1. Getting upgraded to Club World on the flight out.

2. Flying over the Hebrides at 38,000 feet, with a stunning view of my mum’s village.
3. Monster-in-Law. Simply monstrous.
4. Incredible views of Greenland from above - glaciers, mountains and icebergs galore.
5. Heat, humidity and general hotness in Virginia.
6. My water bottle exploding in my hand luggage and drenching the digital camera I carry everywhere. RIP, little IXUS.
7. Being biometrically captured at US immigration.
8. Air conditioning, and lots of it.
9. Kicking and Screaming - a fairly accurate description of my behaviour if forced to watch this diabolical movie again.
10. Meeting various people I’ve known for a while variously by email, by phone, and by reputation, and finding out that they’re also fun to hang out with.
11. Meetings, meetings, jetlag, meetings.
12. My bit, which went very well, I thought.
13. Yummy food at Big Bowl (though I’m not sure how authentically asian the chocolate fudge brownies were).
14. Dinner with an old college friend (Hi Carla!) and her lovely husband and small daughter (Hi Bob and Nora!) - a welcome temporary respite from corporateness.
15. Being constantly sleepy through jetlag and the general hectic pace of things.
16. Fox news is scary: “Coming up, more news from Iraq on the continuing efforts to liberate the country. But first, over to Marcie who’s at a day camp for doggies in Herndon…”
17. World of snacks in every coffee break. In my office, coffee breaks are usually just for coffee, not pretzels and mustard, popcorn, cookies, fruit salads….
18. Corporate merchandise aplenty.
19. Newscasters with giant white teeth and big hair.
20. America! Patriotic souvenir shop in Washington Dulles airport.
21. A small snack in the terminal which was the size of my head (the snack, not the terminal).
22. A Lot Like Love. Sadly, nothing like a decent film.
23. More jetlag.
24. The delicious, indulgent, welcome sensation of sliding (freshly-showered) between clean sheets on our fabulous bed, at 11am (or was that 7am?) for an hour’s kip. Unbeatable.

Now back, rested, un-lagged and ready for anything (especially if “anything” includes buying a new digital camera - I am bereft!)

Photos here, taken on the plane before the camera died, and with camphone thereafter.