The Ten Coolest Things I've Seen from the Air

Since I became a road warrior over a year ago, I've taken over 120 flights. For some road warriors, flying is a necessary evil. I don't look at flying that way. Although I feel that landing safely is the best part, I do love to fly.

Part of the reason why I enjoy flying so much is because I get to see this beautiful world from a different angle. The following list are the most amazing things I've seen from the air.

10.  Chicago

Flying into Chicago with a view of downtown is a cool experience, and one I had on only my third flight way back in 2001.  Unfortunately, this happens so frequently, it tends to lose some of it's appeal.


9.  The Stars

The stars aren't hard to see when flying at night, so this isn't exactly a rare event, but there's something about being higher up than Mount Everest when viewing the stars that makes this special.

The flashing lights from the wingtips can however create enough light pollution to block out some of the view.


8. Sunrises and Sunsets

The amazing colors of a sunrise and sunset are somehow magnified when you're in the air.  On one flight, I saw both a sunset and sunrise on the same side of the aircraft.  That was cool.

7. Dams

I've always been fascinated by man made engineering marvels, and none are easier to spot from the sky than dams.  Probably the most impressive that I've seen from above is Navajo Dam in New Mexico.


6. The Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon

One of the things I love about flying out west is being able to see the Rocky Mountains.  They are simply beautiful.  On one trip I even flew over the Grand Canyon.

Nothing helps to understand the sheer magnitude of the Grand Canyon like flying the entire length of it at 450+ miles per hour and watching it go by for a full 30 minutes.

5. Greenland

Last September I was taking the long flight from London to Chicago and noticed we would be flying over Greenland.

As we approached Greenland, I started taking picture after picture.  Along the coast there were mountains and glaciers that were flowing into the ocean.  There was also snow.  Lots and lots of snow.

After passing the coastline, I had to close the window because the snow was too bright.  At one point in the middle of Greenland, I opened the window just to see what there was in the middle.  All I could see in all directions was pristine white snow.  It was the most deserted place on land I've ever seen.

4.  Passing Airplanes

If you fly as much as I do, you will notice another airplane in the sky at some point in time.  This is common as you approach very busy airports and you join the crowd of aircraft in a holding pattern waiting for their turn to land.

Although this is common near landing, I have found it to be rather rare to see another aircraft at a relatively close altitude, because when both planes are flying at about 500 mph you get very little time to see the other plane.

You have roughly two seconds to see the other plane zip by and I feel very fortunate to have looked out my window at just the right moment each time I witness it. Truly incredible.


3. Thunder Storms From Above

There are few sights from an airplane that beat a thunderstorm.  I've been fortunate to fly over two.  Each time the clouds are brilliantly lit as the lightning races through them.

The best time to view a thundering cloud is when it's dark outside.  On one such occasion, I saw a lightning storm as I flew over the rocky mountains.  What an incredible sight.

2. London.

I've had the good fortune to fly to London multiple times over the past year.  The flight pattern as you approach Heathrow takes you right over some of the most famous landmarks in the world.

From above I've seen Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Canary Wharf, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Hampton Court Palace.

Also, around London, in the English countryside there are numerous grand estates and country manors, which can be just as amazing as the famous landmarks.


1. The Reflection of the Moon in the Florida Everglades

Recently I flew into Miami from Mexico City. I was looking out my window at the beautiful western coast of Florida as the sun was setting. My heart was full of gratitude for this beautiful world when something caught my eye.

There was a well lit spot on the ground following our plane. After a bit of head scratching, I realized it was the moon's reflection in the water of the Florida everglades.  I tilted my head upward and sure enough there was the moon.

It's hard to express what delight I felt for seeing the beauty of the everglades in such a unique way.  I was impressed and awe struck.

The feeling that I had that night is the one I hope to have every time I fly when I open my window and look out at this amazing planet.

Google Maps - My Odd Hobby

I started making my own maps with Google Maps about 9 months ago.  My first map was used to keep track of sights I wanted to see while I was in Spain for two months.  It worked really well, so when I thought about keeping track of all the places I've worked in my life, I turned to Google Maps.

I have had a map addiction since I was a young kid.  When my family moved to rural Ohio when I was in 4th grade, I remember taking an Ohio road map with me on the school bus marking the roads we were travelling so I knew how I was getting to school.  I remember staring at my family's Atlas of the world for hours on end.  I also remember making maps of fictitious places such as those you see in the beginning of fantasy novels.  Honestly, this is part of reason why I spent an entire summer reading fantasy novels and I remember that before picking up a new novel, I would scrutinize the map.  In my mind, a good story must have a good map.

