winter has come

We got a lot of snow here in Berlin last night but the airports are working just fine. I can hear the Tegel traffic here. I can’t see them though … they can possibly all be going around ;-) The forecasts show even more snow for tomorrow. My flight goes in the afternoon so they should be done with cleaning up the mess by then. I just took a pic out of my window. The black parking lots look kinda cute to me.

“What happens on the tour stays on the tour” or was it “What happens on the tour goes on the blog”? … either way, the second one sounds more exciting so let’s stick to this one.

The flight plan for tomorrow looks as follows:

Berlin – Frankfurt

Frankfurt – Singapore

Singapore – Sydney

Sydney – Tamworth

It’s gonna be a long one ;-)

all set and ready to go

I survived Christmas, which was not that obvious at all. 5 days do go and it looks like it’s all up and ready to go. I finally got the budget figured out. Once again a huge “thank you!” to the sponsor listed on the right.

There are still quite a few items left open on my to-do list. I can get them done on Monday due to the holidays and the following weekend. I just started packing all my belongings – that’s how they call your stuff on airport trains from one terminal to another – “make sure you’ve collected all your belongings” – says the very seriously sounding voice. It’s a feminine voice most of the times though. Wonder why?
It was kind of cool to get all the summer clothes out of the closet in winter. It turned out I’m not gonna take too much stuff with me, which is really good. The chances my luggage will be lost somewhere on the way and delivered after a few days is always there. It has always been the case on my US trips. No matter which Airline I picked. Anyways, it all looks pretty good now and I’m almost all set and ready to go. I guess it’s about time to start the countdown.

christmas

"Why is christmas just like a day in an office?
You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credits."

insurance issue

I decided to go and get the insurance done for the trip. It’s about time. I went to the same travel agent as usual and asked for the exact same insurance package I used to buy every single time for this kind of trip. And guess what? The conditions changed. Search and rescue costs which were not limited at all are now covered up to 5000 Euros only. They wouldn't even get a helicopter up in the air for that… The other thing is they don’t cover medical treatment after an accident as a result of parachute jumping or piloting an aircraft. Great! I wonder what the reason for those changes was. Crisis? Could be. I don’t believe they had too many claims from glider pilots or parachute jumpers though. Insurance companies keep trying to convince me that gliding is an extreme sport. I still think there are sports way more dangerous than soaring.
Is there any insurance company out there that covers that for a reasonable amount of money?

working on the budget

Looks like it's all the same every single time. The day is getting closer and closer and the budged is not closed yet. I'm working on that though and it starts looking pretty good. I can't wait for the day to say: "it's all ready! I'm going!". Let's hope for the best ...