THE SOUTH EAST ASIA SERIES PT1
THE DAY I LEFT HOME FOR 2 YEARS OF TRAVELLING 20/10/15
Ok so I left my cousins Stevie and Wendy after a good weekend in London and still didn’t feel that I was actually going travelling for 6months (which turned out to be 2 years!). It was great to see them and the kids, always entertaining.
IT LOOKED LIKE A BUTCHERS TABLE
The flight was a nightmare. I thought Malaysian Airways would have upped their game after all the fuss around the two of their planes that came down and went AWOL. The seats were almost unbearable which was helped by how restless I was. The plane wouldn’t have looked out of place at an aircraft graveyard. I had flown Long Haul plenty of times before; to America, Canada South Africa and once with Singapore Airlines to Australia. Singapore Airlines remain my favourite airline after that experience it was faultless.
NEVER PICK A MIDDLE SEAT
Anyway I was stuck in a middle seat beside a gentleman who couldn’t stop fidgeting and coughing up some lovely flem for 13hours straight. That I can deal with, everyone has their problems and I have plenty of empathy. I was used to the flem issue after being so close to my nana, she would have gave this fella a run for his money.
Things went a bit Pete Tong once he ordered the red wine. I noticed his hands were often shaking and again I can empathise with him but it was like I knew what was to come. As soon as he put his glass down I knew where it was going to end up, so I shifted myself and everything I had as close to the girl to my right. She was slightly confused by me suddenly entering her personal space. And of course 2 minutes later off the table it went but fortunately the majority of it only went on himself, not once but twice. Same goes for the 2 cups of tea he ordered later. By the end of the flight his tray looked more like a butchers table.
SLEEP
Now eager more than ever to get some sleep on this red eye I closed my eyes and hoped for the best. After a few moments of complete bliss I got woken with a tap on the shoulder. I turned to my good friend who simply apologised in my ear and got continued to watch his movie. I didn’t know whether to laugh to cry. Thats the think about traveling solo, you just don’t decide who you are going to sit beside! That was one of the few times I didn’t reserve a seat, probably due to the fact I only bought my ticket the night before I left. So from that moment on I was became a “window person” for the view, reserved arm rest and added head support when I wanted to sleep. You live and learn.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
This post is part of The South East Asia Series, for the next article click here.
