On flying, Part 1: Prepare for take-off

When you live overseas in a place that’s not your “home,” it’s the strangest thing not to be able to fly. Or more accurately, strange, depressing and incredibly anxiety-raising. Air travel has been such an important part of our lives and now that we’re all staying indoors because of COVID-19, the difficult part for us, mentally and emotionally, is not so much being confined to our apartment but rather being unable to get to an airport.

When I was younger, flying always meant going on a vacation somewhere. It was always exciting getting to our destination, anticipating all the fun to be had, and always bittersweet on the way back, knowing the holiday had ended. When I started working in higher education meeting prospective international students and managing study abroad programs, flying became much more about business. Air travel became increasingly stressful, not only for the sheer number of flights but also for the reality of job demands, trip reports and the ever-dreaded expense reports. Still, there were good perks too: elite status on airlines and, when I got lucky, upgrades to business class, plus points to use at hotels & miles to use on tickets to help support family vacations, just as my dad had done for us through his work and countless transpacific flights. But since we started living overseas full-time from 2011, air travel has been much more about just one thing: getting home. Or in our case, homes.

Knowing we’re unable to get home to see our families and friends has been difficult, but it’s the uncertainty and not knowing when we can travel again to Japan and the US that’s really hitting us hard. For the past several years my son and I were able to return to Cincinnati to celebrate Easter with my family, but this year was certainly out of the question. We were also hoping to return to Nepal this spring to see my dear friend Bhesraj and meet his wife and new baby boy, along with so many other friends there. We’re now hoping to still go this fall if possible. And the summer holidays from school meant time to reunite with my wife’s family in Japan. Indeed the Olympics are postponed to 2021, but we are holding on to hope that we can get back to Japan this summer, and to the US too. Or at least by the end of the year. Only time will tell.

Since we can’t travel now, I thought it would be good (even a bit therapeutic) to reflect on air travel itself and our experiences over the years as we’ve traveled back and forth across oceans, mountains and time zones in an incredibly diverse number of aircraft. And I thought it would be good to break it up a bit, into three parts and therefore three different posts: In preparation for take-off, reaching cruising altitude, and in preparation for landing. So, ladies and gentlemen, in preparation for take-off, here’s a reflection on one of our experiences regularly taking off on flights in Nepal, where you could see an incredible panorama of the Himalayas and possibly Mt. Everest from your window…

Buddha Air, Biratnagar to Kathmandu

When we lived in the far eastern corner of Nepal, our journey to get home to either the US or Japan was an incredibly long and challenging one, and the first leg of every trip started on one airline: Buddha Air. Now I always felt a bit lucky to fly on a plane named after the Buddha; did you know that Buddha itself means “enlightened”? Well, Buddha Air wasn’t the only choice– there was also Yeti Airlines, named after the mystical creature that some call the abominable snowman! But Buddha Air was the airline approved by the UN office for travel so we always flew on Buddha. Irrespective of air safety records, the association with Buddha certainly brought more comfort than other companies including the now defunct Agni Air, which to us sounded a little too similar to agony…

Now to get to the closest airport from where we lived in Damak, we needed to arrange transportation in a UN vehicle to get us through the tea fields and towns along a bumpy highway to the city of Biratnagar (which in Nepalese means “big city”). As primarily an agricultural hub, there isn’t actually much of a big city feel to Biratnagar at all, and the small airport was essentially just one big room separated by a gender-segregated security lane and a long dark blue curtain. Regardless, from 2012 to 2104 when our son was still a toddler, this small airport (when open) was our gateway to Tribhuvan International Airport, in the capital city of Kathmandu, and to the rest of the world.

So now that we’ve made it to the airport, let me share a bit more about Buddha Air. I’m guessing many of you think of Buddha as large, pot bellied, and smiling, but Buddha Air has just 13 planes in its fleet, all turboprop aircraft (propeller planes), and the biggest of these seats just 70 passengers (and the occasional chicken or two). These miniature-looking planes, with their low ceilings, just immediately feel cozy (and very warm), and although we’ve since traveled on even smaller aircraft (a 6-seater to the island of Zanzibar!), it always felt like an adventure to fly on Buddha Air. In fact, in preparation for take-off, we were sometimes told to change seats in order to balance out the weight of the plane!! Not joking. It always made me smile when were told to do that, and it also made me pray a little bit harder too. 😁

Since our travel companion was a toddler at the time, it was always fun to watch him as we’d make our way from the terminal to the plane, and of course Kai got a lot of warm attention from fellow passengers and flight attendants alike. As soon as we would get him in his seat (we took turns sitting next to him since there were two seats to a row), Kai would start to fiddle with the buttons and gadgets like the tray tables and moveable air vents (as pictured above!) right before our departure. To a toddler this brings both joy and distraction, and I have to say that these moments helped reduce my own anxiety about those short flights, especially as I anticipated it to be fairly bumpy since it often was. It also helped distract me from the usual things that also raise my anxiety ever so slightly before departure such as the security announcement and, in particular aircraft like these, the buzzing sounds of the propellers that you pray will do their job perfectly for the duration of the flight, just like every other necessary plane part. The bottom line is, Kai’s carefree approach to flying helped me to relax and took my mind off of my fears more than I probably even realized back then.

Now fast forward to today, as our son judges the quality of a flight only on the quality of its in-flight entertainment system. A flight on Buddha Air or any aircraft without a screen immediately loses its appeal and results in an exasperated “How can this plane not have movies or games?!” 😅 That’s why of all the flights we’ve taken over the years as a global trio, I first thought about these flights when I decided to write this post; there’s a beautiful nostalgia to them already, and our son hasn’t even turned 10 yet.

I could go on about how beautiful the scenery was from the window seat, or how abrupt the landings were and how good it felt to finally and thankfully stop! But keeping to the theme of preparing to takeoff, I just wanted to end by reflecting on one more phrase that many of us hear before heading on a trip, or on a quick call before the flight attendant tells you that all portable devices must be turned off and stowed away and mobile phones must be switched to Airplane mode. And that phrase is, “Have a safe flight.” My dad always tells me this and I remember there was a time when I thought “well, I can’t do much about about the safety of my flight, but thanks dad!” But my dad spent his career in the aircraft engine business, and he knows an infinite amount more than I about all the intricate parts and processes that are entailed in flying safely from Point A to Point B. And with all this knowledge, he just wants my family and I to be safe, even if we personally have no control over it. So now, especially after I became a father myself, I realize that “Have a safe flight” really means… “I love you and I look forward to seeing you soon.”