My Amtrak experience (to Kalamazoo) has been fun and interesting...and I'm ready to be home now. Although we're just about to go through the Sierras and I'll be in the dining car for that, which has great views.

The train was delightfully on time heading east -- in fact, we got into Chicago early enough that I could change to an earlier Kalamazoo train and be on the same one as Lauri (though she was in Business so we couldn't sit together). Heading west, we had a 6 hour hold-up in Salt Lake City due to police action on the tracks (rumor mill says something about a shooting). So here we are in Reno around the time that we were originally supposed to be arriving in the Bay Area.

Kalamazoo was fun, as always. I may jot down some thoughts on the sessions in my Alpennia blog when I have some brain back. (Train travel doesn't drain my brain as bad as airplanes do. I've gotten a bunch of reading/note-taking for the LHMP blog, polished the script for the next podcast, worked on data transcription for my "what do fans think is a Related Work anyway?" paper. Didn't manage to do a full clean-up of my email inbox like I'd been thinking, largely because there's no wifi and although I can tether my phone, the reception goes in and out regularly.

Part of the fun of being a sleeper-car passenger on Amtrak is that all meals are included and you get sorted into random dining groups to fill up the tables. Most of my meals have included fascinating conversations about where people are from, where they're going, etc. Lunch today turned into talking lesbian fiction and I sold a book and picked up a new podcast listener.

A large proportion of the sleeper-car set (i.e., people who can afford the substantial cost) seem to be retirees doing a lot of traveling, including a fair number of foreign tourists. But then there are some people who simply don't fly but are heading for family weddings and reunions and that sort of thing.

I've spent most of my non-meal time hanging out in my cubicle, which gets views almost as good as those in the Observation Car. The sleeping arrangement is about equivalent to camping in my car (i.e., questionable mattress and cramped conditions for changing) but much superior to flying.

And we're about to pull out of Reno, so I'd better post this before I lose signal.

I left Glasgow on my newly-activated Britrail pass and had only minor adventures figuring out how to read the schedule app and manage to find my platforms and whatnot. The Imperial Crown Hotel in Halifax could not possibly be more convenient to the train station. It's a bit of a rabbit warren (and feels like it's cobbled together from several different original buildings) but the room was perfectly adequate and the service was excellent. (And since I made a last-minute reservation through hotels.com, I got a very good price -- though I get the impression this is "off season" for tourists here.)

Did a little walk-about in the town center (which is largely a pedestrian-only zone, yay), spotted my planned breakfast place: a coffee shop in a half-timbered 17th century building in the center of town. Had dinner at the Duke of Wellington pub, then relaxed in my room and got caught up on various online things.

After my 17th century coffee and crumpets, I hiked up to Shibden Hall. The map instructions on my phone suggested two possible routes: one along the roadway and one involving a path and steps through the woods. Of course I took the latter. The path was steep and cobbled and evidently was at one time the only eastern way out of Halifax which caused much grumbling. There was an intermittent drizzle which made the cobbles rather slippery, but the scenery was nice.

Shibden Hall is over the ridge and not visible from Halifax proper -- something I was trying to figure out in advance. The site is absolutely lovely and fascinating. The manor is a great example of a medieval building that has been rather gently revised, adjusted, and redecorated in ways that let you see both what it was and what it became. The docents were plentiful (visitors were a bit light), knowledgeable, and willing to adapt their spiel to the visitor's pre-existing knowledge. I enjoyed several conversations that were probably a bit more in-depth than they usually get to do. They've enthusiastically embraced the "Gentleman Jack" tourism, while still making clear the differences between the historic Anne Lister and the TV show. I took lots of pictures and panoramic videos.

They've also used the outbuildings to create a more general folk museum, with a collection of carriages and reconstructed workshops for various crafts. There's an entire outdoor demonstration space for drystone wall construction. The site includes a large park space with a small lake down the hill, which is where the cafe is. So after the climb up to the ridge to the hall, I then descended to the cafe for a late lunch, climbed back up to the hall, and then back down the hill to Halifax. At that point it was drizzling steadily and I decided that going *down* a steep, slick, cobblestoned path was not a wise thing to do, and took the more boring walk back along the roadway.

