Apparently, I’m ‘on to something’. And have been, for a while. Without knowing it.
A story by reporter Tariro Mzezewa in The New York Times Travel section, informed me about “people who miss flying” rushing out to buy tickets for airline flights that land at the same airport they departed from. Flights to nowhere, just for the experience of flying around for a couple of hours. And apparently, the flights are selling out.
From Ms. Mzezew’s article:
Mr. Harif is one of thousands of people in Brunei, Taiwan, Japan and Australia who have started booking flights that start and end in the same place. Some airlines call these “scenic flights”; others are more direct, calling them “flights to nowhere.”
“I didn’t realize how much I’d missed traveling — missed flying — until the moment the captain’s voice came on the speaker with the welcome and safety announcement,” said Mr. Harif of his 85-minute experience on Royal Brunei Airlines. On its flight to nowhere, which the airline calls the “dine and fly” program, Royal Brunei serves local cuisine to passengers while flying over the country.
I find the photograph above to be somewhat remarkable, considering that no one in the seats seems to be wearing a face mask. What are they thinking?
Of course, we don’t have any commercial airlines here in Pagosa Springs. Our airport can’t legally allow them, I’ve been told, because — given the runway location — they would regularly crash into the San Juan Mountains. And as far as I know, the commercial jets that fly out of nearby Durango-La Plata Airport are not yet offering pandemic “sightseeing flights”.
Not that I’m complaining. One of the reasons I moved to Pagosa was for the peace and quiet… something commercial airports do not normally provide.
But it turns out, you don’t need an airplane ticket to go nowhere during a pandemic. I’ve been going nowhere, for the past few months, absolutely free. And without even leaving my house.
The “absolutely free” part is important, when you are a columnist for the Pagosa Daily Post.
But nowadays, the “without even leaving my house” aspect is equally important. It’s pretty scary out there, with all the un-masked tourists still hanging around, long past the time they should have been heading back to Houston and Phoenix.
“My house”, meanwhile, is not the slightest bit scary. And not as dangerous as getting on a commercial jet, to fly around for a couple of hours eating airline food. A couple of years ago, I had to take a plane flight — and yes, they served me a complimentary ginger ale, but the snack was some kind of dry, too-salty, worm-like biscuit covered with sesame seeds. I had sesame seeds stuck in my teeth for days afterwards.
That would never work for me in 2020. Trying to get sesame seeds out of my teeth, while wearing a mask? No thank you.
And all the other advantages to going nowhere, in the comfort of your own home! Beer in the fridge. New Netflix movies. The cat curled up on your lap. A new humor column on the Daily Post.
Does it get any better than that?