Holy crap, I just boarded a plane for the UK, to be away from everything I know for 8 months… This is what I sit here thinking, as I fly towards London at over 400 miles/hour. I suppose the whole lead up to this trip, I knew what I was getting involved with, but it never really hit me. And now, on flight TS296 Halifax – Gatwick, it sinks in. You hear about people taking similar trips all the time. It sounds amazing, you want to do it yourself! Some wish they had the time to do it, some the money, some just the courage to leave everything secure and safe to just gallivant around a foreign continent for an extended period of time. Per haps I only had the gumption to undertake such a trip because I didn’t fully comprehend the scale of my undertaking, but now I am.
Sunrise from the plane over the Atlantic Ocean
But don’t take this to mean I am scared of what I have planned (or rather have decided and will haphazardly plan as I go). On the contrary, I am absolutely ecstatic to be on this plan, next to a friendly chap from Bristol and a lady whom I have yet to talk to as she reads through the Air Transat magazine about all the wonderful foreign places they can take you.
I realize I am getting some funny looks, perhaps it was something about conferring with the stewardess (steward politically correct these days?) before using electronics. Don’t worry folks, the wireless is off! I’m not going to bring down the plane. As far as I know, terrorists don’t keep blogs…not very long ones at least.
Oh dear, what a thing to type on a plane. Note to anyone planning any future transatlantic flights, if you fly Air Transat, bring your own entertainment! I haven’t seen a movie this old since I did driver training with movies where they still kicked the tires to assess the overall quality of the engine.
To any readers interested in technology, being a technophile myself, I will be inserting small parts about technology to help the traveler, what I find helps and hinders me as I go along. Maybe I’ll mark the section with something special so my parents know which section is guaranteed to induce boredom. Oh wait…so far I think it could be the whole ramblomatic entry I have written so far!
But for my first tech update… I realized the keyboard for the EeePC was just toooooo small. I found an Acer Aspire on sale at FutureShop for $259 + tax, and was highly impressed with the specs! With the new 1.6Ghz Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, an 8.9” screen, and a keyboard not too far off a typical laptop keyboard. My typing speed has increased, and my errors are far down from the Eee, making for an overall better experience, and at 1.1kg, it’s hard to dispute as the ideal electronic travel companion, and it isn’t bad on battery either. Without wireless, screen at minimum brightness, and 76% remaining I apparently have 2:40 remaining. Not bad, but wait for OLED screens on netbooks however, and you should expect to see 8-10 hours quite soon. Exciting prospects there! Well, if you’re a sucker for technology at least.
I suppose I should end this or add some real content, but there really isn’t much to update people on, except for the moment of “Holy #*%&” you get as you board the plane, leaving everything. It’s awesome! I would recommend it to anyone!
So ciao for now, I’ll update you when something good happens!
PS DEAR GOD…I JUST REALIZED I HAVE THE KICKING KID BEHIND ME…sighhhhh……………
Hi Dave! What a delight to be able to 'follow' you as you fly around the world by the seat of your pants. I hope you're out on your first adventure by now, drumming up things to report about on this blog.
ReplyDeleteCiao!
K
I conveniently realized today as I was in the library (I have no internet at my apartment) that you left and therefore would probably have written something vaguely entertaining in your blog. :) Just wanted to say bon voyage (should've said it as you were leaving) and also, you should tell the kicking kid off. :P
ReplyDeleteHaha, I didn't tell the kid off. The single mother had 3 youngns, I didn't have the heart to say anything, besides, the guilty party passed out sometime near the middle. I'm glad to have the medium to keep everyone updated at once. I apologise if things get too rambly from here on, I feel the compulsive need to get a lot of memories down, so see how the next one goes.
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