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| Tom’s fairly relaxed at the Lisbon Airport. |
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| Tom took this photo of me at the Lisbon Airport. |
The packing was seamless. Getting out the door was a breeze by 7:00 am when my phone alarm woke me at 6:00 and I bolted out of bed to run my bathwater. It’s amazing how we’ve learned to hustle.
We left the house tidy, finished up the last of our pizza, and watched the final episode of our recent obsession, the TV series “Luther” on BBC. What a show!
Our flight leaving Madeira was late departing. Fortunately, the next flight from Lisbon has an over two-hour layover, which now is greatly reduced from arriving an hour later than expected.
At the moment, we’re sitting in the same café as when we arrived in Lisbon on May 15, 2014 when our flight was delayed for hours where we spent over US $65 for a plain burger, a beer and a cup of tea for me.
Tom’s sipping on a beer and I’ve already guzzled my first cup of tea, ready to order another. A tiny cup of tea is hardly satisfying for this tea lover.
Have I said how much I dislike flying? I’m sure I have. Recalling the small plane we flew from Diani Beach, Kenya to the Masai Mara, Kenya, I’m amazed that I did so well, preoccupying myself writing on an app on my phone as I often do to kill time. Taking photos on that flight also helped divert my attention preventing me from any anxiety during the flight.
Now as I write this during our now short layover with 30 minutes of free WiFi, I’ve come to the realization that its not the flying that bothers me the most. Its the hours of waiting, the frustration of overpaying for overweight baggage (we just paid US $340, EU $250 at the Funchal airport), the crowded bus to the plane and the steep stairway to board the plane with our still heavy carry on.
Once the plane was finally in the air heading for Lisbon, I seldom thought about the flying part in itself. Most flights are uneventful (hopefully).
Understanding the complexity of one’s discomfort is a small conciliation in reducing one’s anxiety. I think I finally have it figured out.
While waiting “in chairs” to board the bus, we reviewed our upcoming itinerary from memory to realize that we won’t have to fly again until September 17th when we fly from Boston to Vancouver.
Considering all that we’ll experience over the next few months, relatively little flying is involved: Paris, London, Normandy, Portsmouth, UK, Cork, Ireland, the Faro Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland, Boston, MA, USA, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ending in Honolulu Oahu, Hawaii.
We discussed the issues we experienced on various flights over the last almost two years in both airports and at ports when boarding cruises:
1. Belize: Our vitamins were confiscated by security when we boarded the ship
2. Dubai: Our power cords were confiscated by security as we went through the line.
3. Barcelona: Someone put a knife into our plastic bin as we were going through security.
4. Istanbul: An over eight-hour delay on our way to Kenya
5. Numerous short and lengthy delays in and out of three countries in Africa.
But, who’s to complain when we’ve arrived safely on each occasion? Not us.
If anything, its made us more seasoned travelers to “expect the unexpected” and continue on with a smile on our faces and the anticipation of knowing we’re on our way to yet another adventure.
We’ll be back tomorrow when first thing in the morning, we’ll head to the hotel’s restaurant for our first breakfast in Paris, sipping Parisian coffee and looking forward to sharing our first tidbits about this famous city.
Photo from one year ago today, August 1, 2013:
No photos were posted on this date one year ago. Please click here for the story.