Howdy!
I’m Randell, and I’m not gonna lie–traveling is a struggle!
Traveling can be such a logistical challenge with its many nuances. And on top of that…so many things can go wrong, it’s not always comfortable, the passenger in front of you smells, and so on!
But still…we travel for whatever reason: for work, to visit family, to go on that dream vacation, to go on pilgrimage for soul-enrichment, and the list goes on. Whatever the reason, travel, especially air travel, is something we all struggle through!
So let me ask you this:
What if…travel doesn’t have to be so…terrible?
What if…you can travel with a sense of calm?
What if…you can travel with confidence and sense of savvy while Karen in Seat 3B is yelling to see the manager head flight attendant?
You. Can. Totally. Level. Up.
…in your Travel skillz!
And I would love to help you!
Where Is Randell? offers a place for you to read up and level up your travel savvy from travel experiences, reviews, advice from yours truly!
Whether you’re just wanting to plan a vacation want to know what the airport lounge is like, or you’re prepping for a big business trip overseas and want to see what Business Class is like, then this is the destination for you to help you confidently travel and ninja your way through whatever struggles you encounter.
Here are some of the useful content you’ll learn from me on this travel blog:
- Review: Japan Airlines A350-1000 Economy Class DFW-HND
- Review: Hilton San Salvador
- Know Before You Go – DFW Airport Security Wait Times
- Review: American Airlines B777-200 Main Cabin Extra FCO-DFW
- The Ultimate Hilton Rome Airport Review
- Review: The Spring House Hotel Rome Vatican, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
- Review: American Airlines B777-200 Main Cabin DFW-FCO
- Review: American Airlines B777-300 Main Cabin SYD-LAX
- Review: British Airways B787-9 Economy Class SIN-SYD
- Review: World’s Longest Flight – Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR Business Class JFK-SIN
My Story
In the beginning, I was an airline kid. My dad worked for the airlines as a ramper often loading luggage onto aircraft. Growing up, we often used my dad’s flight benefits to travel places. More often than not, we used those benefits to travel to California a lot to visit family. Using tangential benefits, my family and I were also able to visit family less frequently in other countries, particularly Canada and the Philippines. Basically…I grew up traveling by flying…a lot.
Now, using flight benefits meant we got to fly “for free” but as standby passengers who are able to take unsold seats on flights. Because there are no guarantees or certainties flying this way, much of my flying experience growing up meant getting rolled/bumped from one flight to the next and often sitting middle seat in the back of the plane. At worst, we had to sleep in airports overnight because we couldn’t catch a flight!
Fast forward to my early engineering career, and I became more of a paid ticket passenger and business traveler. One of my companies during this time sent me to Japan seventeen times in two years! And most of that booked in Business Class! And staying at nice hotels! This was my Bougie Travel era as I was able to earn top status with American Airlines and Hilton. But I never forgot my standby travel days, and used those lessons to help me navigate being a paid passenger.
And now …today. I myself work for an airline–the same one my dad retired from! Although our careers didn’t overlap. Now I get to travel much like I did as a kid, but now with the wisened travel experience of someone who has been flying for many years now.
Air travel is definitely a hobby and basically a lifestyle for me at this point, and I like to nerd out navigating through air travel logistics and perusing the Internets to see what peoples’ pain points are. Reddit and Facebook are quite eye-opening in this regard! I discovered that there are a lot of nuanced questions that people have or simply questions with very obvious answers, but people turn to toxic places on the Internet for answers.
Why is this travel blog called “Where is Randell?”
Lol, it’s more of an inside joke I had with coworkers. When I was traveling back and forth to Japan 2015-2019, I was also doing a lot of personal trips in-between. To help keep my coworkers informed, I’d often write down my travels on my cubicle whiteboard. They would always ask, “where in the world is Randell?”…to which I would point to my whiteboard, haha.
Now that I work for an airline, I find that my travels take me all over. These days, family, friends, and my airline coworkers ask me the same question: “Where is Randell?”
So therefore…I was inspired to start this travel blog to answer that very question. And to also use it as a way to help you, dear reader, on your own travel journeys!