Los Angeles to Austin to Ft. Lauderdale to Long Island

As I sit in a chair in the sky (think about how amazing that is) over the Atlantic Ocean headed for Long Island, I'm trying to wrap my mind around how many firsts I've encountered today. I don't get to travel much, so everything still strikes me as novelty. Travelling in an airplane over these vast distances ends up being sort of a poorman's teleportation. One moment I'm looking out the window at my house and then a few hills and clouds later I'm looking out at a raging storm from the terminal in Austin, Texas--a place and state I've never been before. I'm pretty convinced there's some secret-ass network of wormholes between these clouds since when the ground is visible, everything seems to creep by relatively slowly. Anyhow, arriving in Florida was particularly surreal given it marks not only a place I've never been before, but the furthest I've ever been from home. I of course knew both of these things beforehand, but having heard about a place my whole life but never actually seeing it makes for an odd experience when it's as plainly in front of me as Los Angeles was this morning. It's hard to grasp you are actually where you are. Anyway all of this is tremendously exciting to me--even now I can look out the window at the lights of the east coast; a place that always seemed so far removed (mainly because I guess it actually was) from my life.

On a more stuff that's actually happened level, the flights have been fairly uneventful exxxxxcept for the flight attendant literally making the panicked announcement "is there a doctor on board??" on the way to Florida. Felt very sorry for whoever was having a tough time but also couldn't seem to shake scenes from 'Airplane' out of my head. Ft. Lauderdale airport itself is hilariously decorated with a mural of local neighborhoods that appears to be composited from Google Street View. Since Florida I've spent some time on the plane reading Kerouac's "On The Road," lent to me by my friend Renae who took the exact opposite of my current trip several weeks ago. The combination of this, the clam chowder which I am somehow smelling, and the anticipation of the journey ahead is making this a downright magical evening. I feel like I'm about to live out some essential American coming-of-age story. What a goodass idea. I'd thank Max again but he's somehow asleep. I hope New York is kind of like Sesame Street.


My house from the air! Fancy that!