I love to travel, but I really wish that I could do it without flying. Flying has to be the most uncomfortable, cattle-herding-type, disempowering, cramped experience in the universe. Yet, because it seems to be our best option to travel long distances (and especially overseas), it is what we are stuck with...for now.

Don't even get me started with the oddity called security. Security at CDG, Paris, let Chris walk through with the biggest bottle of Evian water on the planet, but then proceeded to confiscate my half-used 15ml tube of hot pink lipgloss. Somehow, Dior's Cotton Candy is a security threat under their 'no liquids' rule.

I've wondered for years how a small pair of nail clippers could possibly pose a threat. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall of the security commission meeting where they decided that one. I mean, I could stab someone with a pencil faster than I could harm them with a nail clipper.

Then, somehow, we are to feel just fine about spending sometimes thousands of our hard-earned dollars stuffed into an airplane, then be charged additional money for a box containing a pallet of processed cheese, three crackers, a dried up roll and a square of chocolate. They continue to add seats and take away comforts to increase their margins, squeezing their staff for double shifts and lowered benefits so that they bark angrily at the customers, who are already annoyed. And they wonder why there is air rage?

When writing this, I was sitting in CDG airport in Paris, after being told 'due to technical difficulties' the plane would depart 3 hours later than scheduled and that our connecting flights were our issues and we would have to deal with them when landed in Detroit*. To make it up to us, they would give us a 10 euro food voucher for the restaurant that charges 7 euros for a dried up sandwich.

[*update: the flight was delayed 3 hours, then 5 hours, then 18 hours, then 23 hours - we weren't returned our luggage and put into a very remote hotel without shampoo - you know...security...you can't have passengers about to embark on an 8 hour flight washing their hair or brushing their teeth. We opted out and headed back to Paris. The whole hellish saga may or may not be blogged]

Compare this to our recent travels on the fantastic Eurail system. The only complaint I would make is that their reservation system is antiquated (especially for Eurail pass holders), but that was a teensy inconvenience that could be avoided by making reservations ahead of time.

The trains were always on time, and, if they ran late, they ran so frequently that connections wouldn't be an issue. There were no huge security gates to go through, except when we stored our luggage in Paris, but it was minor. Overnight travel was amazing. We had the choice of sleeping cars or lounging cars...and even the 6 bed couchettes were comfortable and a pretty cool experience.

Affordable, on time, convenient, frequent...I'm sure those big beasts cost alot to run, but because of the shear fabulousness of the system, they seem to be consistently full of people, which I'm sure is what keeps the trains in top shape (most of them were new and all of them were clean).

Besides a general rant on my disgust with the consistently declining air industry (where Jet Blue seems to be the only airline that is showing dedication to improving the experience...and even then, the bar is set so low that anything seems like an improvement), I also see this as an analogy for blah versus good user experience.

I've broken this post up into parts for easier digestion. Part II is called: Thinking Long Term