The travel experience

LA to HONG KONG
So I'm sitting on the plane to Hong Kong and the excitement is building slowly but surely. You'd think I'd have gotten excited before this but for some reason it just didn't really feel real. Sitting on the runway, having the airplane doors close, this now feels real.

I can't help but draw comparisons between the last time I sat on a plane to travel halfway around the world. I remember sitting there with waves of emotion coursing through me. Three months is a long time, japan is far away, and I'd never traveled internationally by myself. Truth be told, I was petrified. The emotional turmoil of that trip will probably be etched on my soul forever. This pales by comparison. I spilled coffee on myself and lost my boarding pass all before 8am, but there was still minimal stress. It was no big deal. Maybe it's because this isn't my first time traveling abroad, maybe because it's less time away, or maybe because I'm not traveling alone, regardless this is a much less emotional travel experience.

One thing that hasn't changed, and I hope never will, is this mounting excitement as the plane takes off. The endless stream of thoughts of all the possibilities, the practically physical need for adventure. How often in life are you truly excited?  Like heart beating out if your chest, sweaty palms, jitters, no possibility of sleep kind of excited. How many times do you dive into the unknown? I'm starting to realize this my favorite place to live in, at the edge of the cliff rocking back on your heels about to jump. There's that moment where you're committed, there's no turning back, yet you still haven't seen over the edge of the cliff. You have no idea what's waiting for you. There's endless possibly in that moment.

I believe I'm addicted. Not to alcohol or drugs or tanning or Netflix (okay maybe Netflix), but to this excitement of the unknown. This expectation of what's to come. It has to be the best natural high there is.

Plus our flight is empty so I have the WHOLE ROW to myself. It's all about the little things.

HONG KONG TO DHAKA INDIA
If I'm calculating correctly, we are on hour 25 of travel? But I'm not 100%. We are currently in India - surprise!! Just at the the airport though, apparently we had a layover in Dhaka that we weren't aware of...so the airport count is up to six I think? This layover is such a tease because a) I thought we were arriving in Nepal like three hours early which would have been stellar and b) the place I want to explore most in the world is India. We didn't even fly in during daylight so I couldn't see anything!! That's just cruel. I'll just have to come back.... Also, this is the LOUDEST flight I've ever been on. Everyone seems to be yelling. Or I'm going stir crazy. Which is a very real possibility.

The man sitting next to me was coming home to India from LA to visit his mom he hasn't seen in years and we started chatting. He told me the story of how he met his wife - which is one of those stories in movies or books that I refuse to admit I've seen or read. They are both from India but different cities. They went to the same masters program in the states (somewhere on the east coast for therapy programs-she's a speech therapist), but he was a few years ahead of her so they never met. They both ended up moving to LA and a few years later and met as he picked up one of his friends from a conference. Somehow they led parallel lives, as if fate was determined they meet. He shared some gum (that was probably for his benefit as well as mine), made bad jokes about the food and wished me well on my trip. He seemed to be very kind. I love meeting kind people.

Side note: airplane food is Joy's worst nightmare. They served curry..... I thought she might actually parachute out of the plane for a moment.