Today I’m going to tell you all about my first “real” flight. If you haven’t already read about my first “not-so-real” flight, I recommend checking that out first.
If you have read “My First Flight: Skydiving on a whim,” welcome back to the journey. If you haven’t but choose to continue anyway, I’ll attempt to give you a quick recap. My whole life I had always wondered what it would be like to fly on a plane. Everybody seemed to have done it except me. I wouldn’t get that chance until I was seventeen years old. Where did I go, you may ask? Nowhere. I probably covered more ground driving to the airport than I did in the plane. I went up and shortly after… I jumped out. That’s right; it was a skydiving adventure. Not quite what I expected in terms of flying. Tiny plane, propeller driven… no seats! I’m pretty sure that plane ran on 87-octane. Recap complete.
OK, I had finally flown. Yet, the flying experience I expected seemed incomplete. I didn’t have the opportunity to look down at the landscape from my window seat—obviously, as there were no seats. We didn’t ascend above thirteen thousand feet. I’m not even quite sure if the plane reached speeds of hundred miles per hour or not. What I do know is that when the plane landed, I wasn’t in it. You know what that means? It meant I didn’t go anywhere. So as far as a flight was concerned in my opinion… It almost didn’t count. Needless to say, I was still excited for the day I went up in an airliner.
Six years after the jump I would finally go up in a “real plane.” It was the summer of 2002 and I was headed to Europe. As it happened to be, I jumped out on my first flight and would cross the Atlantic on my second. I like to keep it simple as you can see. No basic two hour flights to Florida for me. I was excited for the upcoming experience. Looking back though, I’m not sure why. Oh how I dread flying these days. Too much aggravation for me anymore. At the time, however, it was an all new adventure. I was very curious to see what it was all about.
Philadelphia to London:
Upon arriving at the airport I waited in a huge line just to check in my luggage. And if that wasn’t joyous enough, I then proceeded to a long security line. So far the “not-so-real” flight had this beat. We made it to the terminal and all was good. I was pretty excited. I was excited that I was on vacation. I was excited to be traveling to a foreign land. I tried to envision what that would be like. I silently thought to myself, What would the earth look like from the sky? (keep in mind this is pre Google Earth) I was excited to see what the onboard experience would be like. Would it be cool? It was only going to be a mere seven hours, so it better be.
We were flying British Airways (coach of course). Our destination was Frankfurt, Germany with a connection at London Heathrow. I should add that we flew out of Philly. Walking onto the plane it was pretty evident this was a nice airline. Conveniently, they have you walk through business class as you board the plane. Talk about sweet… full length beds. It was reassuring to know the aristocrats would be quite comfortable. We proceeded to steerage. Shortly after we were seated, the flight attendant pulled the curtain closed. The amazing world we just passed through was now sealed off. Fortunately for the elite, they would not have to see us until the journey had concluded.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to the flight. I had a history of motion sickness. In fact, I have even felt queasy on something as simple as a river cruise. Needless to say, I was concerned. I had fears of being sick—and this was not a short flight. The thought of being sick the whole flight was dreadful. I figured Dramamine was a wise decision. It was an overnight flight — departing Philly late evening and landing in London the following morning — so the Dramamine would also ensure I’d sleep most of the fight, right? Uh, wrong! It did a wonderful job of causing extreme drowsiness; however, I never did fall asleep. Perhaps I was just too excited. I don’t know. But I was definitely in a funk the whole flight; pretty much the entire next day as well. Lucky me!
The flight itself was very pleasant. The plane was super clean—it felt brand new. This British Airways flight was equipped with a British staff complete with British accents. Thumbs up! Sounds silly to point that out I’m sure, but it really did set the tone. It felt like we had landed before the trip had even begun. That’s a good thing in my book. Let the trip begin at takeoff rather than upon arrival.
The plane was equipped with TV’s in the headrests for all passengers. As this was my first flight I didn’t think twice about it. Looking back I have a much greater appreciation for this non-standard technology. Now, over fifteen years later, I find myself thinking back to this assumed luxury whenever I’m on a plane that is not equipped it (which is almost all of them). I always think to myself, shouldn’t this be commonplace now?
I admit I was mesmerized by the personal TV. I had a handful of free movies at my disposal, yet I had no interest. I threw my headphones on and enjoyed some tunes that were fitting to my Dramamine induced state. Still I stared at this TV. I discovered “the map.” You could see where you were, where you came from, and where you were going. It showed the airspeed, elevation, and time to destination. I don’t know why but I was absolutely fascinated by this. In fact, I get upset these days when I’m on flights without this technology. It frustrates me if I don’t know exactly where we are on the map. Anyway, no need to gripe.
