I dream of a day when I’ll take a trip that I actually planned in advance, prepared for in advance, and packed in advance.  Perhaps my normal routine of rush and panic is a symptom of irresponsibility, but I like to think of it as a byproduct of indomitable youth and spontaneity.  Well, whatever the case may be, today’s departure fits nicely into the well-established annals of my typical travel adventures, with the one exception being that I arrived at the airport earlier than I have for any other flight.  This last anomaly is due to the combination of two facts: first, I’m departing on a Wednesday evening when those who normally provide my airport transportation (Mom and Dad) are in church; second, I’m flying out of JFK which, though it is only a few short miles past LaGuardia, invariably involves significant traffic.  So, even though my flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until around 9 pm, the traffic wildcard compelled Dad to bring me to the airport around 4.  Normally, waiting in an airport for 5 hours is something akin to a school detention mixed with a few hundred rude and angry people along with a steady dosage of screaming kids.  It’s the sort of place where I (more…)