/ STUDY ABROAD

Beginnings

Travelling 10,000 miles from your home in a single trip is slightly intimidating. Among the last minute packing, goodbyes, and stress I made sure to download oodles, yes oodles, of content for me to devour on the flight. In my mind, I was treating it the same as any other vacation me and my family had been on. I’ve been blessed enough to have taken my fair share of lengthy flights, and each one was filled with movies and books.

So naturally, I considered myself an expert in all things travel entertainment. As an avid book reader and fledging movie enthusiast, this was a dangerous game. Somehow, I rationalized that I could use 24 entire hours, not considering the possibility of you know, talking to people or maybe sleep?

Prior to my departure I had downloaded 4 new kindle books, 2 podcast episodes, and 6 movies. All of this, not including any other in flight entertainment, set for a promising trip.

Normally, after reaching cruising altitude I would get comfortable and begin the distractions. Yet, for this entire trip, despite the massive preparations, I watched only 3 movies (none of which I had prepared on my laptop) and finished a single audiobook. For 30 hours of travel, that was only 20% of the trip.

For the other 80%, I made a spontaneous to do something different for once.

Flying over the grand canyon, the snow capped foothills and frozen lands of the Midwest, I sat and watched.

plane

Sometimes it takes a change in perspective to open our eyes. As I looked at the millions flakes of snow coating the land as far as the eye could see, the highways reduced to faint lines, I was humbled. There is something about stepping back (or up) that makes you philosophical. Mountains and rivers, ravines, forests and everything between. The water and nitrogen cycles, climate and weather, ecology, all insanely complex systems overlapping perfectly. After staring at the world below me for hours I couldn’t help but think that maybe my worries might not be that important.


Even after getting bored with attempts at self enlightenment, I still kept the distractions at bay. Seated next to me on my flight to LA was a young man. He looked like a college freshman, dressed to the T, tie and all. Throughout the flight we eased into conversation. I learned he was a student at USC, where he had just moved from Baltimore. He actually lived within 20 min of LAX where he commuted to school. Coincidentally, he was also an engineering student. For the rest of the flight we kept up a light conversation.

At some point, his phone died. I had noticed before he wasn’t really prepped for a 5 hour flight. All he had was his phone. Soon after he asked me if I had a charger. I lent him my small cable and the flight continued on.

As we near LAX, somewhat out of the blue, he asks if I have had dinner. It was an odd question, but I just said no, not yet. He had decided that in exchange for the charger, he wanted me to get a taste of LA. I resisted, but he insisted. We exchanged numbers and he left. I was skeptical. An hour and a half later, after a cab ride to his house and a stop at In and Out burger, he showed up at Terminal B of LAX. You’re the bomb Eman.

inout


I can say that 15 hours of flying, for anyone considering the trip, was not bad at all. It started out with a meal service. Vegetable curry at 1AM local time wasn’t too bad. Then the lights were dimmed and people settled in. For most of the trip, the entire cabin slept.

For this flight, I leaned a little more on my entertainment options. When the entire plane is asleep at 7am, with all the windows closed, I didn’t have a ton of options.

As the crew raised the lights in the final hours of the flight, they began meal service.

Next to me for the entire flight had been a young lady in her late twenties. From a glance, she was a backpacker returning from a stint abroad. As the trip went on, we too eased into conversation.

A Melbourne local, she had moved from England after attending “Uni” for graphic design and getting her masters in user interfaces. She was on her way back from a 6 month backpacking trip in South and Central America. Colombia (which has the best hostels for those wondering), Mexico, Guatemala, you name it. The final hours of the flight were filled with discussion on American and Australian culture, spots to visit across the country, and stories. I think the crash course will help me cheat the learning curve a little. For example, who knew there was an Ozone hole above the continent? Everyone here wears a minimum of SPF 50. Tips like this were invaluable.

To all you travelers, take a minute to stop and smell the roses. The best memories and experiences don’t always happen where you expect them. Maybe its on the hike or at the beach, on the events you had been looking forward to for ages, but maybe its on the bus or at a restaurant. Just maybe, it’s in the little things.

Keep an open mind. Keep exploring.