I’m not flying or driving. I’m taking the train. And yes, I’m doing it entirely because of the recent increase in TSA security theater at the airports. I DO have something to hide, namely a money belt that I always wear when I travel, and I’m damned if I’m going to submit to either a (cyber) strip search or an intrusive groping merely because I wish to travel on public transport. The new TSA policies are a clear violation of our 4th Amendment rights, they don’t increase our safety one bit, and it will be a cold day in Hell before i willingly go along with them.
I don’t know what I’m going to do when I need to travel to medical meetings, though. Taking the train won’t be an option then, and driving may not be either. These new TSA policies SUCK.
Edited to add: I’m traveling just a bit over 500 miles one-way this holiday season (Omaha to Chicago). Alas, most of my trips during the year are well beyond that distance, and I no longer have the iron butt I used to have when I was younger, so driving to my end destination is usually something I’d prefer not to do. This TSA nonsense is going to cause me real headaches in the future.
For Thanksgiving, I flew to Seattle from Montreal. But I will take the train to NY, even though it is sloooooooooow (average speed: about 32 mph). But cheap too (costs just over $100 RT with a senior discount). The first year I lived in Montreal, I drove south (to Philly) over the holidays but on the return trip, the last 100 miles on the Northway was on ice. Never drove that in winter again. When I went to Seattle, I got to the airport 2 hours early and nearly missed the flight. But security wasn’t the main reason; immigration pre-clearance took nearly an hour.
I’ll be riding in the car on Christmas Day… mostly because the trip to my sister’s place is really too short to consider flying. (It’s about an hour’s drive.)
Edited to add… it’s about that amount of driving time just to get to the airport!
Will do. I always look forward to reaching Jackson Miss. It’s interstate driving the rest of the way to New Orleans. The first part of the trip (in my state) are some very old 2 lane state highways. We have Interstates, but not going in that direction.
Since Jackson Miss is so big, I figured the song was about it. But, Jackson Tenn works too. I Learn something every day on the dope.
I’m driving to my mum’s on xmas day as she’s only an hour away. If we go up to Scotland as planned, it’ll be by train because that’s just so much less of a hassle.
I actually mostly like flying, but it is a) fairly expensive and b) has turned into a mega PITA. But seriously, $200-$400 for a ticket from one major city to another major city, per person, is too much for our budget. We’re not poor by any means, we are comfortable and save, but that’s a lot to take out for a few days, and I really resent it. I think there should be cheaper airfare between major cities.
Had a pretty easy flight yesterday from SeaTac to Orlando. However, the security line was long, and if we hadn’t used the “premium line” we would have been in trouble.
