxing on eloquently about a Bodegas Catena Zapata in Mendoza, and SN thought to himself, “Yes, I rode my bicycle over to that vineyard one afternoon last year…” 

#4 Achieving Platinum Status – Savvy Navigator and husband freely admit they are mileage whores. Whether it’s an airline, hotel, rental car, or frequent dining program, this family has top-tier status all over the place. While being a Grand Pooh-Bah is better in some programs over others (i.e. Starwood Platinum rocks), the slight-better-than-average the top-tier traveler receives makes moving about the world a heckuva lot easier. Plus, knowing that those points are on account out there, gives SN real piece of mind. Just last week, it only took 15k Air Canada Aeroplan points to fly down adorable nephew from Toronto (YYZ-DCA) to help infirm Uncle Savvy get ready for the holidays.      

#5 Watching Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel has new meaning – Many readers know that the Savvy Navigator household has a huge affinity for the Travel Channel. Over the past 18 months, the programming on the network has dramatically improved and one of SN’s favorite shows is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. Very often, he will watch Andrew ingest interesting epicurean fare in an exotic locale and Savvy Navigator is able to remember the exact same delectable experience. The joy of travel means broadening one’s food perspective and invigorating the taste buds.

Savvy Navigator will post part two of this series some time before the end of the year. In the meantime he and the SN team will you and yours a fabulous Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever your preferred winter holiday might be.

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Savvy Navigator has been able to determine that there are no orthodontists in the bush. While on safari recently, he got very close to a breeding herd of female elephants and their offspring. He was most amused at this young mother with her crooked and deformed tusks. He wonders how this happened?

And in a future entry, Savvy Navigator will detail his adventures being charged by an adolescent male elephant, who had recently been cast out of the breeding herd.

Savvy Navigator is home! After 36+ hours of travel (including > than 24 hours in the air), Savvy Navigator and husband arrived home safely and soundly Saturday night. It was a long trip, but a lot was learned about planning and executing the optimal gay tour experience. 

Trip highlights will be posted throughout the week, but some of the best things the team experienced on the long ride home included:

1. The new BA Galleries Lounge in Johannesburg - great staff, delicious food, and Savvy Navigator’s favorite wine, Warwick Estate’s Three Cape Ladies!

2. The new Madrid airport terminal is home to Iberia and its oneworld partners, including American Airlines. The AA staff here could not have been nicer. As the Savvy Navigator duo settled into their business-class seats, the ground staff came on board to advise that only 1 of the bags had made it up from JNB. While aggravating, it was the homeward leg, and this pro-active customer service meant not having to deal the claim until back on terra firma in DC.

3. The fabulous lesbian flight-attendant couple, Mary and Veronica, who made AA69 MAD-MIA a really fun crossing. Who knew that cabin crew had to deal with so much plastic cling wrap?

 This one’s for the airline geeks…

Approximately 330 days ago, Savvy Navigator called AA reservations and booked the following outbound, business-class itinerary on oneworld partners Iberia and British Airways/Comair using AAdvantage miles:

IAD-MAD-JNB-CPT

The purpose of the trip was a busman’s holiday with the husband to scout out some new luxury gay tour locations in Botswana.

Several months later, after the few rounds of schedule changes from Iberia, it became this more circuitous routing:

IAD-ORD-MAD-JNB-CPT

A few months later, it became DCA-JFK-MAD-JNB-CPT, which was the final itinerary when Mr. and Mr. Savvy Navigator headed out to the airport yesterday. After an American Eagle creeping delay at DCA, causing them to miss onward connections at JFK. The next 2.5 hours were spent at the ticket counter trying to get rerouted. The friendly, yet incompetent AA agent at DCA truly struggled to reaccomodate them, but he kept coming up empty. He finally said,” There’s nothing I can do,” which was, needless to say, infuriating beyond belief. After some more keyboard tapping, this was his suggested routing:

DCA-JFK-LHR-MAD-JNB-CPT, which then became

DCA-LGA-JFK-LHR-MAD-JNB-CPT after the Eagle flight finally cancelled.

Routing from Hell

As this seemed totally inane, and the chances that the DL Shuttle DCA-LGA would also cancel, Savvy Navigator, asked, “Hey, any space on the BA flight to LHR out of BWI?” Well guess what? There WAS space and the duo happily taxied (on AA’s dime) over to BWI.

Once they arrived at the BA counter in Baltimore, the very-kind agent took pity on them and said, “Why are you going through all those different cities just to get to Cape Town? Why don’t I book you on the LHR-CPT nonstop?”

The Final Routing

And the best thing about this new ticket is that chance that they’ll possibly accrue lots of frequent flyer miles, despite flying on award tickets. The kind BA agent could only accommodate them in the full-fare business-class inventory. Savvy Navigator does not want to count the proverbial chicks before they hatch, but stay tuned for some possible good news in the near future.

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