Airports - they're a long way from anywhere (Pt 1)

Airports, by necessity, are miles from civilisation.  (If they're not, then they have curfews and not enough space, don't they Kingsford-Smith? And too many NIMBYs to build another one.) Which means they're a bloody pain to get to, and they can charge extortionate rates for parking. If I were to use the long-term car park (the cheapest option) at Tullamarine for the two weeks I am away, it will cost me $168. Seriously.

So clearly I'm not driving to the airport. And given it'll be fairly early in the morning, it's not fair to drag the kids out of bed so JD can drive me there (it's about an hour each way). And Melbourne, bless its heart, still does not have public transport to and from its airport. For one person, a cab is not an option over that distance. Which leaves me with the shuttle bus.

My flight is scheduled to depart at 9:35am.  Which means I have to be at the airport by 7:35 am. There is a shuttle bus leaving at 6am, which is scheduled to arrive at 7:25am.  Perfect!

Except there are roadworks on the main/only route to the airport, so they recommend allowing an extra half-hour travel time. Which, if Murphy prevails (together with the morning peak hour) could easily be three-quarters of an hour. Which is cutting it too fine, even with carry-on only baggage. The shuttle before that leaves at 5am, getting in to the airport around 6:30am. And airports are just such FUN places to spend three hours in the wee hours of the morning.

So the schedule so far is:

• 0430h - Get up, shower, dress, have a cuppa tea, final check of packing list, passport, tickets etc
• 0450h - Drag JD out of bed to drop me at the train station to meet the shuttle.  We are so not morning people.
• 0505h - Board the bus for 1.5hrs of bouncy bus fun (I get car sick, so I'll probably doze for this leg)
• 0630ish - Wait around for the check-in desk to open, bum around, find some breakfast and another cuppa tea or two, empty my water bottle so I can get through security, refill my water bottle on the secure side, and bum around for another hour or two.
• 0935h - flight scheduled to leave, although it has been known to be a little tardy on occasions.
• 13h 40m of fun-filled flight MEL-LAX, arriving (theoretically) at 0730 the same morning LA time.
• Hope above hope that the flight is not too late so I don't miss the connection, which departs 1.5 hrs later. This has been known to happen.
• 5h 10m of more fun-filled flying, this time LAX-JFK
• Assuming all goes to plan, arrive at JFK at 1725h local time, having been up for 25 hours (more if the LAX connection doesn't work).

Actually, arriving early evening is pretty good.  I can get some food, get by bearings, get to where I need to be, and get to sleep, while resetting my body clock to deal with the timezone change.