Trinidad 2012

So it is December 24, 2012 and I am sitting in the airport once again on Christmas Eve travelling. This time I am heading home from Trinidad and Tobago where I recently went for 12 days for a “vacation”. Yeah it was sort of a vacation I did play some badminton while down there. Almost every day but that was it 2-3 hours of badminton then spend the rest of the day resting and seeing friends. I only got to go to the gym 2 times to do actual weights which is a lot less than I would have wanted but was able to do some body weight exercises at home.

Overall it was a great trip, got to see all my friends and play against the players in the country to see what the level is like. I can say that the standard is lower than what I’m use to in Canada. I will be heading down there in March for the National Championships and will be looking to medal at nationals if not take home the title. So I will be training very hard over the next 3 months for that. First order of business when getting back to Calgary is to get into the gym for weights as well as go for a nice long run plus some footwork haha.

Only being in the country for 10 days technically (2 days were spent traveling) the time seemed to fly by. I got to go out on the avenue with friends to lime on a Friday night after training which was a ton of fun. The atmosphere is so different in the Caribbean at clubs and bars, not to mention that I nor anybody else was being checked for age/ID at all anywhere we went. 

Also no trip to Trinidad is complete without a trip to the beach, Maracas Beach that is. I went there on the day before I left with my friends and it was a great time, playing some Frisbee and drinking some cool ones on the beach. The best part about beach is not the weather, the sights or even the beach itself it is in fact this wonderful food called bake and shark which is just delightful to eat and customize with all the sauces and spices you desire.

With my time down there over this marks my last 3 flights of 2012 to get home, yes that is correct 3 flights to get home. I went from Trinidad and Tobago to Newark airport in New Jersey, then onto Houston, Texas and finally on route from Houston to Calgary, Alberta. I know what you must be thinking, surely there was a more direct flight. Well yes there was a flight from Trinidad to Houston then Houston to Calgary the only thing was there was a 10 hour layover in Houston. Taking this way means that I get home 6 hours earlier than if I took the other flight. The 2^nd and more important reason is because of the extra miles. I had Elite status with Air Canada for 2012 and for 2013 Air Canada revamped its program adding extra tier levels. In 2011 I only needed 35,000 miles accumulated to get Elite Status but with the introduction of these new tiers for 2013 this year I need 50,000 miles to get the same benefits. So that is an increase in 15,000 miles. I will be cutting it close but thanks to these last 3 flights I will have over 50,000 miles to continue to enjoy my elite status (Altitude 50,000 as it will now be called) for 2013.

So this marks the end of 2012 flying home on Christmas Eve to enjoy the holidays in Calgary for once. Now comes the fun part of planning out all my travel/tournaments for 2013. I already have some planned but with a recent loss of points in my world ranking dropping me over 70 spots it may be a little challenging to make main draw for some of the bigger tournaments. A year in review blog is in order and I will make sure to post that in a timely manner as well as for the New Year will make sure to keep on top of posting regularly for whomever out there does happen to read them.

To all who stop by, happy holidays, merry Christmas, and a happy new year, may the holiday season be filled with joy.