So what is a good map?  My friend Dan Miller got me into tracking all of the counties I've visited in the US, but this felt somewhat misleading.  Just because I've touched a county (or parish or borough) doesn't mean that I've actually visited the county.  At least in my mind it was misleading.  However, keeping track of the roads that you've been on would better reflect where you've actually spent time.  The more roads highlighted, the better you know the area.  So back in December, I started a new map on Google Maps that shows all of the roads I've been on.

This is quite an undertaking and I've learned a ton about Google Maps since starting this.  Here are some things I've learned:

Google Maps limits the number of items displayed at once to 18-20.  Then it starts a second page and so on.  This is tough when trying to see what roads have already been marked.  Fortunately, all maps created with Google Maps can be downloaded to Google Earth where everything will be displayed at once (mostly).  It is somewhat inconvenient to be switching between Chrome and Google Earth to see what still needs to be marked in a region, but it's better than guessing.

Google Maps recently launched a Maps GL, which is supposed to improve the map experience.  However, I haven't been able to get Maps GL to work with the road map I've been creating, so I use standard maps and even that has some glitches.  However, overall It works pretty well.  The glitches usually come in the form of a mis-rendered map (lines look odd or don't show at all) and poor mouse navigation (I click on one spot and it thinks I'm clicking a different spot).  When this happens, I generally refresh the screen and everything is fixed, but it is a hassle to then reopen the map and relocate where I was marking.

Google Earth has a limit to how many items it will show in a single map, so once I reached that limit all the other roads I marked didn't show up.  I just started a second map and downloaded that to Google Earth as well.

Here's a list of the maps I've created, their meaning, and links to the map.

Roads Travelled:  A list of roads and rails and trails travelled.  highlighted by primary method of travel.  Blue is by car, Green is by foot, Red is by above ground train, Black is by subway (just to show the links from one place to another).  Map 1:  Google Maps, Google Earth (better)  Map 2:  Google Maps, Google Earth

Virtual Résumé: A list of all the locations I've worked.  This was one of my first maps.  Map:  Google Maps, Google Earth

Countries I've been to:  A shaded map of the countries I've been to.  Google Maps, Google Earth

Air Travel Map:  A direct line from airport to airport of all flights I have ever made (as far as I can remember).  Google Maps, Google Earth

My first tourist map:  This was for a single day trip around part of Spain.  This came in very handy.  Look at this map in Google Earth and download my Panoramio photos link to see some of the pictures I took on this trip.  Google Maps, Google Earth, Panoramio photos

Let me know your thoughts.  My map tracking is somewhat of an odd hobby.  Let me know what your odd hobby is.

Google Music - A Review

Google Music is one of the latest music service offerings available on the internet. I signed up several months ago as a beta user and have some thoughts to share.

 First of all, I love music. I listen
to an extremely eclectic mix of music. I love classical, blues, folk rock, motown, instrumentals, some R&B, some hard rock, some rap, some country, and a bit of everything else. I have over 10,000 songs on my computer. Listening to music is a hobby for me as much as it is a leisurely activity. So when I heard about a music service that would you store your music collection online and listen to it a will, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

 Google Music works on the premise that you have music on your computer. You upload that music (up to 20,000 songs) to their service and you can listen to your songs anywhere you go. The nice part of this service is that unlike Pandora or some of the other music services, you can listen to the song of your choice when you want to without ads. However, it wouldn't be much fun for those who don't already have a ton of music. To help those people out, Google Music offers roughly 200 songs across various genres to those who start with Google Music. I periodically check their free music to see what else I may be interested in. 

To help with those that love Pandora for the music discovery, there isn't much beyond the free music. It would be nice to see a radio service merged with Google Music, even one with ads. For concept then, I give Google Music 4/5 stars.

 I travel extensively for work. Often I will work out of airports, an office in LA, or anywhere else around the world I happen to be. I don't have a big enough mp3 player to hold all 10,000 songs. Most people don't. It was annoying being in a place and wanting to listen to a song that I didn't happen to have on my mp3 player. Google Music has solved this issue (mostly).

 In order to upload your music to Google Music, you need to install a small application that runs in the background and automatically uploads music to your library. Google Music couldn't upload some of the music that was protected in my iTunes library. This is only some of the music I purchased through the iTunes service. I have since boycotted the iTunes service for this and other reasons. I have invested a decent amount in iTunes over the years, but there are only roughly 10-20 songs that I cannot get from iTunes into Google Music. The upload app can be annoying when rebooting without an internet connection. Instead of just running in the background and waiting for an internet connection, it pops up an error that is difficult to hide. Overall, I give Google Music 4.5/5 stars for installation/implementation.

