Peanuts Not Included

Decision time

peanutsnotincluded — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:53:22 +0000

Having weighed, measured and evaluated, I think I’m going to continue this elsewhere. Please continue to follow all my travel tips on their very own domain.

Cast your vote

peanutsnotincluded — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:48:50 +0000

Thought I’d have a poll:

View This Poll

Running the gauntlet

peanutsnotincluded — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:36:58 +0000

A Basque friend of mine has just stuck her head into the lion’s mouth. She has covered herself in petrol and is about to strike a match. She is, in-short, playing with fire.

On her way to the Basque Country, she will change flights at Stansted Airport. Not in a nice, step-this-way-to-the-flight-connections-centre-madam fashion like they show you in the adverts, but on her own. From easyJet to Ryanair. With a baby.

If you’ve never run the gauntlet of a loco connection before, you probably don’t know the feeling of terror that it engenders.

Good luck, Jo.

In the beginning

peanutsnotincluded — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:11:46 +0000

Years from now, people will look at Peanuts not Included and think to themselves ‘I wonder what he wrote for his first post. How did it start? I bet it was something interesting, something wild, something profound‘. It is, dear reader, none of those. It is an introductory, sandpit-playing ‘what does this button do?’ post. So I’m sorry about that.

Peanuts not Included? What the devil is it?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a sucker for the low-cost airlines. Ever since Stelios first offered to fly me to Scotland for the price of a pair of jeans, I’ve been on the bandwagon. I’ve visited places I can’t pronounce, in countries I didn’t know I wanted to go to. I’ve bored friends with my tales of 1p flights. I’ve spent too little on flights and too much on coffee. And I can’t remember the last time I got a bag of peanuts included.

In some ways it’s got harder. For example the toothpaste-police are out to get us now, which makes carry-on baggage more awkward than it was. And the locos are always dreaming up ever-more inventive ways of extracting your cash. It can be hard to stay one step ahead sometimes.

But the possibilities are also growing, flights are credit-crunchingly cheap, and there are still juicy airmiles bonii to be had for those who want their peanuts included.

So there you are. Where it started, where it’s going. Please do come along for the ride.