New York Dash and Flight

So we landed at JFK airport in NY for a 2 ½ hour layover. It was lunch time so we hit Chili’s for a sandwich and then meandered through the duty free shops for awhile. It was 40 minutes before the flight left and typically boarding starts 20-30 minutes prior to departure time, so we had plenty of time to make a restroom stop before boarding the plane…..or so we thought.


We are washing our hands and I hear our names paged over the airport as last call or something to that effect. So Beth and I make a dash to the gate, along with several other people, because they wanted to view our passports one more time at the gate before we boarded the plane. So we hustle on, get our stuff crammed overhead, plop in out seats feeling flustered, out of breath and rushed only to look at each other and laugh. Oh yes, this was definitely shaping up to be an eventful trip. Then of course we sit on the plane for 30 minutes before it takes off!

I drew the short straw and had to sit by a man with TERRIBLE body odor for the 9 hour flight! At first I honestly did not know if I could sit there, at this point I was gagging a bit, and was keeping my eye on an empty seat across the aisle in case I could make a dive for it. No such luck, a lady occupied the seats just minutes before we left. Darn those late boarders, giving us poor souls in undesirable seats false hope. So I’m whining about the smell, of course, and say that after a few hours we can switch seats to give me a break but my dear sweet sister wasn’t buying it. My only chance for survival was to fall asleep.

As we were waiting to take off, we noticed a large group of college aged folks sitting around us, and I asked them what there were going to Russia for. There were two separate college groups on mission trips to the orphanages in Russia. What a coincidence and I tell them that I am going over to adopt. So these two charming gals asked a few questions, were very interested, and we chatted for a bit. During the long flight, as we took “standing breaks” in the restroom/food area, we heard of several couples going to Russia to adopt on the flight as well. We didn’t get the opportunity to meet them, but did meet two couples on the way back (that will be in another post).

For me the flight was miserable! I was happy though that I took Beth’s advice and bought one of those neck pillows. I do a lot of traveling for work, but have never seen the need for one of those, but now I love it! I could only nap a couple of hours, my body was sore from sitting in those uncomfortable seats, and I just wanted to stretch out but obviously couldn’t. We watched a movie on my laptop because the movies on the flight were dumb. I just needed to be off that plane, away from the smelly man and be able to lie down flat…..all of which happened soon in a unique location.
~Amy