Flying to the United Kingdom

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad (Pexels)

Last week I spent some time writing about how the whole airport procedure changed due to the corona pandemic. However, I didn’t write as much about the experience and the little vacation I had as much as I wanted. This is the reason for this article.

On the day of the trip, I woke up at 4 am fully refreshed and ready to go. In my mind, I went down a checklist of the things I needed to bring and much to my surprise forgot the one thing I truly wanted, snacks. However, I am proud to report that I survived that tiny shock just fine.

In student life fashion, I took the bus to the airport. Much to my surprise, the bus stopped right outside the terminal entrance and there was not a lot of walking required to get to the check-in counters.

Honestly, I thought the bus would stop near the airport train station because whenever I would pass the airport with the train, I always see a bus station nearby so I just believed that the bus would stop there and I would have to walk at least ten minutes to get to the terminal but it didn’t, I was wrong and I am glad.

Whenever I passed that airport when I am on the train back to my dorm, I would always hope that I could get off at the airport and fly off. It doesn’t even matter where to, all that mattered was that the scenery would change and that I would be gone for some time. This time it was finally time to get out and just be somewhere else for a few weeks.

Going to the airport felt like being in a wonderful dream. Walking through the airport and hearing the automatic announcements only made the dream feel real. Checking in, checking in the luggage and getting a ticket handed in return made me feel like a child again. Travelling, soaring above the clouds, experience something new, something different without any responsibility.

Oddly enough, however, I never feel like that whenever I am travelling using any other kind of transportation method. The train only sparks a sense of enthusiasm. The car only indicates long waiting times. The boat is never truly an option since we are nowhere near water, much less water for long-distance travel. However, the aeroplane just ignites this childlike wonder and dream-like excitement.

After the check-in and security check, the most stressful part was behind me and I can continue living in my dream-like reality. However, to my dismay, I walked right past the duty-free shopping since it was too early for me and I was too much in my own world to comprehend that there were two lanes, one for duty-free and one not for duty-free.

It was not as if I needed anything from duty-free however duty-free shopping section just gives me a nostalgic feeling of travelling the world again and coincidentally it is a feeling I adore very much.

While I am strolling through the restaurants and café´s aisle looking for my gate and wondering if I should stock up on my snack supplies, I get a call from my mother. In true motherly fashion, she reminded me of everything I need to do and in my true overthinking ways, I was way ahead of my mother but it was nice to double-check.

Soon enough, it was my time to board the plane and see where it can take me. Even the boarding queue did not bother me as much as it usually would. However, what did annoy me was the fact that there the plane was not at the gate but one has to take the bus to get to the plane and the bus was, against corona precautions and advice, really crowded.

It is regulated that everyone has to have a negative corona test before entering the airport terminal but this is a lot, even for me who is not overly concerned with catching the virus when all covid guidelines are followed.

However, all the annoyance quickly faded when I realize that I am still living in this dream of mine. With the rest of the passengers, I boarded the plane in the most orderly fashion a random put-together group of random members of society could be.

On the plane, I planned to pass the time by working on a thing or two on my to-do list however that quickly went out the window once I saw the view of the airport, no matter how hard I tried to focus. Defeatedly, I could only stare out of the window completely mesmerized by something I can´t explain.

Just the sight of the planes parked in the airport made me drop everything, I could only wonder what will happen once the plane took off. The nostalgic feelings just came flooding back and I felt like a child again ready to explore the world again even though I knew that I would not explore the world but only revisit a little town of my past. It still felt thrilling and serene to be on that plane in that airport.

When the plane took off, I could confirm my concern. I could not focus at all as if there is something magnetic drawing my gaze out the aeroplane window. The tiny houses, the green grass, the toy cars. Everything.

Even when all the scenery was blocked by the clouds, I would only start to stare at the clouds again. There was a vast field of clouds, which all look the same however, I could not take my eyes off that field of white fluffiness.

On my snack-less flight, I even completely forgot that I didn’t have anything to eat considering that a mid-flight snack is always present on my plane trips. Honestly, I was quite surprised that I was not provided with a snack but it was a cheap airline so I am not too surprised.

