A Message from Taipei, Tawain

On the Plane, 3:00pm Monday Afternoon Los Angeles Time and 5:00am Tuesday Morning Bankgok Time

Okay, I’ll admit it, I finally had my moment of nervousness. It wasn’t doubt, but the inevitable moment of “why am I doing this again?”

It was 10:30pm in my Santa Monica apartment, and my father was napping in his room before taking me to the airport. My room was dark and silent, empty and clean, with two big bags packed by the door.

When my dad dropped me off at the airport, I watched his dark curly hair disappear in the crowd as I inched closer to baggage inspection. My shoulders already ached and my eyes were drooping. That was it. No more familiar faces, at least for a while. No more familiar beds, foods or streets.

Our flight was delayed, and I felt into a hazy sleep in the uncomfortable black leather chairs at Gate 120, too exhausted to be nervous but still feeling distinctly alone. The flight only made things worse: all I wanted was sleep, but the flourescent house lights bore through my skull while eager flight attendants attempted to serve me dinner 3:45 am Los Angeles time. Didn’t they understand that all I wanted was sleep?

I fell into an uneasy sleep to the sound of flight announcements in another language, and was awoken by a breakfast of porridge topped with some sort of egg and vegetables, a piece of sesame bread and a powdered creation called “Flavored Tuna Floss” (see left.... I wouldn’t recommend it).

Then I started reading some of the travel magazines, watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain and World’s Best Diving, and started to feel a little better. Renewed by sleep and an image of a diver petting sharks in the Maldives, my vigor was soon restored. I can usually count on myself to get excited about the future, and to allow this anticipation to pull me through unfamiliarity and exhaustion.

I’m stopping at an airport in Taipei for a few hours. I feel good, and will probably feel better once I can stretch (I’ve been sitting for almost 15 hours). I’ll be checking in soon.

Taipei Intl. Airport, around 6:30AM

I'm in Taipei, Taiwan, apparently one of the gloomiest cities in the world, weather-wise (coming from sunny California, it certainly is). Heading to Bangkok in a couple hours. I wanted to post my airplane thoughts because I think I'm going to be swept up by everything upon arrival, and the moments of melancholy are just as important to record as the moments of glamour. Ready for Bangkok!

P.S. Why doesn't LAX have free wifi? This is excellent!