Day 42/365: Friday Five on a Sunday: Flying

[nanila]

1. Where did you go the last time you took an aeroplane ride?
   My last plane ride was in December, when I flew to Schipol (Amsterdam) for a two-day meeting. My next plane ride (barring any surprises) will probably be in April, to Vienna.
   
   
2. Are you a nervous flyer or a comfortable flyer?
   Very comfortable. The number of times I have been on planes runs into the triple digits. See: Growing up on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific ocean & having relatives on the mainland US. And also, moving to the UK and still having relatives and friends on the mainland US. Also also, moving to the UK and having easy access to all of Europe.
   
   
3. Window seat or aisle seat?
   WINDOW 4 EVA. Exhibit A: A photo I took from my most recent transatlantic flight, over northern Canada.
   
   
4. What is the worst experience you've had flying?
   This was actually quite recent. I had the flu and didn’t know it until about two hours into an eleven-hour flight from London to Los Angeles. I have never been so miserable on a plane before.
   
   
5. What is the best experience you've had flying?
   Ooh, this is tough. There are a lot to choose from. The first time Humuhumu could talk and went on a plane was pretty cool. She was SO excited. Keiki as well. He went on about it for months afterward. “We went on a big aeroplane” has to have been one of his first full sentences. I also loved flying between the Hawai’ian islands on prop planes as a child, back when commercial pilots were allowed to let children visit the cockpit. I think what I love consistently about flying is the few minutes before landing, where you approach a place and can admire it from above, and the anticipation of being in it momentarily is at fever pitch.

Comments

[redbird]

Yes, approaches. When I posted my answers to this, I forgot Hong Kong. I visited in 1997, before they opened the new airport: flying into Kai Tak meant two right-angle turns at specific points over the city, a gorgeous view but potentially scary.

[nanila]

Kai Tak sounds impressive, but I have to say, I still think it's the coolest that you got to see Hale-Bopp from a plane!

Also, sorry in advance for this being a bit of a downer, but your answers about worst flying experiences involving not actually being able to fly reminded me that my worst not-flying experience was the cancellation of my Seattle to San Diego flight on September 12, 2001. It was five days after I'd sat by my maternal grandfather's bedside when they took him off life support.

[redbird]

My sympathies. Having to fly home a day late was trivial in my case.

[nanila]

Thanks. I've had a few of the more garden-variety "you are now stuck here for a few hours/overnight/a couple of days" incidents. The best one was the time I got stuck in Toulouse because French air traffic control went on strike. It meant I got to go to Carcassonne.

[redbird]

The time I had to stay an extra day was after a visit to Montreal. Flights were being postponed and then cancelled because of weather problems, and after a while fellow passengers were commiserating and discussing possibilities. Eventually, I gave up on flying that day and told the person I'd been chatting with "I'm going home," which got me a surprised look because she knew I was trying to get home to New York. But it just slipped out: I did feel at home with the people I was staying with, and the options were to get on the bus back to where I'd spent the previous night, or try to get Air Canada to put me up in an airport hotel.

Now I feel like I should cross my fingers about the weather for my upcoming trip. But either I get where I'm going, or I stay here; it's a non-stop, no risk of being stranded in some other city.

[tree_and_leaf]

I love taking pictures out of planes too!

[nanila]

It never gets old. I've tried to work out under what circumstances I'd get bored of it. Maybe if I had to fly the same route every week for work, I'd stop being bothered about window seats?

[davidgillon]

I think what I love consistently about flying is the few minutes before landing, where you approach a place and can admire it from above, and the anticipation of being in it momentarily is at fever pitch.

That's something C J Cherryh seems to deliberately evoke in the Foreigner books - the viewpoint character's anticipation as he flies back into Sheijidan, the sight of familiar buildings from a different angle, and eventually the seat of government where he lives/works as interface to the resident alien species. She even does it when he arrives by train in one book.

[nanila]

I was intrigued by this and went off to GoodReads to read some reviews. I'd definitely like to delve into the series at some point but given its epic length, I reckon that point is a few years off...

[davidgillon]

I'm re-reading it at the moment, and planning to review it. For reading purposes it rather handily breaks down into trilogies. But definitely ones that need to be read in order.

[cmcmck]

Must be nice to be a comfortable flier- I'm absolutely the opposite- only overcame a lifelong phobia about twenty years back in my early forties and I'll never like doing it. I'd never flown at all before then.

[nanila]

Oof. I'm sorry it's an ordeal for you. Hopefully other modes of transport are less distasteful? Granted they all take longer, but if you're not in a rush, then trains/ferries/coaches are usually viable options unless you've got an ocean to cross.

[mysterysquid]

Love the window seat. Given how long my legs are, the aisle seat can be good though. Basically, not the middle seat!

[nanila]

I don't think anyone wants the middle seat? Although you have just inspired Friday's Unscientific Poll, so we can find out.