I remember when I was in Budapest, after four days or so I was ready to move on. I went to the station to get a ticket for the afternoon train. It was more than three hours late, so I went back to the hostel and stayed another day.

The next morning, i went back to the station and the train had come early. I went back to the hostel and stayed another day, this time going to the opera, eating a three-course meal, and wandering the city taking photos.

The third day, I went and it looked on time, so I bought a ticket and made my way to Czech Republic.

Sometimes, you need to wait. Sometimes, you change your plans.

Those lessons in being flexible are proving really useful on these super-long flights.

I survived the 30-hour commute to Kenya from Rochester. It was actually pretty easy.
The flights were on time, and i managed to find a Chipotle open at 7:45 a.m. for breakfast.

I’ve never been on a flight for 13 hours and thought (justifiably) that it would be hell, but it was actually pretty good. It helped that I was beyond exhausted, sleeping just 5 hours in three days prepping for 4 months on the road.

The Qatar Airways plane was HUGE. Nine people per row, and three sections of the plane. The stewardesses were actually helpful and nice. They plied me with tons of food. Even gave me Ben and Jerry’s and would wander by to see if I had enough water.

We were all packed up front, and when I finally gave up and asked the guy in the aisle to let me up to go pee, I saw that there was an entire section of the back that was dark, and empty. Like 100 seats.

They let me go back there with the other three or four exhausted or anti-social people, and I slept across three seats, stretched out, for a good 9 hours or so, waking up to eat lunch or breakfast and drink water. I got up when I wanted to, sat in the quiet, and then watched the new Muppets film.

Which was surprisingly awesome. We are back to the old-school, clever, fun Muppets. And Danny Trejo! I actually laughed out loud several times.

I arrived in Qatar, which is a very posh airport. I tried to write an email sitting in a lounge chair, in a part set off for relaxing, next to a big sculpture and island of Macs for people to use.

IT was also very quiet. Very very quiet. I wonder if people design airports and buildings so people are tempted to be quiet without thinking about it. I bet so. They arrange supermarkets so you buy what they want you to, why not build a building in which they do what you want them to.

The last leg was a full flight to Nairobi, but the 5.5 hours went by pretty quick.

I am good at forced patience.
I dont really have a lot, but when I need to - when the waiting is known and out of my control, I can stick with it and be sedate.

It is especially useful - and learned - while traveling, where you are in places where punctuality is not necessarily a given, or things go wrong …

I remember when I was in Budapest, after four days or so I was ready to move on. I went to the station to get a ticket for the afternoon train. It was more than three hours late, so I went back to the hostel and stayed another day.

The next morning, i went back to the station and the train had come early. I went back to the hostel and stayed another day, this time going to the opera, eating a three-course meal, and wandering the city taking photos.

The third day, I went and it looked on time, so I bought a ticket and made my way to Czech Republic.

Sometimes, you need to wait. Sometimes, you change your plans.

Those lessons in being flexible are proving really useful on these super-long flights.

I survived the 30-hour commute to Kenya from Rochester. It was actually pretty easy.
The flights were on time, and i managed to find a Chipotle open at 7:45 a.m. for breakfast.

I’ve never been on a flight for 13 hours and thought (justifiably) that it would be hell, but it was actually pretty good. It helped that I was beyond exhausted, sleeping just 5 hours in three days prepping for 4 months on the road.

The Qatar Airways plane was HUGE. Nine people per row, and three sections of the plane. The stewardesses were actually helpful and nice. They plied me with tons of food. Even gave me Ben and Jerry’s and would wander by to see if I had enough water.

We were all packed up front, and when I finally gave up and asked the guy in the aisle to let me up to go pee, I saw that there was an entire section of the back that was dark, and empty. Like 100 seats.

They let me go back there with the other three or four exhausted or anti-social people, and I slept across three seats, stretched out, for a good 9 hours or so, waking up to eat lunch or breakfast and drink water. I got up when I wanted to, sat in the quiet, and then watched the new Muppets film.

Which was surprisingly awesome. We are back to the old-school, clever, fun Muppets. And Danny Trejo! I actually laughed out loud several times.

I arrived in Qatar, which is a very posh airport. I tried to write an email sitting in a lounge chair, in a part set off for relaxing, next to a big sculpture and island of Macs for people to use.

IT was also very quiet. Very very quiet. I wonder if people design airports and buildings so people are tempted to be quiet without thinking about it. I bet so. They arrange supermarkets so you buy what they want you to, why not build a building in which they do what you want them to.

The last leg was a full flight to Nairobi, but the 5.5 hours went by pretty quick.

I am good at forced patience.
I dont really have a lot, but when I need to - when the waiting is known and out of my control, I can stick with it and be sedate.

It is especially useful - and learned - while traveling, where you are in places where punctuality is not necessarily a given, or things go wrong …