I was in that physical state where I felt like I could keep hiking forever...and knew that the moment I sat down I wouldn't be able to get up again. Although after crashing for an hour or so and hanging things up to dry, I did go down to the hotel restaurant for a light snack (where I was the only person eating -- did I mention it seems to be the off season?).

Tomorrow's plan is a relatively meandering scenic route that ends up in London where I'll be based for most of a week.

So much to report, but much of it is just a list of people I spent time with. Thanks to my trip diary, I can list a bunch of details.

August 7 - Up early to catch the flight to Glasgow. Once we were at the gate, it was easy to spot some of the other Worldcon-bound folks. Chatted a bit with Naomi Kritzer (who was about to have an amazing con). Got a window seat, which gave me a glimpse of the recent lava flows when taking off, and a few scenic views of islands and rolling landscapes on arrival, at least when there were gaps in the clouds. Minor glitches on check-in at the Clayton Hotel, as the electronic key mechanism in the room we were assigned wasn't working, but it took two sets of replacement keys to determine that. But our replacement room also had the requested river view, so no harm, no foul.

The maps had suggested that the SEC (Scottish Event Center) where the con was held was within a doable walking distance of the city center. This was technically true (as I demonstrated to myself on two occasions) but at 1.5 miles each way, it was not trivial, so I took advantage of the convention special 5-day rail pass. Picked up my badges (one as me, one as registration staff) but no sign of a working schedule yet. (The working schedule wouldn't make it's appearance until the next day. People who showed up at reg just got put to work.)

Joined up with a group of friends I've known since Usenet days (Abi Sutherland, and (by online handles) Praisegod Barebones and Fromankyra) and we went off to a nearby pub to christen our tastebuds with something "authentically Scottish" which turned out to be something best described as "haggis poutine."

August 8 - Worldcon starts in earnest. Met a few people we knew over breakfast at the hotel, then off to the SEC. While I was waiting around at reg to see if my work schedule was available, I ended up putting in a shift anyway. Then did a tour of the dealers' room where I picked up the "special Worldcon yarn colorway" that I'd pre-ordered (it will make something very pretty but as yet undetermined) and dropped by the Portal Bookshop table where I signed copies of my books. (They had all five in stock -- yay! The Waterstones table had copies of The Language of Roses, but not the Alpennia books. Still and all, it's never a guarantee that anyone will carry much stuff unless by prearrangement.) Attended a panel then went to opening ceremonies. Finally got my volunteer schedule.

Looked around to see if I could snag dinner company. Ended up getting fish and chips at the SEC cafe and then doing my usual thing of inviting people to join the table. First was someone (didn't catch the name) who had just come off of supporting a pre-con writing retreat, then joined by Roz Kavenny, with whom I somehow ended up discussing translations of Catullus and the mystery of his fate. After that, back to the hotel in time to refresh my hair color before bed.

Aug 9 - I tried to put in some time at the business meeting before my reg shift, but they were having technical issues with the captioning system so after an hour and a half the meeting was just getting started when I had to leave. Reg was steady work but never overwhelming. After that I went to see if there was any space left at Kari Sperring's table talk (there was) and got to hear her do a capsule lecture on the history of Arthurian literature. We made tentative plans to get together with Catherine Lundoff at some point later which I was in charge of coordinating. After that, off to the bar at the Radisson (lots of hiking between the scattered hotels for non-programming activities) for the SFWA casual meet-up and chatting a bit with Brenda Clough (whom I've mostly hung out with at FOGCon previously) and (oh dear, I can't quite read my notes -- another lovely human being). Another dinner involving sitting in the open dining area and snagging someone who wandered by, in this case someone I think I knew through SCA heraldry once upon a time? Maybe? Took in the first half of the symphony concert but didn't want to stay up late enough for the second half. Which was a mistake because when I got to the rail station, it turns out I'd hit the regular Mystery Gap in the usually-every-ten-minutes schedule and it was an hour until the next train. So I walked. No biggie, but a long day.

