In Between Worlds
September 23, 2012 7:38 PM PST
Elizabeth and I are sitting on the airplane on our way to Paris. My clock tells me we're something like 6 hours into the flight. I know for certain that the crew has shown two movies and served us a meal and a snack. Elizabeth and I have played several games of Fruit Ninja (!) and one game of Ticket to Ride. The third movie scheduled for this flight has just started. Tine passes as we wing our way from the New World toward the Old.
We've been months planning this trip, but I feel like I've had little time or energy to prepare. Between work and freelance, I feel like my hours have been packed, and I haven't done nearly the amount of reading about my destinations that I'd hoped to do. Even worse, the few things I knew I wanted to jot down, I failed to, so while I have some key items, I know that the larger portion of the resources I'd hoped to assemble and bring along for our expedition are sitting at home. I feel like I've already missed a key stage of the trip. One thing I do know, even if I'd brought every resource with me, our time is limited and it's a certainty that no matter what we'll do, we won't get to everything.
That said, here I am on the plane, and we're on our way. I AM excited -- and completely confused about what time it is, where we physically are as we traverse the planet (though I suspect we're over the ocean somewhere), everything. My friend setsyoustraight is already in Paris, and we're looking forward to meeting her and her husband sometime during the coming week for a meal and a show of some sort. I'm also hoping we can meet up with mistymarshall; we'll be trying to coordinate when we hit the ground.
It still doesn't quite feel real. I've wanted to go to Europe for so long, but there was always somewhere more exotic to go -- which surely sounds like a rich girl's problem; I know. I'm well aware of the privilege that being able to make such a statement implies. At the same time, the unfamiliar had more appeal, so it was the MIddle East and Kenya and Japan before it was France. And now it's France -- and Lithuania and the Netherlands, these last two places I'd never even considered going before I started planning this trip. Well, that's not entirely true. As soon as skidspoppe moved to Eastern Europe, Lithuania became visible on the map of possibilities.
I've done some things differently for this trip, including using ironymaiden's backpack rather than my spinner and a smaller pack. I went back and forth and back and forth about it, and I'm still not convinced I made the right choice, though I certainly appreciated having the option. I have a feeling that I'd be questioning my choice if I'd gone the other way, too. I can see some advantages to the choice I've made -- and it's a fait accompli at this point. The only way to know in the end is to see how things go. It's nice having his reminder of her and Chris on the road with us.
If everything I've written thus far seems . . . dubious or restrained -- at least it feels that way to me -- I suspect it's partly because I'm tired as I'm writing, and partly because I'm bleeding off the stress of the last two weeks. I'll probably feel better when we're on the ground and we're proceeding into the actuality of the adventure. Right now I just feel the reality of being in the air -- between two worlds, unsure where I am, and waiting for the next stage.
Elizabeth and I are sitting on the airplane on our way to Paris. My clock tells me we're something like 6 hours into the flight. I know for certain that the crew has shown two movies and served us a meal and a snack. Elizabeth and I have played several games of Fruit Ninja (!) and one game of Ticket to Ride. The third movie scheduled for this flight has just started. Tine passes as we wing our way from the New World toward the Old.
We've been months planning this trip, but I feel like I've had little time or energy to prepare. Between work and freelance, I feel like my hours have been packed, and I haven't done nearly the amount of reading about my destinations that I'd hoped to do. Even worse, the few things I knew I wanted to jot down, I failed to, so while I have some key items, I know that the larger portion of the resources I'd hoped to assemble and bring along for our expedition are sitting at home. I feel like I've already missed a key stage of the trip. One thing I do know, even if I'd brought every resource with me, our time is limited and it's a certainty that no matter what we'll do, we won't get to everything.
That said, here I am on the plane, and we're on our way. I AM excited -- and completely confused about what time it is, where we physically are as we traverse the planet (though I suspect we're over the ocean somewhere), everything. My friend setsyoustraight is already in Paris, and we're looking forward to meeting her and her husband sometime during the coming week for a meal and a show of some sort. I'm also hoping we can meet up with mistymarshall; we'll be trying to coordinate when we hit the ground.
It still doesn't quite feel real. I've wanted to go to Europe for so long, but there was always somewhere more exotic to go -- which surely sounds like a rich girl's problem; I know. I'm well aware of the privilege that being able to make such a statement implies. At the same time, the unfamiliar had more appeal, so it was the MIddle East and Kenya and Japan before it was France. And now it's France -- and Lithuania and the Netherlands, these last two places I'd never even considered going before I started planning this trip. Well, that's not entirely true. As soon as skidspoppe moved to Eastern Europe, Lithuania became visible on the map of possibilities.
I've done some things differently for this trip, including using ironymaiden's backpack rather than my spinner and a smaller pack. I went back and forth and back and forth about it, and I'm still not convinced I made the right choice, though I certainly appreciated having the option. I have a feeling that I'd be questioning my choice if I'd gone the other way, too. I can see some advantages to the choice I've made -- and it's a fait accompli at this point. The only way to know in the end is to see how things go. It's nice having his reminder of her and Chris on the road with us.
If everything I've written thus far seems . . . dubious or restrained -- at least it feels that way to me -- I suspect it's partly because I'm tired as I'm writing, and partly because I'm bleeding off the stress of the last two weeks. I'll probably feel better when we're on the ground and we're proceeding into the actuality of the adventure. Right now I just feel the reality of being in the air -- between two worlds, unsure where I am, and waiting for the next stage.