We are climbing out of Los Angles on Finnair flight AY2 bound for Helsinki. As I sit in my business class seat , yes I know, how unlikely to be up the front, I reflect on the last 36 hours and the week that preceeded it.

We planned our trip to Europe to coincide with the break between Anne’s two projects in Cairns. The first that concluded very successfully last Wednesday for Anne. Well done Anne and her team. The second project also Cairns based starts while we are away. Anne will take over leadership on her return. Our plan was to visit Anne’s parents and other family members over three weeks in Europe before returning to Australia. On Thursday 4th of April we got a call that said Anne’s father had passed away in Paris. He had been in hospital for a couple of weeks with an infection but had expected to be discharged shortly. He was 98 years old, still active and enquiring. In February he called Anne to better understand the reasons behind the calls to change the date for Australia Day.

We are now on our way to a funeral. As heartbreaking his passing is, we should recall the wonderful life he led, the memories he gave us over the decades and the laughter we shared when we met. He will be missed but forever in our hearts.

As usual, we are packing at the last minute. Anne as always better prepared than I am, but some things never change. We have multiple chargers for all countries but can we find all the attachments for each country, USA, Europe and UK, of course not. Best not to let the two slow speeds travel anywhere. According to Qantas scales my checked luggage is 8 kg. I think the scales at Brisbane were inaccurate as LAX showed us 3 kg heavier. Still not much down in the hold – our carry on is heavier. Do not tell anyone.

I had planned to book Premium Economy tickets to Europe and back in our price range but at the last minute contacted Roundabout Travel in Adelaide. They concentrate on Round the World (RTW) tickets. Finnair had an economy RTW that with an extra payment moved all Finnair flights to Business Class. Pricing was similar to the Premium economy tickets I had been looking at. So Qantas economy BNE-LAX and SIN-BNE the rest up the pointy end! Ended up being half the price of Business Class both ways. Based on our British Airways business class upgrade last year from London to Singapore, this works well for us.

Economy from Brisbane to Los Angles was a challenge, 14 hours, knees almost touching the seat in front, gluten free meals whose contents were hard to distinguish between by the taste of each element made for uneventful if uncomfortable flight. While US immigration was slow, no forms, less meaningless questions and customs declarations made for a smooth transition to land-side. A short ride to our hotel, the Curio-6 at LAX and we are in our room. The Curio-6 is part of the Hilton chain, that we have been using and supporting since before the start of travels in 2014. I have always been impressed by the Hilton staff around the world as we have travelled, they go the extra mile to provide excellent service. We have fine memories of stays in Sharjah, Kuala Lumpur, Paracas Peru, Bogotá, Austin TX, Dumblaine in Scotland and too many others to mention. From General Managers to dining/reception staff thank you all for your excellent service over the past decade. As a Diamond member they extend our checkout till 2pm, bliss.

A quiet, dark room and 14 hours later we are refreshed and ready to take a walk – what, in LA? Just a walk up the road, Highway 1 no less, to the local CVS pharamacy to purchase our 500 tablets of everything that are available over the counter in Australia, but at much higher prices. 1,100 pills and 150 Aussie dollars later we are good go for the next two years and rattle back towards the hotel.

The plaques above are two of a series of famous aviation personalties on Sepulveda Blvd north of LAX Airport that given the location very few travellers ever see. Why here I wonder?

As we walk back to our hotel, we pass numerous homeless people living in doorways. When I am in the USA I am always reminded of Rich Niemiec, who was VP of the US Oracle User Group when I headed the Asia Pacific Oracle User Group. We met twice a year in San Francisco with the Oracle executive back in the late 1990’s and Rich would never pass a homeless person in San Francisco without making a donation. Something to keep up. Thank you Rich for setting the example.

After a couple of pleasurable hours in the Qantas/BA/Cathay Oneworld lounge in LAX, we meet Java Affogato, a Sheepadoodle dog whose job is to de-stress passengers at LAX. Did you know there was such a thing? What a great idea and we now have a new follower in Mark his handler or was it Java? Our followers are growing in the most unusual places. We still have a couple million to go before we are global influencers, but having said that we appreciate each and every one of you who follows our travels.

We board Finnair AY2 for Helsinki. We are now at the pointy end of the plane, oh so much better than the back. Does that make me a snob? A glass of Champagne and a toast to Papa, Anne’s father, and we are off. Dinner is excellent with an interesting wine from Austria and a desert wine from Finland no less.

Very pleasant Olinger Iphöpher 2022 with dinner and a AINOA Suven Taika NV desert wine to finish we are set for a good night’s sleep. The Finnish desert wine deserves further investigation.

Yes Business Class is so much better than the seats behind. I am looking forward to making my bed and sleeping all the way to Helsinki.

Gentle light seeps into the cabin to wake us up. Two hours to go a short night but after breakfast we look out on icy looking landscape that sees some lakes with what appears to be a veneer of ice left from winter. Good thing I picked up a warm beanie/sock deal before I left Australia.

At Immigration in Helsinki as a non EU person I have to join the long queue while Anne, courtesy of her French passport sails through the automated machines. We have a tight connection on 45 minutes, but with a helpful move to the front of the queue thanks to ground staff, past a couple of tricky questions like “where are you staying.” “How long for?” “How are you leaving?” Then I am in the EU racing after Anne, just make the departure time cutoff, and we are told we are waiting for passengers from a connecting domestic flight. Hurry up and wait.

An uneventful flight to Paris, a taxi ride and we are here. Tomorrow is the funeral and we will say goodbye to Anne’s father Claude. Not how we had imagined this trip would start a couple of weeks ago.

– Anthony