I hate flying. It’s a pity I have to do so friggin’ much of it if I want to keep my job. The past couple years have led me to have serious reservations about my ambition to travel to such places as London, Eastern Europe, and the Far North.

But I hate flying. Well, not so much flying, but I hate airlines, I hate the the waiting, the cramped quarters, the cost, the dry skin and general icky feeling after getting off a long journey, the sore limbs, the long delays and missed connections, the bad customer service and huge catalogue of excuses so quickly on-call from every airline service representative. I hate the fact that *most* flights are more than an hour off schedule, no matter what airline, where you’re going, or what time of day it is. I hate the fact that racking up 200k in frequent flyer miles over the past two years means nothing to the airline other than a couple free flights, which will also be cramped, late, and stinky. I particularly hate the fact that these experiences are all reflective of what is probably one of the better domestic carriers in the industry today…

The saddest thing is that the US Government is conspiring with the airlines to keep the skies miserable over America. Foreign carriers are prohibited from serving domestic routes, and thus domestic carriers have limited competition on either rates or service. It’s not going to change. Even if there is no collusion on prices, it’s like any other industry: start-up costs for a full-service airline are so high that all the existing carriers can safely assume that they are their only competition. They can set their rates a little higher each month as long as seats stay fairly full, and know full well that their peers will do the same.

I hate flying. A lot. I truly long for the day that I can replace this degree of air travel with nice, cushy road trips, in a spacious auto in which I’m in complete control: as many snacks on board as I want, climate control I control, stop-offs every half hour or every small town, and the choice to take the low-road and actually see what’s going by. Even a train ride is magnitudes better: more room, better food, big windows, cheap fare.

Flying’s great if you want to see the country, but it’s pretty sucky if you want any choice about seeing anything but the whole country from 6 miles away, or if you have any desire to enjoy yourself whilst doing it…