The Thrill and Peace of Early Morning Travel

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Who is the genius who booked an early morning flight which meant I had to get up at three and leave my apartment no later then four? Yup that would be me.

For some reason, I love to torture myself with these early morning itineraries, where I have to drag myself out of bed usually only having gotten two or three hours of sleep because I am worried I will miss my flight. Which I can honestly say, I have never missed my flight due to over sleeping.

Checking bags? Yes.

Sleeping in? No.

While my snoozes might be compromised and I am begging for coffee once I get through security at JFK, their is something relatively peaceful about waking up at the crack of dawn. For a city that supposedly never sleeps, the witching hour is definitely before dawns early light, which also makes it my favorite time to move about. Generally, because moving about is not only easy peasy, but their is a serenity which makes you appreciate the city.

In a city of eight million you are lucky if you see one person. Runs and walks are truly between you and your breath and you don’t have to worry about horns blasting through your headphones disrupting your “zenners” pace.

Even hailing a taxi is pretty easy. I admit I always give myself anxiety because who in their right mind (aside from me) would be up at this time? You would be surprised. Walking out my door this morning, there was one beckoning to me.

Not to mention getting to the airport in record time and getting through security. Which with JFK/JetBlue’s new checking in /dropping off bag policy not only makes you feel like you stepped into a scene from Star Trek, but makes it incredibly easy. And hopefully people (myself included) won’t miss flights with this newfangled, high tech approach.

In fact the longest line this morning, just so happened to be the Starbuck’s one. Which I might have been bright eyed and bushy tailed much to most people’s annoying chagrin, but even I was dying for some Starbuck’s Coldbrew.

Despite lack of sleep and torturing myself with before the sun rises travel times, I am always excited for new adventures. And that is its own early morning wake up call, adrenaline rush, and smell of coffee in the AM delight!