"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than
miles"
- Tim Cahil
As a college student, romance and travel were inexplicably married
in my imagination. So perhaps it was no surprise that cupid struck me on one of
my 24 hour commutes between home and school. Public transport and private
adventure were the name of the game in the days of my youth. The end goal was
to shift this onto private jets once I entered the kingdom of investment
banking.
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 00 hours: 01 minute
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Please take your
seat and fasten your seat belt. And also make sure your seat
back and folding trays are in their full upright
position.
Travelling economy class on a long haul flight would momentarily convert me into a small village child observing big city kids. My bone of
contention was the inhumanity of having us walk through the space-shaped
cocoons of first class and flatbed hammocks of business class before we reached
our cattle-class economy seats.
A seat in economy is an automatic guest pass to an urban symphony of unnatural scents and sounds. It is, plainly
speaking, a sensory overload of crying babies, toxic stomach gas emissions and
home cooked food in pressure sealed plastic.
I must have had my eyes closed, envisioning another reality in
which I wasn't a broke college kid, when she took her seat across the aisle. The
symphony paused and the duet began.
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| Sir, is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable? |
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 00 hours: 53 minutes
Passengers connecting onward to other destinations are requested
to check their boarding gates at the flight transfer desk upon arrival. We wish
you a safe onward journey. Thank you for flying with us this morning
I changed planes and it just kept getting better. Mystery
passenger and I were on the same flight (again). Sadly romance doesn't
typically occur at 6 am while connecting between flights in African airports. Therefore
this next flight left me with exactly 8 hours to make something happen.
Just what could I possibly conjure up in 8 hours? This mission
impossible was further complicated by her middle seat position in the center of
a 5 seat row. In a post 9-11 world, all suspicious behavior exhibited by a
passenger on a plane, would have had me restrained and deported by an
undercover air marshal. The prospect of a cancelled US visa was all I needed to
sit tight and watch the in-flight entertainment versus creating it.
Luckily, a random trip to the bathroom restored all hope when I caught her
staring at me. I smiled. She looked away. She smiled. I looked away. Our mute
call-and-response signaled the commencement of the mating dance. Hope, sweet
hope.
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 09 hours: 10 minutes
For your safety and comfort, we ask that you please remain seated with your seat
belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat
Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it
is safe for you to move about.
The wheels touched down and jerked me forward. It was now or
never. I eyed her across the plane and impolitely moved in front of the other
passengers to ensure that we would reach the exit door at the same time. Once I
got out of the plane, I glanced back and found her walking confidently in my
direction. She smiled, I smiled and then it was awkward.
If my memory serves me right, I believe she asked me what time it
was. While I subconsciously mouthed some sort of response, my consciousness inhaled her in thirsty detail.
As if often the case whilst paying attention to everything but the
matter at hand, I found myself willingly led to a breakfast date at the airport McDonald's It was going to be a very good morning.
Tendo transit time hours remaining: 4
Mystery girl transit time hours remaining: 3
Seemingly impossible objective(s) in mind: 1
 |
| A community of those who love while travelling |
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 10 hours: 40 minutes
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned off the Fasten Seat Belt sign, and you may now
move around the cabin.
Ronald McDonald would have been proud of our fast paced
flirtatious banter as we tucked into a happy all-American meal in that
nondescript European airport. Perhaps it was the novelty of it all, but before
I knew it, the waters of inhibition parted and we raced across the gulf of
anonymity.
I have always felt that a certain distance from home permits one
to push the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior and so I moved into what
my parent’s would summarize as scoundrel-like ease with the mystery girl. After
all, a well behaved African boy shouldn't talk to beautiful strangers, let
alone go on a breakfast date within 5 minutes of meeting a girl. I reasoned
that what happens abroad, stays abroad.
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 12 hours: 01 minutes
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. We are now crossing
a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts
fastened. Thank you.”
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| Its going down like a frown |
I had never been to Vegas but I fancied myself a betting man. Odds
were that this was a once-in-a-lifetime personal connection between two
passionate but travel-weary strangers in a foreign land. This serendipitous
outcome would have to be sealed with a memorable ending.
I thanked the good Lord above for the folks who designed and
managed this airport. Specifically the divine foresight of creating a quiet place of rest
and relaxation for those whose backpacker-like bank balances would never see
the inside of a business class lounge. We accidentally stumbled upon this mecca
of darkened windows and flatbed chairs and sighed a breath of relief.
I scanned the sparsely populated room and judged the terrain
sufficient to pitch tent and explore the contours of our respective islands. Nervous
anticipation gave way to steady discovery and I blame the rest of what happened
on caffeine, sugared pastries and youth.
As I settled onto my final flight, I closed my eyes, reclined my seat
and smiled. For whether quantitatively or qualitatively speaking, it was surely one of the best 24 hours of my life thus far.
Conclusion: Public transport + private adventure = timeless memories
Total Travel Time Elapsed: 24 hours: 00 minutes
On behalf of this airline and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this
trip and we look forward to seeing you on board again in the near
future.
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