Tomorrow I fly for the first time in my life

[melancholy]

If you don’t hear from me again and/or you hear of some devastating plane crash in the US, you will know what happened to me.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Good luck! Have fun.

I haven't been on a plane since I was 5.

[melancholy]

It should be fun (going to the Grand Canyon), but this getting up at 4am to get ready for our 6:30am flight is not.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Yes, that's a bit early.

The Grand Canyon should be very cool to visit.

[ian]

Let us know when you get back if you're a nervous flyer.
Also have a good trip out of the air.

Check in times even here are stupid. Ditto safety lectures, and all the other crap.
It's under an hour from Melbourne to Sydney or Adelaide in the air. 6 hour trip from out the front door of home to off the plane. And 2 hours 20 in the plane.

[Manoel]

If you don’t hear from me again and/or you hear of some devastating plane crash in the US, you will know what happened to me.

I'm really thankful for having had your friendship over the years, despite me being not a close friend. You'll really helped me with that silly Transformers stuff, and I still have the postage papers to remember you. Good luck with the travel, Brandon.

[melancholy]

I didn’t die. And the Grand Canyon is nuts. Like, it’s indescribable how vast it is.

[melancholy]

We are in the desert. It is a downpour here and we are completely soaked. In the desert.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

That sounds cool though. Assuming it's not cold.

[Roofus]

I haven't been following the thread. is melancholy still alive?

[melancholy]

I haven't been following the thread. is melancholy still alive?

For now, but I have one more chance to change that with the flight back Friday.

[Bandit]

I miss flying before the TSA bullshit. Nothing mattered back then. My brother was once asked "Have you been in control of your luggage the whole time?" And my brother, being a smart ass teenager says "Actually this guy in a turban told me he needed me to take this on the plane" and she laughed and just said "Don't say that!" That was July 2001. In this era he'd be taken to the back to be strip searched and squat and cough over a mirror.

[melancholy]

I’m back and I survived. It was an awesome vacation, one I will never get to do again.

I miss flying before the TSA bullshit. Nothing mattered back then. My brother was once asked "Have you been in control of your luggage the whole time?" And my brother, being a smart ass teenager says "Actually this guy in a turban told me he needed me to take this on the plane" and she laughed and just said "Don't say that!" That was July 2001. In this era he'd be taken to the back to be strip searched and squat and cough over a mirror.

TSA is so easy when you have children. They still have you run your bags through a scanner, but once they saw my daughter they told us to go out the side gate, bypassing the entire security scan. The second airport we didn’t even have to remove our shoes, they were just like ‘oh you have kids, you’re good.’

[ian]

And how did you find flying? Were you excited to do it? Or shitting yourself the entire time?

[melancholy]

And how did you find flying? Were you excited to do it? Or shitting yourself the entire time?

It was fine. Taking off and landing sucks because it’s so shaky and your ears are popping, but once you are above the clouds it’s fine. I stared out the window both flights (unless there were clouds, then I read a book).

[ian]

The views are great, especially if it's a clear day, so glad you enjoyed your flights.

It's funny you mention the takeoffs and landings being shaky because everytime I fly in a plane I am actually calm at how smooth and comfortable and quiet and nice everything is. Even the bumpiest flight in a plane was great compared to my first times flying. My first 2 times flying were in helicopters.

And aside from the noise being horrible, just the way they move is so much more... Vicious.
In planes (even smaller commercial ones) it's like this slight sensation... Oh the nose is slowly going up, or were listing lazily from side to side and turning really quickly. But in the helicopters, it's more sort of oh, we have to turn slightly to the left? OH FUCK, WE'RE INSTANTLY tilted 40 DEGREES and all I can see out one window is ground and the other window sky.
Or a slight breeze knocks you back 5 degrees.

I don't think I'd ever willingly get in a helicopter ever again, but I'd be happy to get on even a small plane again if finances ever allowed it.

[pixel]

In-flight entertainment has definitely improved. I took my first flight in 2002 and I might've had a Gameboy and a CD player. Not bad but it was pretty uncomfortable to see that dot matrix display. Nowadays there's live TV and streaming in every seat. These type of clips are nice to have to do some gaming midflight. Noise-cancelling headphones make a big difference too.

I took an overnight flight once and that was hell. I tried using earplugs, sleep mask, and a hoodie to completely shut everything out.

[ian]

In-flight entertainment has definitely improved. I took my first flight in 2002 and I might've had a Gameboy and a CD player. Not bad but it was pretty uncomfortable to see that dot matrix display. Nowadays there's live TV and streaming in every seat. These type of clips are nice to have to do some gaming midflight. Noise-cancelling headphones make a big difference too.

I took an overnight flight once and that was hell. I tried using earplugs, sleep mask, and a hoodie to completely shut everything out.

If you had a wormlight, or a sibling with a torch a Gameboy and tetris was all you ever needed for night time travel.

An overnight flight sounds like hell. I couldn't imagine trying to sleep on a plane, even if it was fitted with a king size waterbed in a soundproof chamber.
I imagine it's easy to sleep on a plane if you're a hobbit under 5 foot and weigh less than like 100 pounds, but for anyone even slightly tall or fat being in a plane for more than sort of 5 hours has gotta be shit.