Traveling to Toronto for ISPI Conference

This post is part of a multiple part Series on the 2012 Performance Improvement Conference.
#ISPI2012

As promised in my previous post, I will be blogging about my experience at the ISPI Conference, so the next several posts will be a slightly different format than my normal approach.

Right now I am at airport in Columbus, Ohio, waiting for the flight to leave for Chicago and then on to Toronto for the conference. As recommended, I am here 2 hours early, so I get to spend my time in an uncomfortable seat sitting around people I don't know. I am looking forward to the conference, though I am usually less than comfortable on the flight. I find that I subconsciously worry about three general things when flying:

1. Someone might steal my bag. I know this is really a pretty irrational fear, but I once had a really cool backpack stolen off a bus when I lived in Guatemala, and since then I have become what I call "cleptophobic."
2. Getting sick on the flight. Not that I will actually puke or anything, but I always feel a little queasy. One time I was sitting on a flight next to a youth who's quartet had just won an award at an international barbershop quartet competition (not kidding). I felt awful the whole trip as he chattered continuously about the award, singing in a quartet, creating "overtones," the importance of the bass voice in a quartet, and his quartet's ambitions for taking the entire competition next year.
3. Sitting next to the "stinky guy." I have been lucky with this one and usually sit with clean-smelling passengers, although once I did sit next to the "stinky guy" on a flight from California. The one thing that does worry me is that, since I never sit by the stinky guy, I might actually be the stinky guy...

So, we will see how the flights go. I am definitely excited for the conference and for the opportunity to expand my knowledge, skills, and abilities. And who knows, maybe I'll run into a member of an internationally acclaimed barbershop quartet....