The Olympics... and beyond

With the change of flights for the trip to Paris next month, I officially am leaving for the Summer Olympics one month from today. This Olympic journey has been an interesting one from the jump. When I made the decision to apply for credentials for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, my first Summer Olympics, it was just going to be a one-off, a chance to see something a little different. However, the idea of paying for Olympic experiences less than two years apart was not something I was interested in doing. Then came Tokyo. Along with Beijing that followed less than a year later, it was one of the most unique experiences of my life. There were no fans in the stands, it was hotter than all get out, masks were required inside and outside and COVID tests were the norm. But it was my first Summer Olympics and it was a good time.  As Tokyo wrapped up, I was not terribly sure that I was going to do another Summer Olympics. With Beijing less than a year away, money was the concern, as I was pay...

As we get closer and closer to the Paris Olympics, which start just more than a month from now, the organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 made a pretty big announcement regarding those Games four years from now. The announcement included a number of different venue clarifications, including the use of the Clippers arena for the basketball, the home of the Los Angeles Kings, Lakers and Sparks for gymnastics and the announcement that swimming and track would switch weeks, with swimming taking the second week and track and field in the first week, which is a change from the normal. The reason for this is to allow the stadium used for the opening ceremonies, SoFi Stadium, to be converted into the largest swimming venue every assembled. The ongoing US Olympic swimming trials are currently being held in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and have been a great success, so this seems like a pretty smart decision on everyone's part, allowing more people to see the stellar swim athle...

When I originally booked my flight to Paris for this summer's Olympics, I decided I wanted to go a little early to give myself some time before everything becomes really busy. I traditionally fly in the morning, so I booked a 6 a.m. Tuesday flight out of Boston through New York City and on to Paris. The more I looked at that flight, the more I grew a little concerned with the layover time in New York. It was less than an hour of time between flights and going from a domestic flight to an international flight, I was concerned about being able to make it from one flight to another and to me I wasn't sure I wanted to put my entire trip in jeopardy because of a missed flight. So, this morning I went online and searched for different flights on Delta, which is where I booked my original flight. I couldn't find anything on the Tuesday that I originally booked that landed on the same day, so I looked at flights out on Monday evening. And sure enough, I found a flight leaving Bosto...