Aug 10 - Worked reg in the morning, though not much traffic. Then met Catherine and Jennie Goloboy for tea at a cute little tea shop near the SEC. Another turn through the dealers' room mostly checking out books, then had another meet-up, this time with Catherine and Sara Uckelman for sitting and chatting. Sara and I went off to the Writing Historic Fantasy panel, then to dinner at the SEC cafe again but at this point I'm not quite sure with whom. After dinner, went to the podcasting meet-up and had a lovely chat with Gretchen McCullough. (The meet-up space was, alas, too loud to talk to more than one person at a time.)

[Have a dinner reservation soon, so breaking off the summary here.]

Because several planning-streams crossed this weekend, I sat down and decided on most of my "fixed date" vacation for the rest of the year. I already have a week in April on the books during release week for The Language of Roses (because I wanted to have the free time to enjoy the experience, even though it doesn't involve any in-person components).

The Medieval Congress is virtual-only again this year and -- having browsed through the schedule -- almost all of the sessions I find interesting will be recorded, and there are surprisingly few that sound interesting. So I've decided not to take vacation for the conference (though I'm still thinking about taking off my birthday and the day after for a long weekend).

This year, I decided that the conjunction of a virtual Medieval Congress and the shifting of BayCon to July made the perfect opportunity to finally try out WisCon on Memorial Day weekend. I decided to take off the entire week running up to it to have some down time, since the virtual Nebulas Conference is the prior weekend.

BayCon only needs one day off in July (being local and therefore not involving Travel Logistics).

For Worldcon in Chicago, I'm taking the whole week off, plus an additional travel (or recovery) day afterward.

And I've pencilled in roughly a week in the fall for a thing that involves some surprises (for others) so I'm not being specific.

All of that uses up almost exactly half of my theoretical vacation time (rolled over plus what I'll accrue this year), but I don't think I have any other major trips planned. That means I have plenty for not-yet-planned casual time off. I like that idea.

I thought I'd dump some stuff here that I don't feel like putting on my Alpennia blog because it's mostly about cranky physical stuff.

I've been gradually getting used to the notion that travel is exhausting and I need to not plan on doing anything else on the days I do it. And, of course, flying nearly halfway around the world intensifies the effect. It used to be that I could at least count on getting bits of computer housecleaning done while sitting in airports, but I've more or less given up on that and stick to things like getting caught up on listening to podcasts and the like. Yesterday I woke up in Ireland and went to bed maybe 20 hours later in California. I successfully avoided napping on the plane and managed to get in about 12 hours of sleep with only a few biological interruptions. It won't get me completely re-set onto Pacific Time, but it's a good start.

I don't seem to have gotten any sort of post-con crud, but around the time I was traveling from Durham to Dublin I started feeling the beginning nibbles of a Respiratory Thing. I slammed it with drugs and managed to stave off any level of symptoms that would have significantly impaired enjoyment (took it down to a scratchy throat and a minor cough) and we'll see whether my plans for a very low-key recovery weekend succeed in getting it out of my system. (I've tried the pre-emptive cold pills method before and often it just means I get a zombie cold: as soon as I think I'm past it, I get slammed with full symptoms. So I don't count myself out of the woods yet.)

In a secondary benefit, I think that using the CPAP has really cut down on convention-related respiratory symptoms, in part because it means I don't get the irritation that comes with dry mouth, even without using the water reservoir. (My machine has a detachable water reservoir but leaving it off cuts the physical size in half, and besides which I didn't want to deal with tracking down distilled water while traveling. I did have some interesting logistics with the relative location of electrical outlets and hotel beds. Facebook friends suggested I should have asked the desk for an extension cord, which was a sort of "doh!" moment. But I've gotten used to hotels having outlets on the bedside light fixtures. And I have an unfortunate reflex of  assuming that I have to work out my own solutions rather than asking for accommodations. I need to think about that some more.

