Day 2

My iPad says 7 pm, but I am not sure how long we have been in the air - I am guessing four hours, could be three. We are in a small segment of a 747-300 - I think of a caterpillar, with the head being the cockpit, the next modest-sized segment being first class, followed by a larger business class segment, followed by a smallish premium economy segment (where we are), and finally a large coach class segment. Ours is only half full. There are two comfortable seats on each side, and four seats across in the middle, which are mostly empty. They dimmed the lights and pulled the drapes that separate the sections closed an hour or so ago, so it’s as if we have a private cabin. (And there are no children in here.) (Though the woman in front of us has a bad cough.)

Most of my fellow passengers are watching something on their individual entertainment screens (I am watching season 3 of True Detective.) A few are sleeping. We have our own bathroom in here - which has both facial and hand creams. What’s really weird to me is that it is nowhere near bedtime, and yet it is darker in here than it ever is in our bedroom at home. It’s as if the crew wants everyone to be unable to ask for any more wine or cognac...

A female flight attendant came through a short while ago carrying a tray of “snacks” - none of which I recognized. She was followed by a male flight attendant pushing a cart of something warm with an appetizing smell past us and into business class :(.

I have moved into the aisle seat of a nearby empty row because the seat of the large man in front of me is fully reclined such that the entertainment screen is in my face.

On one of the screens that I can see from here, there is a simulation of the aircraft’s flight path, with an image of the plane passing over an image of the earth that looks like a globe. We are flying over the top of the earth! I wonder what emergency landing sights there are down there now? And I wonder about spending the next ten or so hours in this small dark cavern? If I take an Ambien and go to sleep this early (and there is no way I could fall asleep without one), then I will be awake in the middle of my normal night, and If I wait until my normal bedtime to take the pill, then I will be a sorry ass deplaning in Hong Kong at god knows what hour.

Seems likely that I will not get much sleep by the time we get to Bangkok. Though I suppose it’s possible that when we finally arrive at our hotel around 12:30 am local time, I will be ready for a solid night’s sleep. We purposely have nothing planned for Friday morning. I realize that this is a necessary (and somewhat magical) part of this kind of travel, and I have no complaints about our current accommodations (except for the absence of an opportunity to get another plastic cup of Courvoisier VSOP - I bet they serve VS in first class without one even having to ask). But I cannot deny the feeling of being trapped and totally untethered from my comfort zone. (How long does it take a ship to get from Baltimore to Hong Kong?)

 My attempt to sleep did not work until dinner was served around midnight. Took pill, slept hard, do not feel rested... now waiting for flight to Bangkok.