Cockburn hates to admit it, but whenever he gets on a plane he starts praying. He’s not afraid of flying — so much as his fellow passengers.

The news cycle over the summer months has done little to rid Cockburn of his prejudices. … The final, and potentially most upsetting plane story that Cockburn has seen this week was when several airplane passengers who were attempting to leave Colorado were stuck on a plane with a bunch of Swifties who had attended Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour on Sunday.

[It’s humorous, but it’s also an issue. I’m driving on my vacation in part because flying has become so expensive, but also the hassle is generally not worth it. I figure that I’ll save around $1200-$1500 by driving my own car rather than flying and renting a car for a little over a week, even with the extra hotel nights in both directions. — Ed]