21. Homeward Bound.

But first, a note about the TSA, the US port security department. I know they have a job to do and I know it's all part of the travel experience in this day and age. I also thought that the reason for having a "TSA approved" lock on your case was so that the TSA could open your bag without cutting the lock off. Don't believe it. No lock on my case and a note left inside saying that it had been opened for security reasons and therefore they were not liable for damage or removing it. I wonder if they are liable for anything that goes missing from the case though? I also object to being questioned as if I was a terrorist and/or an idiot when my security scan detected a handkerchief in my pocket. Rant over.

This post is being composed at 35,000ft somewhere over the Nevada/Utah border as Air New Zealand fly us back towards London and 0 degrees longitude. (Incidentally we have good reason to believe that Jenson Button is on the flight but no doubt he turned left when boarding rather than right.) The desert scenery below is amazing; it always is from such an altitude, real RoadRunner and Wylie Coyote stuff and a few snow capped mountains in the distance. 

Our last morning in Beverly Hills was spent window shopping around Rodeo Drive. Every luxury brand has presence here with greeters standing with fixed grins and bored stiff in  doorways waiting for the few customers who can afford the goods inside. It's hugely pretentious. How I wanted to venture tentatively inside and ask if they knew where the nearest Walmart was. I doubt they would have understood the irony. In one small shopping arcade the security lady spoke brusquely and full of self importance saying "photos with cellphones only, no cameras". Try as I might, I cannot figure that one out.

I hope to get a bit of sleep shortly before arriving at Heathrow mid-morning and then getting across to Gatwick for the flight home. It's been a hugely enjoyable trip with an incredible change of scenery and geography. We've crossed the equator twice and traveled half way around the world from Greenwich Meridian to International Date Line.... and back again. I think Michael Palin would be impressed.