Let me tell you a story

Waking up to a beautiful morning in Budapest last Wednesday

Turbulence at 30,000 feet in the air

I woke up to a beautiful morning at 530am in Budapest last Wednesday and made my way to the airport, checked in, cleared security and managed to squeeze in breakfast (overpriced, but what choice do you have at airports) without any hassles. However, by the time my flight finally left for Warsaw (my connection to Toronto) at 10am when it was supposed to leave at 9am, the sky was overcast and very grey with the rain beginning to pour down heavily.

I wasn’t too worried at this point, until I realized there could not have been more than 20 people on the flight to Warsaw from Budapest which meant that we were most likely taking a much smaller plane. Hence the delay.

Now, there are only two things in life that I am absolutely petrified of: 1) heights (acrophobia) and 2) tight spaces (claustrophobia).

The plane itself was a much smaller plane than I am usually comfortable with, seating no more than 30 people, even though I am really not the type to be scared of flying having taken over a dozen or so flights to various cities this past year alone. The plane to Warsaw seemed fairly old to me, or perhaps, it was simply its design since the plane had these very large, not to mention extremely loud rotator propellors on its wings reminding me of commercial planes back in the 1960′s and 70′s.

As we were flying out of Budapest and right through the storm, there were times when I felt the propellors were going to stop working altogether since the turbulence up in the air was so bad. If it weren’t for the seat belts, Im sure everyone on the plane would have been tossed around  like rag dolls in the airplane cabin. People were beginning to take out the air sickness bags for potential use and I was quite afraid that I would be meeting my breakfast for the second time again.

Needless to say, we made it through just fine. Somewhere in the middle of the flight, the storm clouds cleared and we were on the path to smooth sailing towards Warsaw.

This particular flight most certainly ranks as one of the worst flight experiences in my life where for the first time in a long time, I actually thought that was it. You know what I mean?

The long-haul flight to Toronto from Warsaw was fairly uneventful although it was longer than I expected, taking close to 9 hours to get to Pearson International Airport. There were a lot of crying babies and toddlers on board but I must have been really tired as I slept through most of it, only waking up to eat when lunch and dinner was being served.

That said, nothing could have prepared me for the heatwave that gripped Toronto for the better part of last week. Despite the heat however, it has been good to be back in Canada and to reconnect with a lot of old friends, colleagues and mentors.

Cherish every day, live for every moment. Damn it feels good to be alive.

Storm clouds in the distance as seen from Budapest Airport

Loud rotator propellors + rain (storm clouds) = not good

Up 30,000 feet in the air, this is how the photo came out on my iPhone

With my feet up in Warsaw airport waiting to board my flight to Toronto

So good to see you, Toronto

Sunset over the Danforth in Toronto