In The Air Part One

Here and now, writing this I am well and truly on my way. I am travelling more than 850 km/h at more than 35000 feet above Nunavut. I just finished watching kind of a weird movie: Pleasentville. Now I am listening to the Buena Vista Social Club and writing this on my computer.

The flight thus far has been very uneventful, and pretty pleasant actually. I have an aisle seat again which I dont really like, but it is nice to be able to get up whenever I want without climbing over people. Icelandair flies 757-200s to Seattle, and that is what I am sitting in right now. I mention this because it just so happens that my favorite looking airliner has for a long time been the 757-200, and this is my first chance to ride in one. So far I have no complaints!

That is the plane I am in BTW. That was as it was getting pulled to the gate in Seattle.

The attendants are very friendly, but there is not really much in the way of free stuff. I got a little cup of tea, but beyond that you kinda have to shell out a fair bundle. There is a blanket and pillow on each seat which I really like. The seatback tvs are a bit basic, and don't have a very large selection, but there is enough that it works.

Just a few minutes ago I went to go to the washroom, and there was a little line, so the flight attendant told me to go use the one up in economy plus. There is a row of seats up there with a door in front of them, and since no-one was sitting in them, I was able to look out the window into the night. Lots of stars! Pretty cool, but really hard to take a picture of. It is neat that with the full moon it is not just pitch black out there.

I think the flight is about halfway through now. I am glad that I have a transfer in Iceland. It will be nice to have a break instead of three more consecutive hours of sitting. The longest flight I have ever taken non-stop was Paris to Miami. That is about nine hours if I recall correctly. This one is about seven and a quarter. The Paris Miami one was on a 747 operated by CorsairFly, and although the flight was almost entirely full, I somehow ended up with a window row all to myself. On my way to Australia, I have a flight upcoming which beats nine hours by about two hours, then another which beats that one by an hour or two. Lots of hours of sitting.

I dont know if it has really hit me yet where I am and what I am doing....I see the little dot of the plane on the map, and I see all the other people around, but with the familiar music, the comfy seat and the background engine noise, it is almost as if I am merely sitting in a rather loud room.

I ramble on. It is weird that it is not even seven o'clock Pacific Time...It feels a lot later to me. That must be the fact that the sunset came rapidly and early as we flew up to meet it, and also because of the lower cabin pressure and humidity. Time changes and jet lag are weird. Ooo a little bit of turbulence! Me like. Makes me feel like I am actually flying and going somewhere.

Anyhow, I wont be able to post this until I get to Iceland, or maybe even London, but I will post it anyways. I might add to it later, or I might just start a whole new post!