I haven’t had much time this week to blog as I travel, but I feel like I should mention my current situation. I was supposed to leave Cork yesterday, but Thursday night, when I was having a drink with a friend at the pub, they told me an Icelandic volcano exploded, and all flights to Europe from Ireland were cancelled until 11am. My flight was at 6am, so that meant I was not going to fly. I changed my flight to Saturday morning at 6am, and then Friday night, when checking my flight, I learned all flights have been cancelled Saturday until 1pm. I changed my flight again, this time Monday morning being the first available time.

So now supposedly I leave 6am on Monday.  But I was having breakfast this morning at the B&B I’m staying at (which, by the way, if you ever get stuck in Ireland because of volcanic ash, be sure to stay with John and Helen at the Glencairn B&B), and John showed me an article that said the eruption is getting worse.  The eruption is getting worse, not better.  That makes me think Monday morning might not be working out for me for leaving.

I’m at the point now where I’m thinking of taking a ferry.  I take a ferry to France, then take an expensive, high speed train to Amsterdam.  I need to get on the continent.  All the ferries might very well be booked, and I don’t even know where they leave from near Cork.  This is going to be a memorable trip, that’s for sure.  One again, Glencairn B&B.  Just outside of Cork.  Stay there. http://www.glencairnbb.ie/

So I arrive at LAX a good two and a half hours before my flight. The airline suggests two hours, but why not be safe with a little extra time? I pop in line to check my bag, hand my ticket and passport to the lady, and then wait. I wait much longer than I should. The neighboring employees have helped at least three people during my time at the desk. During my five minutes of waiting, I start building a whole story about this woman in my head. How she was able to get this high security job, why her right hand is bandaged, who the person is on the button she’s wearing. Then, just as I’m about to check my watch, she informs me my flight to Dublin has been cancelled, but she got me on a flight later today. She wasn’t inept at her job; she was trying to find me another flight all that time!

I’ll tell you someone who wasn’t as helpful to me: the pilot in Chicago who “called in sick,” thus cancelling my flight. Can pilots even call in sick? And if they can, isn’t there some reserve of other pilots to step up in a pinch? It’s crazy to think an entire flight could get cancelled because one guy woke up with the sniffles. Maybe his sickness is more severe than that. Maybe he had food poisining or something. But if that’s the case, then some dude in Illinois who undercooked a piece of chicken has singlehandedly delayed international travel for hundreds of people. That doesn’t seem right. I don’t know if the pilot’s phlegmy cough qualifies as an “act of God,” so we’ll see if my strongly worded letter will get me anything free from the airline for my inconvenience. Just goes to show you can control a lot when you travel, but you can’t control someone else’s immune system.

I’m traveling to Europe for a bit. First stop: Ireland. Specifically, Dublin. I’m fifteen minutes away from a cab picking me up and whisking me away to LAX. It’s been a while since I’ve traveled abroad, and I usually travel with someone else. This time, I’m going solo. Well, I am meeting up with friends in various locations, but a good chunk is just me. With my American English, limited German, and lack of a travel partner, I’m sure I will have many humorous language barrier anecdotes to share. I hear Europe has those fancy internet cafes, so hopefully I’ll be blogging as I travel. And once I get back, get prepared for an onslaught of new Travel Bug videos.

Malibu is where the celebrities live in Southern California. Well, this is where some of the celebrities live. There are a lot of celebrities, and Los Angeles County is pretty big. Malibu has a pretty high saturation of movie stars, though. Non-famous rich people live here, too. The good thing is even a person with a low salary can enjoy the pristine beaches here. As long as you can afford parking, you’re good to relax on some of the best beaches in California.

Los Angles is a sprawling urban area, but downtown Culver City is one of those rare places in LA where you can walk to multiple places without driving. From the restaurants to the coffeeshops to the movie theater, It’s a veritable pedestrian oasis. Of course, you have to drive to get here, but this is still Los Angeles. And the Sony Pictures studios–formerly MGM Studios–are right next to downtown, so you always remember why this arid desert of Southern California thrives the way it does. If it weren’t for the entertainment industry out here, it would just be the desert without the oasis, pedestrian or not.