One of the things I enjoy about touristing in European cities is the ability to see a lot of fun stuff on foot. And in the particular places I was staying, there was a great concentration of things to see at that scale. But all that walking gradually started messing with my right knee to the point where, in the last couple of days, I was limping rather significantly, especially right after getting up. I've had periodic problems with this knee ever since I sprained it badly skiing when I was 10 years old. It's a chronic thing, not an acute one. Possibly more troubling was that my right hip was also a bit painful. Since that's the side of my body that has the sciatica, the aches and pains tend to be of complex origin and manifestation. Lots of walking usually improves the situation, but perhaps there's also too much of a good thing. In any case, it never got to the point where it bothered me enough to not do any sightseeing, but on that last full day in Dublin I did get to a point where the tradeoff was getting close.

All in all, my decision to focus my trip on seeing people (and staying in specific locations for multiple days) rather than trying to include a more whirlwind tourist experience was exactly the right decision. It was great spending time with Irina, Sara, Liz and respective families as applicable, and I got the extra bonus that they lived in delightful cities to visit. And I simultaneously am inspired to do more travel/visiting and to be very aware of how exhausting the travel part of it is. I need to mull over how to balance that.

 Another lazy day meandering around Deventer. Today I travel again.

I'm feeling a little like Lucy just yanked the football out from in front of me. The other half of the family gathering got stuck in New England, due to a combination of weather delays, missed connections, no available rebookings, and the logistical difficulties of widening the travel options. So it'll continue to be just the California half hanging out, watching football, playing card and board games, and indulging in food designed for a somewhat larger crowd. The original modified schedule (designate New Year's Eve as the official Holiday Dinner and New Year's Day as the gift exchange plus Open House) continues as planned. But it isn't the same as it would be with all of us here. I guess we'll add a ceremonial Packing of the UPS Box to the activities.

I think I may need to scare up a couple more dinner guests for the NYE roast beef.

On the up side, I still have 6 sewing days until 12th night and I'm well ahead of schedule. I'm doing two 16th century men's outfits comprising shirt, breeches, doublet, and coat. Of those, both shirts are done, both pairs of breeches are done except for lacing eyelets, one doublet is virtually done except for lacing eyelets and buttonholes/buttons, the other is cut out, one coat is completely done and the other is cut out. No time for slacking but I have no doubts of finishing it all.

After dinner yesterday, we went out to see Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. It was visually striking and clever and the aerial work was breathtaking, although I have to say that the music was, for the most part, forgettable. A romp, though not a classic.

Last night, alas, my winter cold decided to manifest itself again and I'm dealing with a minor sore throat. So much for the theory that I could head it off entirely.

Today we nattered around a bit in the morning then went out to meet people for lunch (various textile-geek friends and their relations). In the middle of lunch I had to step out to take the pre-scheduled call from Bella Books, mentioned in the previous post. (I'd gotten an initial e-mail from them last Thursday saying they wanted to talk to me, but I didn't want to make any public announcements until I'd actually confirmed the substance of that talk.) Then there was a stroll along the Macy's parade set-up route, watching them blow up balloons. Later there was dinner with a small crowd of GFiNY's theater friends, after which I got a whirlwind pre-performance tour of several of the most gorgeously restored theaters, slipping out of the last one just as the doors were opening. I felt deliciously "inside".

Now it's a dose of cold medicine to help me sleep and then up in the morning to take the train down to Baltimore for Darkovercon. There was a brief panic when we heard that a switching problem had shut down Penn Station in NY tonight (it's a bit confusing since our trip is from Penn Station in NY to Penn STation in Baltimore) but by the time I'd gone online to check it out, they say the power was restored and things were operating almost normally.