In It for the Long Haul

October 10, 2024, more or less

A few minutes before midnight on the 9th we boarded our plane for a 17-hour flight (after 6 hours in the air yesterday). What were we thinking?

Spoiler Alert: It was awful. It was uncomfortable. It seemed like it would never end.

We flew business class, which meant we each had a little pod to sit in. Each pod was (theoretically) equipped with a seat that could turn into a lie-flat bed. I mean, 17 hours. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Ken gets ready to wipe down his pod with Clorox Wipes.

My pod, with my own headphones, my Kindle, and the airline’s pillow.

The food was great. The service was beyond great. The flight attendants worked hard!

A late dinner: vegetables, salmon, rice, and eggplant

Incredible cheesecake!

The seat was sooooo disappointing. It was never comfortable and it grew more uncomfortable with each passing hour. Each slowly passing hour, I should say. The “bed” was more like 3/4 of a bed with a 1-inch thick hard mattress. You could not extend your legs.

On the positive side, the other passengers were quiet, the bathrooms were good (for airplane bathrooms), and there was plenty of space to put all of one’s personal gear so that it was reachable from one’s seat/bed.

I finished one book (Book #3 in the Maisie Dobbs series) and got about 45% of the way through another one (The Revenge of The Tipping Point). The rest of the time I listened to some of my own playlists. I’m pretty good at entertaining myself. I’m not so good at finding a comfortable position or being able to sleep on a plane.

It was dark when we left and it was dark throughout the flight until the last hour. At some point during the flight we crossed the International Date Line and skipped ahead (some would say “lost”) one whole day without passing “Go.” However, we also gained a lot of hours because we crossed a lot of time zones, so it was almost like we got a lot of the lost day back. That’s why I am writing this up as October 10. 

I have a prescription I need to take twice a day, at the same time every day. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to figure out when to take it so that I would end up being able to take it at the same time as we travel.

As we descended for our landing, I could see literally hundreds of ships. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Landing and arrival were easy, and we quickly found ourselves in a taxi. We had a friendly, talkative cab driver, and it wasn’t long before he wanted to know who we were going to vote for. (We have already voted.) Our answer was not what he wanted to hear, and he didn’t particularly want to hear our reasons. Maybe I should go back to saying I’m from Canada. It avoids a lot of awkwardness.

Today’s fabric is houndstooth. According to Glenmuir’s Golf Journal, the houndstooth pattern is a proud symbol of Scottish tradition and heritage. Since the pattern was largely woven and worn by Scottish shepherds, some believe that the pattern also symbolizes protection. 

Perhaps that is why the houndstooth pattern was chosen for the pillowcases on our plane.

Wool scarf by Acne Studios