Hey Y’all! I hope your week went really well…and if it did not, at least you made it to Friday and hopefully you can get some time off to rest, re-evaluate and do better next week. I will be talking about something I love to do but don’t get a chance to do so as often as I would like because its so expensive and very time consuming.

Travelling!!

I find flying pretty interesting because not only do I get good views sitting by the window (a must have) but also the fact that you’re literally trapped sitting next to a complete stranger for the duration of the flight.  😀 In my mind, it can only go two ways and I’m going to explain in a minute what I mean. There are basically two kinds of people you sit next to on any given trip and I’m going to breakdown their categories based on my own travel experiences which have been quite a few over the years. There have been trips where I have exhibited traits from both categories, so its nothing to castigate yourself over if you are guilty of either or all..ha ha!

The Sunny Side Up People:  A smile comes easy to these individuals. They’re eager to indulge in a little chit chat. I like to call it ‘testing the waters’, and if you’re receptive enough, it could be an interesting conversation, shared travel experiences, family photo swaps and nice places to check out – that is if you are intrigued by strangers; or it could be a barrage of non stop chatter if you just want to nap or finish that chapter you’ve been putting off for over 2 months.

The Occupied/Preoccupied/Work Centric People: These individuals are curt and they may not always mean to come across as rude, stoic, aloof or snobbish but they might have so much going on ‘head space wise’ that this might be the only quiet moment they’ve had to themselves in a while.

One Particular Trip

I was heading out to visit my family. I had just boarded and had settled in. The weather was nice so the probability of turbulence was next to nil. I was finally going to finish reading the last few chapters of my book! Things were looking good. 😀 Not long as more people came on-board, I see a woman walk right up to my row with a little boy (who I got to know was 7 years old and heading out to visit his cousins for a couple of days) and after exchanging a few pleasantries while stowing their bags away, they settled in. We took off and had stopped climbing (phew) and so I decided to pick up my Kindle and start reading. I can almost swear 2 mins hadn’t gone by when i heard the question ‘whata ya reading’? I turn to look into two intense brown eyes trying to peer into the screen of my device. I smiled, put it down and tried to explain the story-line in a summarized version that a 7 year old could understand. After I was done, he seemed to give it a thought for a few seconds then he nodded his head and was quiet so I went back to reading.

I kid you not 3 mins don’t go by and the next thing I hear is ‘why are ya reading’? I look up and at his Mum who gives me an apologetic ‘my son is curious about you and you don’t have a snowballs chance in hell until he gets all his questions answered’ look. So I smile (a happy but strained smile) and I tell him ‘I like to read when I’m not working’. Guess what the next question I was asked was…you got it! ‘What do you do’? At this point, I turned off my device and put it in my bag (I had resigned to fate that those few chapters would have to wait for the return trip :D) and I again do my best to break it down in the easiest way for him to understand. His eyes light up as he very proudly told me how he loved to draw and got his Mum to bring out his coloring book from his backpack in the overhead storage to show me some of his drawings and colors.

I don’t exactly remember how we transitioned to me drawing pictures of every and anything he could think of but that’s what ended up happening 😀 I drew everything from bicycles, planes, sunsets, to comic heroes I didn’t  even know existed (that’s how you know you’re getting old 😀 ). It turned out to be so much fun we were getting interesting looks and smiles from a few of the passengers sitting close enough to hear our conversation. By the time the trip was over, I was very happy to hear him say ‘Aah-Ki-Tects were kinda cool’ and he would want to be one some day. I had just won a new convert…ha ha!

Bottom Line: Some doors in life will only open not because you will them to but because you don’t give up knocking. Happy Cinco De Mayo guys!! Until I come your way again, I remain

Periwinkle Starr