The Return

Who thought going home could be so difficult? I certainly didn't anticipate anything but a long, uneventful flight from Detroit to Bangkok. Everything started smoothly. There was no rush to pack the last few things before I left that morning; I had successfully packed everything several days before. Check-in was even smoother that morning than usual because my sister's godfather was doing some traveling, and with the help of his Worldclub membership, we got through all the check-in hassle fairly painlessly, cleared security, and got to relax in the WorldClub lounge. Free snacks, free wi-fi, and comfy chairs? It's only reasonable to expect that that something would have to go wrong. Once my sister's flight had left, I settled into the comfort of the lounge and downloaded Democracy Now! podcasts with the glee of a spastic, sugar-frenzied child in a Flemish chocolate store.

At 1:15, I strolled to my gate and stepped into line to board the Northwest 747 waiting to take me to Japan. The flight was packed, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the seats next to me were empty. Are you picking up a trend here? Yes...travel isn't supposed to be this calm, relaxed and smooth. Something was definitely amiss: I wasn't tired, frenzied, and I wasn't panicked that I had left something behind. I dozed off in my seat, expecting to be in the air when I woke up. My last waking thoughts? I mused that it would be nice for something interesting to happen on this flight. My flights have always been a bit too normal. Wouldn't it be cool to be on a flight where something crazy happened that you could talk about for years after? I'm an idiot.

I woke up to find that we were still taxiing. In fact, we continued to taxi for the next hour and a half. The pilot eventually came on, sounding slightly bitter and announced that there was a technical issue and we would be returning to the gate. It took another hour and a half for the air crew to come to the conclusion that this was no small fix, so we were released from the now slightly sweaty interior of the 747. Back inside the airport, we were told that we would be leaving at 6 pm, and that because we would be missing our connecting flights, a hotel in Tokyo would be provided for our overnight stay.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, at 6 we were informed that we would be staying overnight in Detroit. As the 330 of us who belonged in the Economy section stood in line waiting for hotel and meal vouchers, I took some time to people watch. A Japanese man with a long face and clothes neatly ironed leafed through his English phrasebook searching for polite ways to express his disgust. A Croatian man spent the 45 minutes we spent in line muttering that this was "f*****g BS," while a fat little American kid whined loudly. Two elegant Japanese women regarded him with obvious disgust. At this point, the 25 pound backpack I happened to be carrying started to really dig into my shoulders.

Ground transportation to the hotel could be called an ordeal. We waited in the cold Detroit night for the shuttle. I had started to lose my sense of adventure as the cold wound around my arms and into my skin.

The hotel was comfortable, the night was slept through soundly, and at 6:00 I was back at the hotel, and by 8:30, we were off the ground. I'm sorry, did I skip some details there? No matter, the empty seats next to me were now filled, making my trips to the bathroom fairly complicated. If there's one thing that bothers me about Northwest, it's the fact that their planes are just a bit wobbly. I finally decided to stop looking at the engine swaying against it's mounting on the wing as we began to cross Alaska.

The Northwest trans-pacific flight isn't your typical sea-crossing. It heads up north, curving with the earth, crossing Canada, Alaska, then brushing the edge of the Arctic before heading down through Russia before arriving in Japan. My favorite moment of the flight was peering out the window during the Alaskan night, watching endless miles of snow covered mountains pass, and then spotting the lights of two villages twinkling against the monochromatic landscape. I stared at the orange dots for minutes, until they finally faded into the darkness.

The rest of the flight went fairly smoothly, except for the fact that I was having regular stomach cramps for the last three hours of the flight. I was still fairly cheerful, despite having to grip the seat rests occasionally as my stomach through a temper tantrum. Thankfully, Northwest pilots know how to land a plane with some definite skill, and they gentle landing did nothing to disturb my pouty internal organs.

The flight from Japan to Thailand was empty, and may I throw in a recommendation of JAL if anyone is traveling from Tokyo to Bangkok. The flight is almost empty, the chairs in Economy are larger, more comfortable, and each seat has it's own console and screen. And, with a click of a button, passengers can watch the scenery go by with the help of a camera mounted in front of the plane. It certainly makes take-offs and landings quite interesting.

So here I am, settling into Thailand. Hopefully, I can have a few days of peace, but knowing life, I'm sure something odd is just around the corner.