 The overall appearance and usability of Google Music is OK. I am often annoyed by the lack of some basic music management features, that I've gotten used to in iTunes. Some specific examples include playing all songs that match a search, sorting a list by the order I select, remembering my sort selection between uses, a lack of a "listened to" history playlist, and mass edit functions (when not editing an album). There are also moments when I am unable to change between songs, although this is rare, I must reload the webpage and reselect my songs to get back into my music listening. Overall though, I rate the functionality of Google Music 3/5 stars.  The music management features are where they can improve the most.

When I signed up for Google Music, it was free. They said initially that they were still testing the service and would evaluate the cost when they went live. The service is now live and out of Beta and is still free for the first 20,000 songs, with songs purchased from the Android Market not counting toward that total. For value, I give the service 5/5 stars.

On a whole, I give Google Music 4/5 stars. I haven't touched Pandora since I joined Google Music. This is by far the best free music service I have ever come across.

Oh... Insignificant Me

There have been very few times when I've felt like I was insignificant. This week has been one of those times.

I recently started a consulting career where I travel every week. I generally like traveling and consider that one of the perks of the job.

My first assignment, however, is to Los Angeles. A city that is 7 times larger than my beloved Cincinnati. I've never seen more people or cars in my life. It is daunting.

I'm not one to usually be phased by an issue like this. It's stressful being in such a foreign environment for the first time, but I've done that before.

I've been deployed to Guam, Spain, and Turkey. Why is this trip so different?

I think the stress of being so new in this career has compounded the stress of a new environment. I'm not only trying to figure out LA, I'm trying to figure out why on earth I'm even here.

I've been working for this company for 8 months as an intern in Cincinnati. That has made things easier for sure. However, there are some basic processes that I never encountered as an intern.

Fortunately, the people I work with are extremely helpful and have been very patient with me. I've been learning heaps.

I get to fly home every Thursday so I can spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my family. Being home with my family is one of the best things to help me feel normal and like I have some degree of significance.

However, I haven't been home in two weeks. Last weekend I flew to a family reunion in Missouri instead of flying home. I was home the weekend before last, but even then, I was barely home because I had my military drill weekend.

I can hardly express how happy I am to be on my way home.

Last week the project I'm working on was extended. This is a common occurance in consulting (so I'm told) and usually means we throw the whole project plan in the rubbish bin. That was most certainly the case this time.

I was originally scheduled to return to LA every week until August 19th. Now, I have only one week left.

So after 12,000+ miles and many jet-lagged nights, I get ready to leave this project for good. It has been such a whirlwind, that I am left sitting in the airport wondering in amazement at how insignificant I really am.

I'm just one person among billions. I'm in a city of 14 million and hardly anyone knows I even exist. In just a few short weeks, even fewer people will remember that I was ever here at all.

It's mind numbing to ponder your own insignificance. I'm glad to be on my way home.

Reading Time

Since graduating from the University of Cincinnati with my BA in Organizational Leadership, I've been able to start plowing through some of the leadership books that I've been collecting for a while now. Here is a short list of the books I've read over the past two months:

Thinking For a Change - John Maxwell

Switch - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership - Harvard Business Review

Leadership and Self-Deception - The Arbinger Institute

Three Deep Breaths - Thomas Crum

I would recommend all of them. I am really enjoying the fact that I finally have time to read

through my library. Next items on the list:

The Leadership Challenge - James Kouzes & Barry Posner

The Art of Framing - Gail Fairhurst & Robert Sarr

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey

Leadership From the Inside Out - Kevin Cashman

This will be good.

Learning to Fly

Well I've wanted to be a pilot before, but the cost of learning is sky high (pun intended). So I thought getting a remote control airplane would be cool, but unfortunately it is also an expensive hobby. That is it would be if my Dad didn't have connections.

Here are pictures of a model airplane I picked up along

with a good supply of accessories for only $250.

Fortunately, one of my friends flies model aircraft and can show me the ropes (and show me what needs to be fixed). Hopefully by the summer I will be a pilot of my own used model aircraft.

Life Changes Update

This is a quick update to let you know of some of the changes over the past couple months.

The biggest is that I now have a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati. I'm trying to find a job, but in this economy it is difficult.

I'm also looking into starting a company with my Dad presenting seminar's on the language of leadership. Not much else is new right now.

I should have a 3rd child within the next four weeks, but as this hasn't actually occurred yet, I will save the details for later.

-Barch