Posted 17/10/2017

Hitting the 2 Million Mark!

A Personal Best... of sorts

I had big news this week… a huge accomplishment, a milestone, a personal best.

I reached the point of 2 million miles flown with British Airways!

Ok, maybe that’s not the best thing I’ve ever achieved but imagine that, I have spent nearly half a year inside a BA aeroplane. That’s many, many airline meals – breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Lots of air-born nightcaps and numerous hours listening to inflight safety demonstrations.

I have travelled to 77 cities in 40 countries. If I picked up a Toblerone at every airport I have visited with BA, I could build a bridge across the River Thames!

The distance I have travelled is the same as 8.3 journeys to the moon or over 80 journeys around the world.

This distance has been reached via a mixture of trips for both business and pleasure. Some journeys being a combination of the two, which I am a huge fan of – it’s work/life integration at its best!

Air travel provides the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on work while actually being forced to sit still in one confined space for a period of time. Up in the air is the only place I do this, with no opportunity for running around, it’s quite healthy for me to be confined to a seat for a change!

If you are a fan of Elon Musk, you will be aware that he has his sights set on revolutionising air travel and replacing aeroplane travel with travel via space rockets. He aims to make it possible to travel anywhere on Earth in under an hour.

How do you feel about this? Never mind the fact that it sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, would you feel safe travelling in this manner – and will the convenience of it outweigh the madness of it?

It’s hard to conceive that this method of travel is feasible in ours – or our children’s – lifetimes but along with travel to Mars, it is something that Musk is determined to succeed with. This is the man who brought us Tesla – the company behind the beautifully designed and hugely respected Gull-wing Model X electric car (among others) and his quite remarkable solar roof tiles. They have both taken off and have blazed a trail for similar technologies to follow in their path.

Musk is a genius. Yes, the fact that he also proposes commercial travel to Mars by 2024 is surprising and may seem incredibly optimistic, but with the speed of developments in technology these days, don’t be surprised if his dream becomes reality.

I’ll be very happy to shave some time off my various commutes (I’ll have to find another location for life/work integration rather than sat on the plane) and I am an advocate of embracing technological change – I just hope Musk operates a loyalty scheme!

In the meantime, back on board I get, I wonder how long it will be until I hit the 3 million miles mark!

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