It was interesting to follow the route: flying up the east coast over Canada before shooting out across the Atlantic. I just assumed we would fly straight over Jersey and make a beeline to England. I also hadn’t realized just how far north Europe was in comparison to the US. It’s right up there with Canada. At that point in my life I really never had to think about it. This was an all new mind blowing discovery for me. I won’t lie though, once the plane was over the ocean, bad thought set in. Where do we land if something goes wrong? Thanks to Sully I can take comfort these days knowing the plane can land in the ocean while help is dispatched. I didn’t know that in 2002 though.
You will discover a big element of “The Conahan Experience” is centered around food. There will be no surprise that I was excited for the meals we were fed. Dinner showed up and it was the real deal. A full tray; nothing else would fit. There was the meal itself, salad, sides, bread, and dessert. Not too shabby. As we flew into the morning hours they came around with a full blown breakfast. Fortunately, despite my efforts to knock myself out with Dramamine, I was awake to receive both meals. I’ll tell you, it should never be that good on your first flight. I assumed this is how they fed you on all flights. I have since adjusted to a few pretzel bites over the years.
The Descent: Oh My Ear
Following our journey on the map I could see we would be approaching London soon. Sitting in my window seat I anxiously stared out. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to open up gifts. During these pre-Google Earth days a glimpse of the earth from above was a treat. It was quite astonishing. I was really looking forward to the descent. I had wondered what it would feel like to see a different country for the first time. To see cars driving on the “wrong” side of the road (hee hee). To see this other world functioning below me, which had only existed on TV. It was a bit mind boggling for me at the time.
The anticipation I had was quickly replaced. As the plane began to descend, I started to feel a bit of pressure in my ears. This is very normal and not unexpected. This pressure soon became a sharp pain (left ear only). I didn’t know what was happening. Popping ears was one thing, but this was definitely something else. It wouldn’t be long before the pain was piercing. The whole left side of my face was in pain. The worst part? We really hadn’t descended all that much.
I envisioned myself looking out the window fascinated by the aerial view. Instead, I found myself looking out the window thinking— omg, we’re still so high up. The pain became more intense the further we descended. I had hit my pain threshold and we were nowhere near the ground. I was convinced my eardrum would blow out by the time we landed.
When we landed I was in quite some pain. I must have done permanent damage to my ear, I thought. We had a few hour layover in London before would board another plane to Frankfurt. I was hoping the pain would subdue in the meantime, but I will tell you, I was not looking forward to getting back on a plane.
London to Frankfurt:
I had felt some relief by the time we boarded our next plane but by no means had it cleared up. This would be a nice short flight. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Sure enough—as the descent began, the pain set in. Once again it felt like I had a needle being shoved into my ear. By the time we had landed I was in immense pain. Much worse than before. If I hadn’t permanently damaged my ear on the previous flight, I was convinced I had on this one.
I was left with extreme discomfort for several hours. I was truly convinced I had damaged my eardrum. I’m not gonna lie, I was very concerned. Throughout the day the pain subsided. Eventually I was back to normal. I just had one major problem now. How was I gonna get home? Because there was no way I was ever getting on a plane again. There’s no way I was going through that again. I actually called home and told my family it was good knowing them and that I would most likely not be returning. I was stuck in Europe. Well, I said that jokingly. In reality, I was brainstorming alternative means of transportation. I’d have to come over on a ship, I thought to myself. Perhaps I’d be a stowaway.
Conclusion:
I swore I’d never fly again. That obviously wasn’t the case. I did in fact fly home eventually. You see, when I called home stating I was never returning, my mom consulted a friend who is a nurse. I guess she wanted me to come home someday. She explained that it was due to sinus pressure. An antihistamine and nasal spray should do the trick. I would have never found those items in the pharmacy… as everything was written in German. Fortunately I was with someone who was fluent. I could go home! I have to tell you, it worked. I fearfully awaited the moments prior to the descent again. Like the moments before the jack-in-the-box jumps out at you, I anxiously awaiting a sudden burst of pain. It never came. I was ok. This was good news… I could travel again one day. Of course, that is as long as I arrive to the airport prepared with Dramamine, nasal spray, and antihistamine tablets (and water for the tablets). Other than that, no problem!