Cabin Fever

I think it's perfect that the inside of an airplane is called the Cabin. It allows me to not have to come up with a new word to describe what I felt after 30+ hours of travel from Burlington to Thailand. My first flight, 3 or so hours from VT to Detroit was great. A 5 hour layover in Detroit, not bad. Then the 12+ hour flight to Tokyo being on a plane where I was not only one of the VERY few non-asians but also taller by many inches. The best part of that flight was that one option for breakfast was fried rice with teriyaki chicken...and the majority of the people around me chose that over the omelette. At this point I was doing ok with the flights. Had some wine, took an ambien, made some notes on what we wanted to check out in Thailand. Then a few hours in the Tokyo airport. I figured there would be some good shopping at least, since Tokyo is such a consumer driven city but alas, nothing exciting minus the cool modern, underlit chairs. The Japanese has a strange lack of body-space concept. I was lounging on one of these cool low couch type things, reading and then suddenly felt my space totally invaded. I look up and sure enough 3 people had decided there was plenty of space to join up. So much for giving my legs room to stretch. Back on another flight...6+ hours from Tokyo to Bangkok with a man behind me that constantly bumped and pushed and kneed the back of my chair. It was at this point that Cabin Fever sunk in. I thought I was going to go mad...another minute in an airplane, I almost lost it. I literally almost stood up and scolded the man behind me but realized after hearing him talk in an excessively loud voice to the flight attendant that it would do no good. Patience. Counting backwards from 10. Going to my happy place. It is the only time I've ever felt suffocated in a plane...and it was bad. Then the procession to the forever long immigration line in the swelteringly hot terminal. I couldn't wait to walk into our fancy Bangkok hotel, hug my sister, take a shower and pass out. 

Day 1 in Thailand has begun! We are about to take the SkyTrain down to the river, catch boats up along the river and check out some of the amazing Wat's and other beautiful, historic, tourist spots. Not to mention seeking out our first bit of Thai food. I am looking forward to totally over-eating Thai food while here. Mmmmmm. 

One night in Bangkok....