Why I Love Fifteen-Hour Flights

In the past two and a half years, I’ve been on a lot of flights. While all the layovers, turbulence, and security checkpoints can be exhausting, somehow I always end up sitting next to awesome, interesting people that make the experience worth it. My seatmates end up spilling out their life stories to me, probably because I look super innocent and they recognize that we are stuck together in a 3x6ft space for hours on end. Some of my recent seatmates have included:

-an American Air Force pilot who flies Black Hawk helicopters in Tokyo, transporting celebrities like John McCain around Japan

-a Tibetan monk returning from teaching meditation classes in South America. He told me the story of his childhood living with nine siblings in the mountains of east Tibet, living as nomadic goat herders in tents, and he invited me to visit them next year.

-a Bulgarian who runs a party hostel on the coast of the Black Sea, returning to Europe after a stint as a lifeguard on the Jersey Shore