Flight attendants are now demonstrating how to fasten and unfasten your seatbelt

The call to prayer is echoing through the Dubai airport, and I have chosen to pray for the surprisingly large numbers of clueless travelers wandering the planet. I’m no fool - I know that I travel much more than the average person and have the benefit of years of learning experiences. Only recently, however, have I come to realize that there are some people out there that are truly incapable of figuring out the most basic elements of travel.

On my way from Amman to Doha, I was boarding my Qatar Airways flight when three very small, very pushy Indonesian ladies were trying to force their way past me onto the plane. One particularly scrawny one kept trying to squeeze past me pushing my backpack from side to side in the process. I was severely annoyed and purposely blocked her every move. Once on board, it turned out we were all sitting together in the same row…joy. I’m not sure how exactly the girls made it from Indonesia to Jordan, but it appeared as though they had never been on a plane before in their lives. They repeatedly tried to fasten their seatbelts backwards and could not figure out why it wasn’t working. Once I showed them how the seatbelts worked, we started for takeoff. One tiny bump while climbing to cruising altitude, and the girls covered their faces in fear. When the flight attendants came around with food and beverages, the girls pushed the seats in front of them repeatedly expecting the tray to drop down - I showed them how the trays work as well. After the meal, the gentleman in front of the girl in the window seat decided to recline his seat. It came back suddenly, and the girl screamed and put her hands in a defensive position. When one of them wanted to get up to use the restroom, I had to once again demonstrate how to unbuckle the seat belts because just trying to stand up wasn’t working. When we landed, I let the girls get in front of me so that they could push and annoy someone else.

Finally, I understand why they demonstrate how to fasten and unfasten seatbelts in the airplane safety announcements. I was amazed by this random case of total unawareness, but it appears not to be an isolated case. Flying this morning from Doha to Dubai, an Indian fellow seated next to me had already successfully fastened his seatbelt (upside down), but he decided he wanted out. He started rubbing and pulling on the belt buckle. His efforts gradually became more and more frantic as he feared that he had strapped himself to the seat for life. I tapped him on the shoulder and showed him how to release the buckle. He repeated my actions and breathed a sigh of relief… then he put the belt back on, upside down again.

I was also amazed by the way some of the Arab passengers would outright ignore the requests of the flight attendants to do things like sit down, fasten their seatbelts, make sure their children were safely seated, move their purses, open their window shades, etc, etc… It’s amazing how little some people care. It was somewhat amusing to look around the plane at the number of passengers using airsick bags to pack away parts of their meals for later.

I’ll have to admit that I’ve also become a bit of a germophobe thanks to the media and the outbreak of H1N1. I have become painfully aware of every cough, sneeze and sniffle on the plane. A passenger a few rows back on one of my flights vomited during landing, and the flight attendant came by to ask all of the questions I was wondering. Is he just airsick? Has he been sick before flying? Does he have a fever? Unfortunately, he and his friends didn’t speak a word of English, so I guess we’ll never know.

Traveling isn’t easy anymore, and for some people it appears to be even more difficult than one might expect. I try to remind myself, though, that as annoying as the ignorant might be, with a little help, they might learn to be a little bit more pleasant.

Entering the Blogosphere

In less than a week, I will be on my way around the world again. The trip will take me almost three months, and I will be visiting at least 17 countries along the way. I'm sure I'll have the usual stories and adventures to share along the way, but it's just too difficult to keep up with everyone's email addresses anymore, and someone always gets inadvertently left out. For this reason, and this reason alone, I have finally thrown in the towel and started a blog.

I am not a blogger by choice, rather convenience. This whole concept, while sometimes interesting and fun to follow, is just a little too trendy for me. I've always felt my time would be better spent writing a book and selling it than spewing stories into the bottomless pit of cyberspace. That said, I tend to like my friends and family, and for some reason they like to keep track of me when I'm wandering around the planet. Posting on this thing will be much more efficient than sending out emails.

Don't expect me to post something everyday - I don't even know if I'll have easy access to the internet in many locations. I'll post when I feel like it and I can, so deal with it. I'll do my best to make sure I share when something particularly entertaining happens.

So, why exactly am I spending my summer traveling, when I really shouldn't be spending the money? School - that's why. On August 12th, I will be starting law school, a three year commitment that will severely limit my travel opportunities. For the last four years, I have been running my own business organizing tours in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. It's been fun, it's been a learning experience, and it's been a great excuse to travel on a regular basis to far off places. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not done with the travel business. It's just on hiatus while I pursue other ambitions. Being in school full-time precludes me from hopping on the Lufthansa flight to Munich whenever a good fare pops up, so I'm going to do my best to get as much traveling out of my system this summer as possible. Envy may make some dislike me for the journey I'm about to have, but alas... I don't care. Traveling keeps me sane (as sane as I get), and I'm thrilled to be visiting new places, meeting new people, trying new things, and over the next few months, I'll try to share some of those experiences and what they really mean for me.