What was I thinking!

Okay, it seemed like a great idea. Flying anywhere JetBlue flies for 30 days on the All You Can Jet pass. I mean, how hard could it be. Pick a spot, get on the plane, get off the plane. Rinse and repeat. For 30 days. Great idea!

I guess the fact of having the freedom to fly to over 60 different destinations, and the endless possibilities of what could be waiting at each destination overcame any practical common sense (at 3am, unable to sleep). I started off by scraping 425 flights off JetBlue’s timetable, departing on the 16th of September. Yeah, it took some time. It seemed like the perfect way of stringing flights together. That plan failed when I realized (late in the planning process) that some flights aren’t offered on Saturdays. Doh! Big time Doh! Leaving earlier than expected at 5:25pm on a Saturday night didn’t leave much time for sightseeing when you thought there was a late flight at night. Three hours can make a big difference.

After many, many, many drafts, there was a workable plan for 30 days. But what would I see, where would I stay, and how would I get around each stop! Oh, let’s not forget where nutritional and healthy food would be found. Come back soon and I should have some thoughts on that. I haven’t figured it out yet. This is where I underestimated how difficult planning thirty days of travel all at once really is.

This pass is definitely for two types of people. The leisurely traveler, and the spur of the moment traveler. You either take your time in a few places, enjoying all the sights and eventually get back on a plane to the next place. Or you fly wherever, whenever, it doesn’t matter what you see or how long you spend on the ground or in the air. It becomes an exciting adventure (and takes a lot of guts). It doesn’t quite work if you want to be both, and have a fear of the unknown.

I’m finding the fewer points I’m “glued” down to, the easier the plan feels. Being in specific spots at specific times makes it much more difficult to be flexible, or to change things around when you need to. There’s only so many combinations that will get you from Point A to Point B. I think I’m maxing out on a few combinations.

It is important to remember what this pass is all about. Having fun, seeing stuff that you wouldn’t normally get to see, going places you wouldn’t be able to afford the plane ticket for, meeting new people, and again, having fun. At the end of the day, or the month, what you do or don’t see doesn’t really matter. It’s an adventure. It’s also like a buffet, where you can taste everything. If you like one destination in particular, you can go back later and enjoy it more extensively. It may seem like a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I believe this pass will be offered again in one form or another, or something will come up again.  There is always another opportunity to go back to a destination you went to or happened to miss.

Stay tuned, the adventure is about to get started.