Apr

Musings while waiting at the airport

These last few days have been very busy, so I did not find much time to be on-line.

It seems that the last days before I leave on vacation always brings a sudden awareness to my colleagues that in the next three weeks they will have to do without me. Not that I am that indispensable, they can do perfectly without me because I have trained my little monkeys very well. But anyhow, there was a steady parade of colleagues in front of my desk, all taking the opportunity to ask me for some guidance in one or other file. It almost seemed that they feared I would disappear of the face of the Earth and never return to the office.

But that is already behind me now. Presently I am at the airport waiting for the flight to Thailand. ETIHAD has granted me “silver” status which gives me access to their lounge so I can write this post in all comfort, with a cup of tea and some croissants and chocolate pastries. Yes, I like living it rough.

This time I managed to keep my luggage to a minimum: one big backpack of 17 kg. My total weight allowance is now 35 kg so I am not even halfway. I also have one small backpack as a carry-on with my tablet computer, e-reader, camera and GPS. I only have one book with me this time. I mean one “paper” book because I have a few hundred books in my KoBo e-reader and it still has room for a many hundred more. There is very little chance I will run our of things to read.

English: Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun), Bangkok, Thailand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Abu Dhabi will be my first but brief stop. Barely enough time to switch planes and fly on to Bangkok. In Bangkok I will stay for the weekend. No real plans to do something. Perhaps I go and visit a client or otherwise go to one of the parks and spend some time outside (in the shadow of course) or maybe go to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) on the other side of the Chayo Praya river.

Next Monday I will take the early morning bus to Ban Saeng and meet up with my lovely Thai girlfriend and her equally cute daughter. I do hope they will like the presents I have for them: real Belgian chocolates!