The Long Stretch

I am currently sitting in a plane on my way home, something that I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time as you’d probably realise if you’re a regular reader. I’m on the longest leg of the journey right now and due to the vagaries of international travel, I’m not actually sure what the time is or exactly where I am.

I know that the current time in Fort McMurray, where my journey started is 12:35pm. I also know that I left Vancouver at 11:55pm Vancouver time (which is 12:55am Fort Mac time) and I know that the flight duration is just a touch over 15 hours.

15 hours. My God that’s a long time. I’ve attempted to sleep, recognising that this is surely the best way to consume time on one of these jaunts and have had varying degrees of success. I think I managed about 2 hours the first time and then another hour during the last movie that I was watching. The inability to get horizontal to sleep is a big inhibitor, which is really frustrating given that during the time that I worked offshore, I used to boast that I’d developed the ability to sleep anywhere. I even slept on a scaffold plank under an oily tarp once. Of course, the key there was that at least it was nearly horizontal. But sleep on aeroplanes in the main part eludes me. Probably because I end up with my neck contorted in a manner that eventually just bloody hurts. I bought a travel pillow and that has been mildly successful.

But I am really struggling on this particular flight with just how bloody long it is. I mean based on the mental arithmetic that I am trying to smash through my sleep deprived head, there’s still something like 5 hours to go. I have to wonder how the hell Caroline managed to do this and stay sane.

Because of the departure time, all of the flying until now has been in the dark. And just at the point where the sun was starting to caress the horizon and a slight bit of colour appeared, they came around and asked everyone to pull down the shutters. Hell, I was actually looking forward to getting see something, even if it was just a bloody cloud or the wing of the plane. Because with the cabin lights dimmed, everyone is essentially trying to sleep (though there’s a lot more movement about the cabin now than there has been for the last 7 or so hours) which means that even if I was the sort of person inclined to strike up conversation with random strangers (ie Caroline) there’s really no one to talk to anyway. At least I have a vacant seat between myself and the guy next to me.

The irony that I feel compelled to document is that I can be a real shit to travel with, because I really dislike having a conversation that I feel everyone for 3 rows around me can hear and so I tend to opt for watching movies in silence, but of course presented with no other option, I’m almost bursting to have a conversation with someone!

Let’s not forget that I started this journey 6 hours before I even got on this plane …