Birds of a feather flock together.
There’
s something about traveling that’s almost magical. You hop on a plane, spend several hours in limbo – neither here nor there – and then you grab your bags, roll your eyes at the super slow people in front of you, and take your first step onto new ground. Well, new for you. Factor in the time change (even if it’s only three hours back), and abra-cadabra, your mind is blown.
I love setting foot in a new place. More than that, I love setting foot in a new place with people (or person) that also love setting their feet in a new place. It makes the experience that much more exciting – it’s heaps more fun (and a hint more cool) sharing the “oh my gosh did you see that?” and the “check those people out”, or the “Behold! Dirty pirate hookers!” exclamation in person with someone you know appreciates it – whatever it” is, as much as you do, rather than via (muchos expensive) text messages. And of course when turbulence hits, it’s also great squeezing the hand of someone you know, rather than squeezing the hand of 26E — the sucker sitting next to you, and then spending the rest of your limbo time, trying not to use that hand on or anywhere near your face/mouth/food. As a consequence your limbo time (aka flight time) becomes slightly more stressful, and immediately ensures that the first place you’ll be setting your feet into in this marvelous new place you’re traveling to, will be the public restroom.
And while we’re on the topic of restrooms:
Great Idea: automatic taps and soap dispensers.
It’s great not having to touch germy faucets and crusty soap dispensers. Crusted-on soap grosses me out a bit. So it’s a bonus when I don’t have to touch it.
Not So Great Idea: disposable seat covers.
In theory, this concept sounds wonderful. In real life – it sucks. First of all, the middle part of the seat cover is attached to the outside rim in way too many places. You have to attempt a tear, ever so gently, so that only the middle pops out and so that the outside remains fully intact so as to cover the entire seat. This isn’t easy. Nor is it a quick feat. And when you’ve just hopped off a plane, and you’ve been holding it for the past four hours, the last thing you want to do is play arts and crafts with the seat cover in the stall. I’m pretty sure scissors aren’t allowed in your carry on luggage, and people typically do not carry around scissors in the first place, so that’s not a viable option here. Not detaching the middle isn’t a viable option either. I mean, you can try, but you’ll just end up peeing on top of the middle part and although you would think (and hope) the liquid would make it disintegrate and detach as a result, it doesn’t. You can figure out what happens next. It’s not pleasant.
Great Idea: automatic paper towel dispensers.
Do I have to elaborate? It’s clean, it’s quick, and you don’t have to touch anything.
Not So Great Idea: hand dryers (automatic or push-button)
Obviously push-button hand dryers are the greater evil of the two (touching a potentially dirty surface after already washing your hands is necessary), but when it comes down to it, I don’t really like either. Maybe if they were positioned much, much lower on the wall – I’m talking like waist level – they would make more sense. At least this would eliminate the dribble of water that slides down your hand, onto your wrist, and into your sleeve, due to holding your hands up, at eye-level. Who thought this one out? Don’t these people brush their teeth and haven’t they experienced the water dribble that gets caught by the sleeve of your long sleeved shirt, leaving you with a damp spot, when you hold your wet hand up at that height? When I see hand dryers I usually opt for the toiler paper hand dry method. Although that too, has its own set of serious cons.
Now I sound like a germaphobe. But I’m actually not. I’m not terribly concerned with defeating bacteria, although I do think it’s important to wash your hands upon entering your house, even if you’ve just been out for five minutes, throwing out the garbage, or grabbing a lottery ticket from the convenience store down the street.
I mean, everyone does that, right?
My trip was fabulous. Although it was a place I had already been to several times, it’s one of those cities that holds so much excitement and promises of adventure in its many nooks and crannies, that subsequent visits are almost obligatory. And it’s always fun exploring a city with a new travel partner – I saw things I had never noticed before; the city took on a whole new feel – one of exuberance and vigor; of hilarity, of early morning calm, and good ol’ fashioned fun. Traveling with someone – or several someones, for the first time, is a great test of compatibility. After all, not everyone vacations in the same manner. Some people get antsy after thirty minutes of lounging by a pool or on a beach, while others (ahem – me) love life when lounging on a pool chair for hours on end. Some people dislike taking the “embarrassing” typical tourist-y photos, while others (me me me!) love love love it.
So. Discovering that you’ve finally found the perfect travel partner makes the airport feeling, the excitement, and the trip buzz even more amazing. Although once you’re already flying with someone of the same feather, that discovery is not a huge surprise. Someone who reaches out their hand to me automatically, in their sleep, during turbulence, is a someone I’m going to hold onto, for always. 🙂
Seeing eye to eye 