Drama on the Ground and Love in the Air

Proof that travel isn’t just about the destination

Photo by Author; graphic from Canva

I seem to attract drama whenever I travel down under. Two years ago, my Vancouver-bound flight was diverted to San Francisco because of a rare snowfall on the ‘wet coast’; a year later, my Auckland to Chicago trip did a 180 mid-Pacific and I flew 12 hours to nowhere.

With seven relatively uneventful flights already under my belt, I had my fingers crossed that I was going to avoid those travel demons. This time, we almost didn’t get off the ground — and when we did, a romantic connection was blooming.

It was a flight that I also won’t ever forget …

I could have done without the 40-minute queue to check in. I had started the process online, but the downside of having two passports is that it confuses airlines.

I had arrived in Australia using my New Zealand passport to avoid getting a Visa and to facilitate a quick trip across the ditch to see my bestie, but to leave for Doha, Qatar, I was using my Canadian one. Thus, the online check-in was incomplete and I had to join a rather long line since Sydney International has no self-kiosks. It’s about time you did, Sydney!

There was more confusion after security and passport control. Gate 24 was a new subdivision of Sydney Airport and still under construction, so access was restricted until boarding. The signage and intercom system weren’t fully operational rendering it unclear who was meant to be boarding at what time and in what lane.

En plus, there seemed to be a handful of elderly passengers requiring assistance to get onto the aircraft — and judging by the conversation I overheard, there weren’t enough people to help out.

I sat back and watched, knowing the plane wouldn’t go without me as it is too much trouble. Boarding was almost completed by the time I got to my seat, well before the scheduled departure time. I struck up a conversation with a lovely young Scottish girl who was in the middle seat, and the young Aussie bloke in the window seat was equally chatty.

We were so engrossed in conversation, none of us realised our departure time had passed yet the doors were still open. It was only when the captain announced we would be waiting another 20 minutes because of passenger issues that I noticed a swarm of airline personel surrounding an elderly lady who required assistance on the plane.

To cut a long story short, not one but two passengers were forced off the flight because of medical issues. They both happened to be sitting three rows apart in the same section I was in. The crew had repeatedly asked them to leave the aircraft but both were vocal and defiant, refusing to go.

Over an hour later, police boarded the aircraft. One tried to loudly negotiate with the man, but his tactic riled him up more than convincing him to co-operate and leave. He was literally dragged off shouting in Arabic all the way out.

It was another 20-minutes before they wheeled the other lady out, and then, the crew opened all the overhead bins near where those two were seated and asked everyone to identify their cabin baggage.

We finally got on our way minutes before the 11pm curfew was imposed in Sydney.

Left: The loud policeman negotiating with the elderly gentleman. Right: Crew and police trying to convince the lady to leave. Photos taken by Author

I continued conversing with my neighbours for the first three or so hours of the 15+ hour flight. The young man was a television reporter and journalist in small-town Australia, so I was interested in hearing about his everyday work and his aspiration to become a war correspondent.

It was also his first ever international flight — we decided a trip from Australia to New Zealand did not count! He was heading for two weeks in Italy to meet some of his idols in Perugia at the International Journalism Festival.

The Scottish girl — who didn’t get upset at me asking if she was Irish, which is akin to a Kiwi being called Australian — had been travelling between Brisbane and Melbourne for three weeks and was a financial researcher from Edinburgh.

We shared tidbits of our lives: his latest television report on a car chase and fire, her cousin's wedding and passion for the outdoors, and my daughter’s latest success as a fashion designer. He even asked to take a selfie with us two girls, which I thought was cute!

After the meal, I decided to watch a movie before attempting to sleep for the night flight. I noticed my two neighbours were still chatting away like long-lost friends. Hours went by and they were still talking. In between my fitful shut-eye time and my body fighting to find a comfortable sitting sleeping position, it was apparent the two were getting more cosy with each other.

They reminded me of my train guy journey; a forced encounter with a stranger for six hours between Montréal and Toronto last March. We hit it off and I never wanted that trip to end. I felt their connection and understood the excitement and incredulousness at having an attraction to an assigned neighbour. What are the odds?

I smiled as they kissed and fell asleep on each other. Aw! I also knew that as soon as the flight ended, they’d be heading on their separate ways.

The selfishness — or naïvity — of two elderly passengers impacted hundreds of people. They boarded an international long-haul flight with known medical conditions that could’ve caused trouble 40-thousand feet in the air. They delayed the departure of a flight holding up over 500 others, causing a headache for the airline and crew and authored a potential ripple effect of missed connections and financial losses.

While many passengers were getting irate with the delay — some were rescheduled onto this flight from the previous night after a mechanical malfunction grounded the plane — I was enjoying meeting two new people who I’ll likely never see again but who made an indelible mark on me. If it weren’t for them, my blood would have been boiling and my focus entirely on the negative.

Life doesn’t follow the easy route. If it did, we’d have nothing to talk about, no lessons to learn or moments to reflect on. Unexpected encounters and engaging moments are a reminder of its unpredictability and unknown possibilities, while travelling emphasizes the diversity and size of the world population and the magnitude of its geography.

I’ll never know the exact reason why two geriatric people were on the flight in the first place let alone what was wrong with them. Nor will I know if my two neighbours will continue to stay in touch and their random encounter amounts to something — or nothing like in my case with the train guy.

What I do know is that Ralph Waldo Emerson nailed life on the head with his quote “It’s not the destination but the journey.” This one leg of my eight-flight, six-week vacation was a reminder to push through setbacks as best you can, be considerate of others and live in the moment.

If you want to read about my two other major travel delays and the encounter with my train guy, here they are:

[embed]My Nightmare Trip Home From Aussie I’m still recovering — two weeks later!barbdalton-21201.medium.com

[embed]The Travel Demons Are Onto Me — Again. Not once, but twice, my homeward-bound trip from New Zealand has been severely interrupted.medium.com

[embed]Rejection is a Powerful Tool That Can Hinder — Or Heal Six hours with a stranger left an indelible mark on memedium.com