"Dollar Plunge Sets off Global Alarm Bells"

This was the headline on the Daily Telegraph that I got free with my Vittel water at Heathrow. I knew the situation with the dollar was bad but since there is nothing I can do about it, besides be as thrifty as possible with my money, I was going to blissfully ignore the problem. Spending Pounds and Euros feels like spending play money and my plan was to deal with the actual consequences once I returned home. But I HAD to look at the headline and then read the article about how “we’re in the eye of the dollar storm” and how this trip will probably make me go broke (as I sip my café latte and eat a ham and egg sandwhich).

The flight from Madison to Chicago took literally 20 minutes. It was delayed by about 45 minutes but we still made it almost on time, for some reason they estimated the flight would take an hour. I had 30 minutes to make my connecting flight to London and thought I was going to get away with having an empty seat next to me but at the last minute a guy probably in his 50s came and sat down. Then he proceeded to put on a pair of “travel socks” over his other pair of socks, do some stretches and tell me that the book I was reading was a “brave” choice for a plane ride (Alive by Piers Paul Read, the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team who were stranded in the Andes for 72 days after their plane crashed--it is really good). He was a banker from California going to Ghana on business, which he says he does about 4 times a year. I got quite a few more travel tips than I needed or wanted from him but at least he wasn’t overly large or smell bad!

Anyway, here I am in Heathrow for a couple hours bravely reading my book, drinking expensive espresso and watching dollars disappear without even spending them.

Next stop Berlin!