"Don't tell me to calm down, cause I won't calm down!"
--Irritated customer at an Internet cafe in central London
Life is flippin' glorious. Plane rides are even better.
There's a stage that every frequent flyer must come to in life-- that stage is the "Why the fuck do I do this to myself stage?" This is the point where one questions if 6 or more hours in an airplane is worth any experience that may occur at the intended destination.
This point is significant and analogous to the "Couldn't I have done this at home for cheaper?" mentality. As a wise guy once said, "Travel is great. You leave home, spend a lot of money, get pissed off and annoyed at everything, and then can't wait to go back home."
There is another aspect to travel, however. This is the "I've fallen in love with this place and want to live here forever" mode. This mode is much like puppy love-- you think it's the real thing; and then years later, you realize how stupid you were.
These comments may appear unjust. World travel is wonderful. Exposes you to all kinds of people, idiosyncracies, vocabularies, foods. For some reason, MacDonald's tastes a lot better abroad.
--KLC, London
1:32AM, 12/20/00 or 20/12/00