I’m in no rush
11:55: Flight departure.
10:15: I’m still at home — relaxed. Click. Water is ready, because of course I won’t leave the house without a cup of my mandator morning Chi coffee for the road. I’m in no rush. With my beloved eco-friendly bamboo cup I stroll down the road, cross the bridge and, as I turn the final corner, manage to get a final glimpse of the departing bus’ tail lights. Oh well, there’ll be another one eventually, I’ll wait. I’m in no rush.
It’s grey. And cold — and so am I. But I don’t mind, as I’m in good spirits and full of anticipation for the new adventure that’s awaiting me.
10:45: I’m on the bus. Still relaxed.I’m in no rush.
10:53: TXL pulls up in front of Terminal A. I let everybody else get off first. I’m on no rush.
Instead of running to the gate — as usual — I’m taking a nice stroll through the airport. I’m in no rush. A nice feeling I’m starting to value more and more in all areas of my life.
I have numerous and very vivid memories of running like a mad woman to gates, screaming at the flight attendant to holde the door, stumbling onto the plane in the last second, falling into my seat sweaty and short of breath as we’re already halfway on the runway. It’s hard to tell whether I was just craving the excitement or if I was just a very poor time manager [in fact, I prefer to call myself an optimistic time manager instead]. But I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. What does matter though is that I notice how my needs and priorities are starting to change.
I also remember times, when arriving at long security lines caused a minor panic attack because of course there was no telling that anybody else would want to get on a plane that day, which might interfere with me just walking right through security and on to my gate. So much to optimistic time management. But today I don’t mind as I join the long queue at the very end. I’m in no rush. And the 1(!) security guy on duty clearly isn’t either. With a smile on his face he looks at the lady in front of me, who is just about to start appologizing for taking so long: «Lady, I’m in no rush. Let’s just slow down the world for a moment, shall we?» I want to hug him! And so does the lady who’s still trying to get her belt off. It’s my turn. As you know by now, I’m in no rush as I take of my coat first, followed by my sweater vest and my light jacket. With each layer the security guy grins a little more — in contrast to my fellow passenger behind me. «Wow, you’re really sporting the layer look lady», does he say with a big smile, as he pushes my bags through the screening machine. No beep. No worry. No hurry. Time to get myself back into all my layers, which, needless to say, takes even a little longer than taking them off, much to the liking of the charming gentleman behind me, who’s apparently very skilled at grunting. Boarding hasn’t started yet so there is still time for a bathroom trip on solid grounds. So nice to not be in a rush because — of course — I also have vivid memories of running for my plane, falling into my seat breathless and praying to not pee my pants until the fasten seatbelt sign finally goes off. Not today. I’m in no rush. But I’m tired. So instead of falling into my seat today, I fall asleep instantly before we even make it to the runway. I wake up as we touch ground in Amsterdam.
Schiphol Airport — nice to see you again! It’s just a quick stop so I don’t bother walking too far away from my gate. Fortunately there is a Juice & Smoothie Bar close by — that should do it to get my travel vitamin kick! I’m tempted to get some coffee but resist as I figure there’ll be coffee on the place. Because of course there are also vivid memories of rushing to the gate with a steaming hot coffee in my hand because the optimistic time manager in me was sure there’s plenty of time to get coffee — and of course there was no telling that others might have the same idea so it would just be a grab & go kind of thing. Oh well, not today, I’m in no rush and arrive at the gate even before boarding starts.
The last shall be first… At least today. As I’ll be sitting for quite a while on the plane, I wait to be among the last people boarding. Of course there is a queue, as usual, so I use the time and take a picture of the destination sign for visual documentation purposes.
In the meantime — let’s say it took me about 15 seconds to get the right shot — the queue moved and left a 5m space between me and the person in front of me. Reason enough for the young gentleman behind me to complain about my intentional non-movement — after all, he could have advanced 5 m 5 seconds earlier before hitting the queue again. Oh well. I smile. I’m in no rush.
Finally I sit down in 2D, next so some very friendly and chatty Dutch people, am happy about the favourable carry on bag incident at the counter in Berlin and enjoy plenty of leg and stretch room as — guess what — I’m still in no rush!
Now let my first #Transavia adventure begin…
[to be continued…]
#TinyTravels #Madeira #Portugal #IslandLife #Travel #AnashaOnTour
