Do you enjoy traveling? Then you might not want to travel with me.
For me, travel is: Going through the immigration process, security, getting to and from the airport, and trying to figure out where in the hell I am going.
And I write this in a good mood because TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee and TNKR staff made all of the arrangements.
***
I have arrived in Cambridge. I was off the grid for 14 hours.
* No Internet
* No phone
* No messages
* No computer
* No video games
Remarkably, no homicides.
***
Because of time zones, it seems that November 10, 2019, has been a very long.
South Korea, November 10, 2019
* 5 AM, woke up
* 6:45 AM, arrived at Incheon airport
* 9 AM, plane took off
14 hours of barely sleeping
USA, November 10, 2019
* 10 AM, arrived in Boston
* 1 PM, went to sleep in Cambridge
* 10 PM, woke up in Cambridge, it was still November 10
Can anyone do the math to figure out how long I have been awake and asleep on November 10, 2019? I feel like I have done some time traveling, and wonder if I could bump into myself in another time dimension.
Not only is it "5 o'clock somewhere," but it is November 10, 2019 wherever I am.
**
Yes, I can live without a computer or Instant Messages, so I hope drive-by commentators won't try to come up with deep analysis about this or talk about how people can't survive without mobile devices.
l love to read, write, talk, sing, dance. I can live without checking messages--but can drive-by commentators recognize that the context is different when I am at home with many options compared to when I am squeezed into a seat for 14 hours with few options to do other things? If I could have played the Madden video game for 14 hours, I also would not have slept on the plane, but I would have had a wonderful time and would be posting about how refreshed I feel.
***
The plane landed. I applauded.
It isn't because I spent the last 14 hours squeezed into a seat, unable to check the Internet or messages, having to get the other guy to move when I wanted to go to bathroom, didn't bring a book because anyway others frown with the overhead light on so you can read, etc., but because I still celebrate that humans can fly airplanes. People will celebrate someone dunking a basketball, kicking a soccer ball into a net or posting a puppy video on the Internet.
Humans taking a huge piece of metal thousands of miles in the sky with enough oil to get it done staffed by people who do their best to pretend they like you? Yes, I applaud when we land. So far, in all the years I have applauded when the plane landed, only one person has ever joined me--she was probably eight years old.
Yes, it is a wonderful thing that humans engage in flying across the world--but that doesn't mean I will enjoy every moment. But it is certainly better than taking a boat, although I at least would be to be on the grid and might even be able to play Madden.
***
Immigration is more efficient than in the past. I used to get bothered by immigration, I used to give yes/no answers. Now I realize they are probably bored at their jobs, so I chat them up, even tell them about TNKR. I know they aren't interested, they may ask 100 people or more per day about why they are coming in or about where they are coming from. When I chat them up? They are usually trying to cut me off so they can get to the next person.
***
Baggage claim--my bag looks a bit different from everyone else's bags, so I can usually identify it easily. Still, I am thinking about getting a customized bag, maybe point it gold at the top, purple at the bottom. Even better, have my face on both sides of the bag. So not only would people be unlikely to walk off with my bag, but they'll pointing to me, "Hey, sir, I think that is your bag!"
For me, travel is: Going through the immigration process, security, getting to and from the airport, and trying to figure out where in the hell I am going.
And I write this in a good mood because TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee and TNKR staff made all of the arrangements.
***
I have arrived in Cambridge. I was off the grid for 14 hours.
* No Internet
* No phone
* No messages
* No computer
* No video games
Remarkably, no homicides.
***
Because of time zones, it seems that November 10, 2019, has been a very long.
South Korea, November 10, 2019
* 5 AM, woke up
* 6:45 AM, arrived at Incheon airport
* 9 AM, plane took off
14 hours of barely sleeping
USA, November 10, 2019
* 10 AM, arrived in Boston
* 1 PM, went to sleep in Cambridge
* 10 PM, woke up in Cambridge, it was still November 10
Can anyone do the math to figure out how long I have been awake and asleep on November 10, 2019? I feel like I have done some time traveling, and wonder if I could bump into myself in another time dimension.
Not only is it "5 o'clock somewhere," but it is November 10, 2019 wherever I am.
**
Yes, I can live without a computer or Instant Messages, so I hope drive-by commentators won't try to come up with deep analysis about this or talk about how people can't survive without mobile devices.
l love to read, write, talk, sing, dance. I can live without checking messages--but can drive-by commentators recognize that the context is different when I am at home with many options compared to when I am squeezed into a seat for 14 hours with few options to do other things? If I could have played the Madden video game for 14 hours, I also would not have slept on the plane, but I would have had a wonderful time and would be posting about how refreshed I feel.
***
The plane landed. I applauded.
It isn't because I spent the last 14 hours squeezed into a seat, unable to check the Internet or messages, having to get the other guy to move when I wanted to go to bathroom, didn't bring a book because anyway others frown with the overhead light on so you can read, etc., but because I still celebrate that humans can fly airplanes. People will celebrate someone dunking a basketball, kicking a soccer ball into a net or posting a puppy video on the Internet.
Humans taking a huge piece of metal thousands of miles in the sky with enough oil to get it done staffed by people who do their best to pretend they like you? Yes, I applaud when we land. So far, in all the years I have applauded when the plane landed, only one person has ever joined me--she was probably eight years old.
Yes, it is a wonderful thing that humans engage in flying across the world--but that doesn't mean I will enjoy every moment. But it is certainly better than taking a boat, although I at least would be to be on the grid and might even be able to play Madden.
***
Immigration is more efficient than in the past. I used to get bothered by immigration, I used to give yes/no answers. Now I realize they are probably bored at their jobs, so I chat them up, even tell them about TNKR. I know they aren't interested, they may ask 100 people or more per day about why they are coming in or about where they are coming from. When I chat them up? They are usually trying to cut me off so they can get to the next person.
***
Baggage claim--my bag looks a bit different from everyone else's bags, so I can usually identify it easily. Still, I am thinking about getting a customized bag, maybe point it gold at the top, purple at the bottom. Even better, have my face on both sides of the bag. So not only would people be unlikely to walk off with my bag, but they'll pointing to me, "Hey, sir, I think that is your bag!"