Why you might see us in first class (or... everything goes better when you do a little homework).

Fair warning- this entire post is unrelated to film, so if that's all you're interested in, move along. But if you can stomach it, stick around, because Variance Loves You, and this year we want to make your life better. Bear with us for a minute.

Over the holiday break, someone with a snarky streak saw a Twitpic I posted of my wife and I on an airplane, and sent a cheeky DM to us... "Must be nice that u can afford 1st class."

To which I say: HELL yes, it is nice. And I won't lie- I fly first class all the time. By my guess, about 2/3 of the time I fly, it's up front (the remainder, I'm usually chilling in the exit row). You know what else? I haven't paid a bag check fee in years. But I rarely check a bag, because I also get to board the plane before the first group is called, so I know there's always room for my carry-on in the bin (though when I do check a bag, I get to cut the line at check-in... as well as at security). My bags are usually the first off the plane, which helps me go get my rental car faster- but that's fast anyway because I don't have to speak to a single soul before I get in the rental car (of my choice). I get to cut the line at the hotel, where there's often an upgrade waiting, and generally free wi-fi or breakfast for me on top of that.

And here's the kicker: I've never paid a dime for any of it.

Between festivals, markets, and meetings in various locales, plus visits to family and friends from time-to-time, I do my share of travel. Not terribly much, but enough. And since the workload of my job is high, that means I can't just throw up an out of office and say "I'm gone for a week, back soon." I need to get stuff done. And making travel something that's easy and moderately pleasant, instead of a chore, makes that an awful lot easier.

And we want you to join us! So, over the next few weeks, we're going to share with you our travel tips. Some are obvious, some not so much, and perhaps the whole thing will come off a bit like the first ten minutes of UP IN THE AIR with a less attractive protagonist. But the one thing we can say for sure is that, as with most things, the difference between doing something and doing it better/correctly is often about ten minutes of homework before you click away to the next thing.