Space A Travel. “A” standing for Availability and…. Adventure!

You’ll never guess where this post is coming from…the inside of a C-17! We are, as we speak, in route to the South of Spain. Our ‘adventure’ officially began three days ago when we prepared to depart from Travis AFB in Calif. Besides the usual preparation one has when one travels, there are a few things you need to get up to speed on before you began Space A travel. Getting your documents in order and applying for travel should be done 45-60 days before departure. You are selected to fly based upon the ‘Julian date’ of your application. A Julian date is simply a day of the year numbered consecutively from January1^st to December 31^st.  We applied mid-august to ensure a high seniority selection for our October travels. Because we had some idea as to where we wanted to go (some Space A travelers just go to whatever is available) we submitted our request with some degree of confidence in early selection.

We never know what type of aircraft we will be flying on. We know it will be a military plane or a military leased plane. This can be anything from small jet (rare) to a cargo or Med-vac plane. We were fortunate to get seats on a C 17 for our first flight. Now let me tell you, this is not like any other flight we have ever been on. A C-17 is a large plane with seats along the wall and lots of space. Some people actually bring mats and sleeping bags and sleep on the deck.

There is also a whole new language one has to become versed in. “Showtime” (actual time you must show up to let them know you would like to be considered for this flight), “manifested straight through” (point of origin and final destination of travel excluding number of stops made in between), “USO”, CAT status (The order in which the seats are given out), Roll Call (the time you show to see if you are assigned a seat), and my favorite, “DV lounge”(which stands for Distinguished Visitor, not the place you watch movies).

Since Tom is a retired Navy Captain (O-6) we are accorded some special privileges that come with that rank, including some very nice places to wait and rest until our flight is called.

All these are new and marvelous adventures. Thus far the most impressionable was the first time I looked down on my left wrist and remembered I was not wearing my watch (intentional). This is to remind to leave behind my agendas, letting go of the need to always be on schedule, to relax and enjoy the moment and  just to breathe. Tom of course is wearing his watch because there will be occasions when we need to be someplace on time. 

It took us three attempts and five states to get to get us in route to Spain. But who could complain? We left California with relative ease, landed in Maryland, took a cab to the metro station in Washington DC, rented a car and drove from Virginia to Delaware. It is fall here so it was absolutely stunning and the miles of beautiful farmland early in the morning can take your breath away. We have already  met some of the nicest people…and were not even in Spain yet!

We will stay in touch!