Travel Archives - AJ Feuerman

My first day of “Quarantine Life” was Friday, March 13 and so it struck me as rather “full circle” when November 13 also fell on a Friday. And that is eight months of this life wherein I have not been able to go to a bar with my friends, enjoy a leisurely Sunday Brunch, stroll through a bookstore, work on my laptop in my favorite coffee shop, order a breakfast-for-lunch at my favorite diner counter, travel to see friends and family. The list goes on.

I feel a bit like a whiny baby when I have these thoughts. Could you imagine doing this in the 80s? In the 70s? We are lucky this has happened to us with the comforts and conveniences we have. What if there were not internet, no Facetime, no Netflix? So there is that. Yes, we are lucky.

Presumedly we have all made sacrifices. (And frankly, if you have not — if you are one of THOSE people, click here.) And it seems now that I better understand gratitude. At minimum, I certainly appreciate small freedoms I took for granted previously. And I miss them.

At night, when I am dreading the following day, which will undoubtedly feel much like the day before, and the day before that, my mind wanders. Sometimes to trivialities wherein I find myself mindlessly adding things to my Amazon or Nordstrom wishlists. And sometimes my thoughts are broader and I think about all of the places around the world I want to go. There are so many more than I realized and it often becomes overwhelming. Where will I go first? Iceland? Helsinki? Back to Puerto Vallarta? Just up to Seattle or over to Austin? I would love to go on a cruise.

It’s funny because I’m not a “wanderlust” person. I have several friends whom have traveled the world and I love to see their photos and hear stories, but for me, I have always been quite happy to vacation domestically. I love New York and will go over and over. I don’t usually crave new and unfamiliar surroundings. Yet in this current life, I think of it often. I make lots of lists. I listen to travel podcasts and watch videos. I watch a lot of house tours from Architectural Digest and follow a bunch of Instagram accounts I’d not heard of months ago.

I often think about things I would like to do with my friends. (I should clarify here that I think of my family as well but my Shelter-in-place “pod” includes some of them, so I do see family members.) The last big activity pre-Quarantine was a visit to a wine bar and bookstore with girlfriends and it was a lovely day. I would like to do that again. I want to get a group together and drink at a bar for no reason. I would love to go with a couple friends to a spa and get massages followed by relaxing in a hot tub, whispering gossip between us. It would be nice to go shopping together or lay by someone’s pool. I would like to take a client to my club, go sit in their lounge and enjoy my favorite sandwich. I have many friends who live out of town – the list of who I want to go visit is long.

But let’s be honest, the things I miss the most are hugs and high fives. I miss leaving a place and casually hugging everyone on the way out. I miss entering a room and excitedly hugging a friend I haven’t seen in a while hello. When someone tells a funny joke, I want to laugh and throw up my hand for a high five without a care. I want to cuddle with someone. So while I feel like this Quarantine Life has made me greedy for many things, what it’s made me want the most is a huge, monstrous, loving group hug.

Don’t @ me. Hugs are AMAZING.

Just last week, I threw up an Instagram post as I boarded a semi-private flight to Las Vegas aboard JetSuiteX and the responses were plentiful. As such, I figured I thought I should jump in here and explain exactly what it is and why it’s not the high-end, pricey choice everyone assumes it is. You too can be a baller here and fly private! It’s pretty glorious.

To immediately put it in perspective, my round trip flight to Vegas (from Burbank Airport) was $158. Total. When I flew to Vegas back in April, I think that round trip was about $170. I did shop around and even the go-to, Southwest, was more expensive. What’s more, the ease of flying out of Burbank Airport, as opposed to LAX, is extraordinarily valuable and worth a few more bucks to me, if it came down to that. Additionally, with JSX, you can show up 20-30 minutes prior to your flight, check in easily, drop your bags at the curb (for lack of a better description), sans TSA hassles, and you’re off. There are snacks, free booze (beer, wine, hard alcohol), non-alcoholic beverages, of course, and lovely lounges at their private terminals.

Other amenities include:

Comfortable leather seats
Business class legroom
Power outlets at every seat
Full flight attendant service
No overhead storage bins for a more spacious cabin
Hanging rack for your hanging wardrobe luggage

It’s funny, too, because I a not a great flier. I usually require a healthy dose of Xanax, a pre-flight soothing call with mom, and some hand-holding, but I find with JSX, I am just so much less stressed. I know the prospect of flying a smaller plane would seem scarier, but it is very smooth and just doesn’t phase me. They make the whole experience so easy. And you’re only conceivably on the plane for an hour (right now they only fly between Burbank, Vegas, Oakland, Concord and Orange County) so no biggie, right?

I’m sure you can all see why I love using it so much and here’s one more incentive. Every time you refer someone, you get a $20 credit on your account. And if you use MY referral link, you get $20 off your first booking. So that $170 or $150, whatever the airfare is, is already $20 less! (If it’s easier, you can also visit their homepage and use my code, 8YOUU5, to get the $20 discount.)

BON VOYAGE! If you take a trip using JetSuiteX, I hope you’ll come back and tell me what you think!