The Trip

I've always known that I was a procrastinator, but it was truly demonstrated while preparing for this trip. It wasn't until the night before and even the morning of my departure that I started packing. One might think that I was just leaving for a short vacation the way things were left....at least that is the way I was treating my departure. Thinking that I would be back in a week or two, not really letting the realization that it might be closer to 6 months sink in. That's how it is living in Denial, and sometimes, it is a great place to live. Honestly, it made leaving much easier.

A few friends offered to take me to the airport, but I graciously declined their offer. Having a car service drop me removed emotion from the equation. All this in a effort to make my leaving as smooth as it possibly could be. I remember when I first started working for Protiviti and was immediately traveling to Seattle - it was SO hard leaving every Sunday night. It was those memories that taught me how to minimize the difficulty of leaving familiar territory.

Here is how my itinerary broke down.

• Wednesday 23rd, 12:30pm - DFW to Chicago



• Wednesday 23rd, 9:10pm - Chicago to Amman, Jordan



• Thursday 24th, 8:30pm - Amman to Dubai, UAE



• Friday 25th 1:00am- Arrival in Dubai

Thanks to my frequent flyer miles I was able to fly First Class to Chicago and thanks to clients paying for airfare, I was able to fly Business Class from Chicago to Dubai. Let me tell you, after flying to Europe a few times in Coach - what a difference!!! If it can be at all afforded, you need to fly Business overseas.

Worried that a 15 hour flight was going to be absolute torture, I made sure I was fully equipped. I had packed a couple DVDs, a book and ensured that my earphones were ready to go for In-Flight entertainment. Thankfully, the book I bought at DFW was very interesting that I didn't really have the need for all the other things I brought along. 'The Footprints of God' by Greg Iles is in the same style as Dan Brown's books. If you don't know, Dan Brown is the author of DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. 'Footprints' combined science and techonology with religion and spirituality. It kept me up for a majority of the trip.

Arriving in Amman was an experience. I am a pretty well travelled guy, having been to Europe three times. What a difference it is, however, to see Arabic writing. There is no possible way to attempt to fake your way through reading those signs. And while everyone there was very helpful, I couldn't help but feel a little frustrated not being able to even try to discern the native tongue myself. Learning at least some of the basic phrases and writings will definitely be a goal.

Alas, after almost 30 hours traveling, I retrieved my bags and made my way out of the Dubai International Airport to find a driver from the hotel waiting for me with a placard reading my name. Awestruck with my hotel room and a quick shower and I was off to bed - for a couple hours anyway. It was 4am local time, and I wanted to wake up at 9am to start the process of acclimating to the new time zone.

If you are curious, Dubai is 10 hours ahead of Central time.