Fun with Numbers: Airports Visited (99 and counting)

On another flight and couldn’t focus, so spend some time thinking about airports visited. Many of these were layovers only and most made zero impression at all. And then there are the airports lost to time and memory. Nonetheless, it’s fun to see the number is 100 on the dot, with 99 airports confirmed to date. Here’s the list:

AMS Amsterdam, Netherlands

ATH Athens, Greece

ATL Atlanta, Georgia, USA

AUH Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

BCN Barcelona, Spain* (possibly also GRO)

BFS Belfast, Northern Ireland

BKK Bangkok, Thailand

BNA Nashville, Tennessee, USA

BOG Bogota, Colombia

BOS Boston, Massachusetts, USA

BUR Burbank, California, USA

BWI Baltimore, Maryland, USA

CAI Cairo, Egypt

CDG Paris, France

CEI Chiang Rai, Thailand

CID Cedar Rapids, Iowa

CLT Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

CMH Columbus, Ohio, USA

CNX Chiang Mai, Thailand

COS Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

CTG Cartagena, Colombia

CUN Cancun, Mexico

CUZ Cuzco, Peru

DAD Da Nang, Vietnam

DCA Washington, DC, USA

DEN Denver, Colorado, USA

DFW Dallas, Texas

DOH Doha, Qatar

DPS Bali, Indonesia

DUB Dublin, Ireland

DXB Dubai, United Arab Emirates

DYG Zhangjiajie, China

EDI Edinburgh, Scotland

EWR Newark, New Jersey, USA

EZE Buenos Aires, Argentina

FCO Rome, Italy* (possibly CIA instead)

FLL Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

GLA Glasgow, Scotland

HAN Hanoi, Vietnam

HKG Hong Kong, China SAR

HKT Phuket, Thailand

HNL Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

HOU Houston, Texas, USA**

IAD Washington, DC, USA

IAH Houston, Texas, USA

IST Istanbul, Turkey

ITO Hilo, Hawaii, USA

JFK New York, New York, USA

KBV Krabi, Thailand

KOA Kona, Hawaii, USA

KUL Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

LAS Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

LAX Los Angeles, California, USA

LEX Lexington, Kentucky, USA

LGA New York, New York, USA

LGB Long Beach, California, USA

LGW London, United Kingdom***

LHR London, United Kingdom

LIM Lima, Peru

LYS Lyon, France

MAD Madrid, Spain

MBJ Montego Bay, Jamaica

MEX Mexico City, Mexico

MIA Miami, Florida, USA

MID Merida, Mexico

MSP Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

MSY New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

MXP Milan, Italy* (possibly LIN also)

NRT Tokyo, Japan

OAK Oakland, California, USA

OGG Maui, Hawaii, USA

ORD Chicago, Illinois, USA

PDX Portland, Oregon, USA

PEK Beijing, China

PHL Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

PHX Phoenix, Arizona, USA

PIT Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

PRG Prague, Czech Republic

PSE Cairns, Australia

PSE Ponce, Puerto Rico

PVG Shanghai, China

PVR Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

REK Reykjavik, Iceland

RNO Reno, Nevada, USA

SAC Sacramento, California

SAF Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

SAN San Diego, California, USA

SEA Seattle, Washington, USA

SFO San Francisco, California, USA

SIN Singapore, Singapore

SJC San Jose, CA, USA

SJD Cabo, Mexico

SJO San Jose, Costa Rica

SJU San Juan, Puerto Rico

SLC Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

STN London, United Kingdom***

SYD Sydney, Australia

URT Surat Thani, Thailand

USM Koh Samui, Thailand

VCE Venice, Italy* (possibly TSF instead)

* 100% certain of a visit to the city, but not certain which airport

** Very likely visited this airport, but not 100% certain

*** Visited at least two secondary London airports, but not certain which ones (LGW, LTN, STN???)

Fun with Numbers: Airlines Flown To Date (35 and counting)

Since Americans are all about numbers and size and girth and whatever, and since it’s impossible to sit through a long flight without developing stupid lists, here’s a rough accounting of airlines experienced to date.

Note that there are a few dubious entries - where it’s clear that a new airline was flown but the exact name may not be accurate. And of course, there are many entries that were forgotten with time. So for now, we’ll go with 35 airlines as “the number” when evaluating the worldliness of a traveler. When you figure there were ones forgotten from childhood, it’s likely to go up towards 40. But we’ll stick with this number out of confidence and security that the number is strong enough to show true experience as a globetrotter.

Aeromexico

AirAsia

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Bangkok Airways

British Airways

Cathay Pacific

China Eastern

Continental*

Delta Airlines

EasyJet***

Etihad Airways

Firefly

Frontier Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines

Iceland Express*

JetBlue

Juneyao Airlines (China)

Kuwait Airways

LATAM

Meridiana* (Italy)

Qantas (Australia)

Ryanair***

Southwest Airlines***

Spirit*** (The Devil’s Airline)

Sun Country

Thai Airways

Transavia**

Turkish Airlines

United Airlines

US Airways*

Vietnam

Virgin America*

Virgin Atlantic

Vueling**

* No longer exists

** Not 100% certain but pretty sure it was this one

*** Never fly unless there are absolutely no other options

Fun with Numbers: Sporting Event Travel to MLB Ballparks (28 and counting)

Catching a sporting event when you travel is a great way to experience the local community and be inside an amazing piece of architecture.  Even if you don't care for baseball, it's well worth the price of admission (usually not much more than $25 to nearly any stadium for most games).  I've always tried to catch games when I travel and have been fortunate to see professional MLB games played in nearly 30 stadiums, some of which are no long standing.  Here's the list, as of Spring 2018.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Chase Field

Baltimore Orioles - Camden Yards

Boston Red Sox - Fenway Park

Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Field

Chicago White Sox - US Cellular Park

Cincinnati Reds - Great American Ball Park

Colorado Rockies - Coors Field

Detroit Tigers - Tiger Stadium (kaput)

Houston Astros - Minute Maid Park

Kansas City Royals - Kauffman Stadium

Los Angeles Angels - Angels Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers - Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers - L.A. Coliseum (old)

Montreal Expos - Olympic Stadium (kaput)

New York Yankees - Yankee Stadium (old, kaput)

New York Yankees - Yankee Stadium (new)

New York Mets - Shea Stadium (kaput)

Oakland Athletics - Coliseum (should be kaput)

Philadelphia Phillies - Veterans Stadium (kaput)

Pittsburgh Pirates - PNC Park

Pittsburgh Pirates - Three Rivers Stadium (kaput)

San Diego Padres - Petco Park

San Francisco Giants - AT&T Park

Seattle Mariners - Safeco Field

St. Louis Cardinals - Busch Stadium (old, kaput)

Tampa Bay Rays - Tropicana Field

Texas Rangers - Globe Life Park at Arlington

Washington Nationals - Nationals Park