I really like flying alone. I get alone time when I’m at home too, but there’s always something I could be doing, always things to take care of. When you’re up in the air though, there’s really nothing you can actively do but sit in your seat. And think. I like to think about stuff I haven’t really given time to, stuff that really doesn’t make a big difference in my life but is important to me in its own way.
And of course, I’m not sitting there for half a day just thinking. I revisit old songs on my iPod, watch terrible movies on the on-flight TV, and sketch whatever comes to my mind (do a lot of that).
This past flight I got graced with a window seat in the emergency exit row so I could really stretch my legs and completely relax. All combined, the whole experience was so nice that the terrible vegetarian meal that they kept giving me wasn’t even an issue.
I even met some cool people. The guy sitting right next to me, a Stanford PhD student with too much wax in his hair and wearing a jacket to his 110 degrees destination, turned out to have a lot to say (and be the man) after he saw me sketching. We ended up having an hour long conversation about how globalization can be better understood through studying the spread of soccer, sparked by him seeing me sketch a soccer cleat.
And its experiences like these that make me love flights. Sure, I’m probably going to be completely disoriented when I land, but its totally worth it. I’m in Seoul airport right now, and I really can’t wait to get back on that plane in an hour (until then, I’m going to enjoy the mini Santana Row strip a few feet from my terminal and the cool screens, videocalling booths, and free WiFi at the cafe I’m at).
