Mates on a Plane

It’s amazing who you meet whilst trapped in a fast moving test tube with wings, thousands of feet up.  Perhaps there is a bond there knowing that at any second fatality could happen and there is not a lot we can do about it, except fervently try to recall the background noise that was the safety video. Or perhaps I am just a tad paranoid still, it’s not natural to fly really is it?

The sort of view I chose to enjoy when we took off.

But now being a hardened veteran of six flights I am able to enjoy my recollections, of course the first person to suffer me on a plane was Denby on last years trip to Amsterdam and unfortunately for him, but much to the amusement of Rick and Tom I ended up nervously babbling the whole flight and being in all probability slightly annoying.

Well now I am a changed man I can now look right down at the ground and not flinch, although I refuse to look out of the window as we go up.  Digressions aside, I met some rather nice people on my journeys, first off was Lee, the Managing Director of a textiles exporting business.  Naturally we sat next to each other in near silence for about 8 hours, until we were about half an hour from landing and then we struck up a conversation. I learned handy tips about customs and such like and need to Stemail him about my trip as he showed an interest in my solo jaunt to the opposite side of the world.  I think he thought it was great that I was doing such an odyssey but that I was also slightly mad.

On my next plane to Portland I met Sandy of Iowa fame, whose Email address I have sadly not yet been able to find since I came back, she was the first American I really spoke too and she was extremely nice and chatty and we spoke at length about why we were going to Portland and then did a lot of staring out of the window.

That was ruined as my ears popped on a swift descent and I fear I ended up just shouting at her, although I tried to modulate my voice probably adding to mu strangeness. Then of course came the awkward moment when I said goodbye three times as it took ages to get off the plane, awkward but probably not as awkward as Sandy having to sit next to a guy who had been travelling for over a day and had no deodorant, thanks to customs.

It was the way back that things reached there apex of fascinatingness and that shall be told when I next post.  Suffice to say it was most unexpected yet almost made me feel human again after leaving that golden state known by the initals WA.