I had an epiphany in row 31 yesterday as I winged my way west on a Super Saver Fare.
No one can reach you in airplane mode.
That meant, for the duration of my flight, my only responsibility was to put my seat back and tray table in its upright and locked position when we prepared to land.
This, for me, is the beauty of flight.
Suspension.
A few hours away from the chaos of life.
A breather, if you will.
No emails, no text messages, no phone calls.
Just you, a good book and, eventually, an airplane cookie to nibble at will.
I wouldn’t want to live this way. In fact, I sleep with my cellphone right next to my bed. It’s the last thing I check before I nod off, and the first thing I look at when I open my eyes. Normally, I like to be available at all times.
But, it felt pretty good to hand off the responsibility baton for a while, to buckle up and let someone else steer.
That, the cookies and the incredible scenery are why I love to fly.
How about you?
One of our recently added Thanksgiving traditions is everyone placing their phones and electronic devices in a basket upon entering the house for our Thanksgiving meal gathering. My granddaughter (17) initially had some reservations, but I explained that the phone would be there two hours later and she could “catch up” then! I preferred seeing faces instead of the back of phones during our meal! Call me Old School…but it is part of our tradition now!
I love that. I think we’ll try that for Christmas.
An airplane was my home for almost 31 years. For an hour and a half to three hours, I witnessed things like checkered farm lands, majestic mountains and the oceans as they hugged our coastlines. I had off-duty time in many world/US capitals, but my favorite places to fly into were the small cities.
It sounds wonderful.
A perfect occupation for a born storyteller