Plans change! Rose, my great
friend & travel buddy is unable to go to Thailand until 2017. Well, that
will be too late for me! By then, I hope to be living either there or in South
America. Thankfully our 2015 trip to Ecuador is still on.
I’m disappointed, but that’s
life and stuff happens. A part of me felt stranded up a frozen creek without a
flamethrower. However, her reasons for doing this are valid.
But there is no reason why I
can’t go to Thailand, alone! Back in my 20’s I used to travel the world by
myself all the time. So, I’ve already booked a flight for early 2016 and put a
deposit down. I am determined to go!
Long decades have passed
since I last traveled alone, but it’s something that I’ve always missed. Getting
my wings chopped, plus the fact that no one would hire me, and I couldn’t get
published, contributed to decades of severe depression along with other
disorders.
But I’ve lived in postcard
towns on the Treasure Coast my entire life, others swarm here for vacation. So
I really have no right to complain.
After my father’s death,
friends confessed they thought the first thing I’d do was take an exotic trip.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that and maintain this beautiful house, both. My
home came first! I fell in love with this place the first time I stepped thru
the door. It will be wrenching to give up this house.
From what I hear, air travel
is more of an ordeal than during the 1970’s, and things rarely went smoothly
back then! It’s awful enough there are dangerous ding-a-ling terrorists, now we
have to worry about cuckoo co-pilots in the cockpit, too!
I’ll be flying Arab Emirates
Airlines out of Orlando. It will be a 16 hour trip to Dubai for a 3 hour
layover. Then it’s another 6 hours to Bangkok. A day & night each way stuck
in a 17 inch Economy Class seat! I’m getting air sick just thinking about it.
Egads, and they’ve shrunken
the seats, too! Ugh! Since I’m claustrophobic I’d better bone-up on my
autohypnosis. The Ecuador trip comes first and Rose doesn’t take up a lot of
seat space. Plus it’s a far shorter flight!
Odds are that on the lengthy
Orlando to Dubai flight I’ll have to climb over 2 passengers who are built like
giant bloated toads from Disneyland! -- I had my seats changed. Now, I’ll only
have to jump over 1 bloated toad. You would think they’d give International
travelers a break and provide more comfortable seats for long flights. But no,
that would interfere too much with their bottom line.
The longest I’ve ever been
on a plane was my 14 hour trip to the Soviet Union when communism was in full flower
back in 1979. However on that trip, there were 2 layovers to break up the
monotony and stretch the legs. Plus I’m a lot older now.
Due to my age, I’m at risk
for deep vein thrombosis, (the formation of a blood clot in the legs from
inactivity) this can lead to pulmonary embolism which can be fatal.
I already suffer from an
occasional touch of neuropathy. The best way to describe that is to imagine a
mischievous elf under your desk placing your foot in a tray of hot coals. The
sensation is brief, but it really wakes you up. (Oooh kiddies you get lots of
cool medical conditions when you get old like me!) After I move to a country
where I can actually afford the health care, I’ll have my neuropathy looked
into further.
I plan on doing exercises in
my seat like lifting my knees to my chin one at a time. Also I’ll get up at
regular intervals and go to the back of the plane and walk in place for 15
minutes.
I’ve read that women flying
alone these days are more subject to sexual harassment than ever before. I’m
hoping my new granny hair will dissuade any perverts. However if I’m seated
next to someone with a senior fetish, I intend to make a scene. And believe me,
my voice carries!
I didn’t want an aisle seat
because I hate being jabbed in the head by elbows or being slapped in the face
with carry-on luggage. A middle seat is the worst of all! You’re squashed like
a marshmallow inside a toad s’more, plus you’re constantly battling the people
on both sides for an arm rest.
I’ve heard it said that
life’s journeys are to be treasured and not the destination. Oh really!!! I’m excited and looking forward to seeing Thailand, but I am dreading this lengthy
flight.
At least I’m not booked on
Air Malaysia. Yikes, I could end up in a parallel universe!
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