During that one and a half hour flight, I probably was only working for fifteen minutes of it. Before the trip, I also made sure that I had everything I need so I can work in peace but little did I know at that time that all the effort is useless.

Nevertheless, working on the plane provided me with the best view possible for working. It serves as a fantastic source of inspiration for creative thinking and it was a beautiful background relaxation view.

It was really early so I could see the sun rising on the horizon, which illuminated the earth below. The whole view was beautiful. When I took a closer look, I could even see small towns with the lights on. From where I was sitting I could see small dots of lights lighting the whole town.

That day was coincidentally also a foggy day so some of the small dots on the ground illuminated the fog above and it looked alien as if I wasn’t on earth anymore or small towns and cities were acquired by extraterrestrials from right under our noses.

The view from the start of the flight and the end of the flight seemed completely different and could not compare.

Way too soon, it was also time to land again. The plane flew past the curtain of clouds and the British towns became visible. Quaint and orderly. Row by row surrounded by the British countryside. It was majestic.

This is the moment when another feeling came flooding back. A feeling I used to know as a child and a feeling I adored. The feeling of home. It felt like I was home again in a country that never was my true home.

The truth is that I only lived in the UK for a year, yet seeing it again just seems like I am going home again even though it was never my home, to begin with. That feeling also seemed odd to me because Germany which is somewhat my home never felt like it.

When I got off the plane and the British accent reached my ear, I nearly cried. Well not literally since there were people around and I did not want to create a scene there. (If I want to create a scene I would have but causing a scene there was not to my advantage so I let it be.) Nevertheless, I cried internally. My usually tough no-nonsense heart melted a little.

Being there, even just in the terminal, it just felt as if I was meant to be there. As if I had a purpose to fulfil there, even though I don’t (except I want to apply for a job at the airport as a member of staff redirecting the arriving passengers to the right direction.)

My point is that it just felt as if I was back home and supposed to be there as I was walking through the long airport hallways on my way to the passport control. My fellow passengers are slowly strolling down the halls as well but I don’t even truly notice them.

The passport control e-gate snapped me back to reality with the bright lights and the need to concentrate on passing procedures. When one followed the instructions with confidence, one can leave just as quickly. In a snap, I could return to this dream of mine.

After picking up my luggage from the luggage carousel, I find myself in the arrival hall of the airport. Very much to my dismay, my friend couldn’t manage to pick me up from the airport immediately. At the same time, I was glad I had to wait because best friends tend to embarrass you given the chance. The airport arrival hall is the perfect opportunity to set up and strike, so I did not mind waiting if it meant saving myself from embarrassment.

Since I had nothing better to do, I just sat on a bench in the arrival area and waited for my friend. Watching people arrive, greet the people they love and go back to their accommodations. Watching business people arrive and hurry off to their businesses. Watching travellers arrive and celebrate the fact that they arrived at their travel destination.

While I was people watching, I realized it was Christmas time when the fourth person wearing an ugly Christmas sweater passed by me. The Christmas light was shining bright and everyone just seemed really jolly and in a really festive mood.

I passed my time by sitting there and letting the fact that I am in the UK settle in. With every British accent I hear, ugly Christmas sweater I spot and a person running towards the other person they haven’t seen in some time in excitement I see it just gets more real.

Time passes and my friend was still on the way, so I decided to not sit there like a stalker and watch something on my phone instead. Around me, the world is still revolving. More passangers arrive in the arrival hall. More people greet each other. More people leave the airport, happily.

Eventually, I do get a message from my friend saying that the car is nearby. However, since neither one of us know our way around the airport too well, we did spend some time trying to find one another.

I must admit that I went in the wrong direction at first since my friend had no idea where I was and I had no idea where the place is they were trying to describe. However, I can admit that I know the airport better than my friend.

After quite some time and some back and forth, I finally managed to understand where they were and what direction I need to walk in to get to the car that is supposed to take us away. Walking to my friend felt like an eternity since I haven´t seen them in person in quite some time, which felt like an aeon.

Then we finally managed to meet in the middle of the airport, quite literally. After getting into the car, I know I am back in the UK again and my vacation is about to begin. To be frank, I can´t lie, I was excited about how my first holiday abroad since the pandemic is going to pan out.