Fish Out of Water, pen and ink on graph paper, doodle © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
Nothing like traveling to make a person feel like a fish out of water. It’s an unnatural act, moving among strangers in airports and on airplanes. I sat next to man for two hours from Albuquerque to San Francisco and said nary a word. Not even “Hi.” Which is how I like it, but my Lord, yesterday on the one-hour drive to Jemez Springs Jim did the “New Mexico wave” (two fingers lifted off the steering wheel) to more people in passing cars than I’ll manage to acknowledge in the next 24 hours.
At this moment, sitting in the San Francisco airport, I’m feeling more bull in a china shop than fish out of water. I checked one piece of luggage but still have a soft leather carry-on that is mostly empty right now but will be filled with scarves and other goodies on the return leg. Then there’s my Samsonite laptop backpack, along with my large-dictionary-sized drawing-and-writing supply satchel. I bent down to pick up a piece of paper I’d dropped in the security line and ended up bopping a kid in the back of the head with two of my bags. Right now all my carry-ons and I are spread across three chairs, like we own the place.
When I went to Spain back in the mid-80s, with clothes and stuff enough to live there for a year, I carried a giant tote bag that was so heavy I had to nudge it with my booted foot down the side of the road. The only rolling anything they made back then were racks-with-wheels, the kind you had to bungie your luggage to, and since only old people bothered with those I used the kick-the-can method. I didn’t get my can even out of eyeshot of the train terminal before someone came along and offered to take me to a guest house with rooms for rent. The guy got me to the place without hitch—I ended up renting a room there for two weeks—although I’d never get into a stranger’s car these days.
Ah, there goes another fish out of water. First off, she’s a she. Not many of us single women around, and for all I know her husband and two kids with matching Dora-the-Explora rollaway bags are waiting for her around the corner. But I suspect not. She has a huge purse plus the kind of ginormous Coach shoulder bag that could knock a quarterback off his feet, much less two little kids. And she’s wearing a black dress, red shawl, and dainty round-big-toe sandals. Not the gauzy pants, layered t-shirts and sweatshirts, and Dankos that most traveling mothers wear.
Mostly I recognize the way she looked at me when she passed. A sort of “Ah, maybe I’ll grab a magazine and make myself at home in a quiet corner instead of wandering about the place feeling conspicuous” glance.
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Postscript: I’m presently in San Francisco en route to Vietnam for another work-related visit—my sixth since 2005. I’ve written several posts about travel and specifically Vietnam; this post contains links to a bunch of them. Vietnam was the inspiration for finishing the doodle in this post, which I sketched in a pencil outline almost two years ago. Fish Out of Water was a red Ravine writing topic in September 2007. I finished the doodle on my last trip to Vietnam.
Plane boards in half an hour. This burro will be off the grid for 14 hours, ’til I touch down in beautiful Hong Kong. Wish me an aisle seat (well, I already know I have one) with no middle passenger, decent movies, and a decent sleep starting about three hours post take-off.
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Wishing you all those things and safe travels, YB.
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ybonesy, your great sense of humor comes out in this post. You are on the road again! I like the continuity of starting a doodle in 2007 that was inspired by a Writing Topic on red Ravine, then completing it in 2009 on your last trip to Vietnam. We can start things and complete them as the time is right, as the right time presents itself.
Love the New Mexico wave and I’ve seen it firsthand there. There is one in Montana, too. Not so much here in Minnesota. It reminds me of those courtesy flashings of the high beams that used to happen when you were passing someone and it was safe to scoot back into your lane again. These common road courtesies are falling by the wayside these days.
Safe travels, yb! Will be thinking about you. Be safe.
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Oh, yb, hope you have a great trip. Good post! Safe travels! D
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YB – By now you are about half way there. I’m hoping that you are watching a movie or sleeping well. Have great trip YB. V – I’m giving you the NM version of a wave half way around the world. Neecy
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Have a wonderful, adventurous trip yb…
14 hours in the air? Gives me hives just to think about…
Forget Burro! You’re a bad-ass bull with big Cojones!
Be safe 😉
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Love the doodle.
I can identify with you both as a fish our of water while traveling and as a bull in a china shop. Since late March of this year, I have done more flying than in the past decade!
Have a super trip. May it be fruitful and bear many words!
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I sometimes feel like a fish out of water. Mostly, I just go with the flow, and fake it. Works wonders.
I’m envious. I really want to visit Vietnam.
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Made it! To Hong Kong at least. It was a good flight. I had an aisle seat, the middle seat was empty, and the man in the window seat was quiet and polite. Couldn’t ask for anything more (‘cept an upgrade to biz class, but that didn’t happen).
Didn’t watch the movies. I read the novella Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker. Published in 1962, I think. I bought it at the Books Inc. bookstore (one of San Francisco’s independents, QM) at the airport, and it kept my attention during all my waking hours on the plane. Got plenty of sleep, too. All in all, a great trip. Oh, and only 13 hours. Hmmm, wonder why the itinerary said it was 14.
Stevo, aren’t you just a hop skip and jump away? You really should go next time you plan an Asia trip.
Corina, love your wish. May it come true!!
Neece, your comment about giving me the NM wave reminds me that my niece arrived in San Francisco airport while I was there, but we were in different terminals, so we texted our sychronized waves in the airport. 8)
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Hey, Robin, QM, Heather, diddy–thanks for the comments.
QM, I left the cable for my camera at home, so I won’t be uploading photos during my trip here. 😦 Seems I’m always forgetting something.
But I’ll do a couple of text posts, and then assuming I snap some shots, I’ll upload those when I get back to NM.
Am super exhausted right now. Think I’ll sleep like a rock when I get to Saigon and in my soft bed.
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Oh, QM, meant to say that the main reason I delay in finishing a doodle is because I really don’t like how it looks after I first start it. That was the case with the Fish walking down the road. I don’t know–it was just too bizarre. But then I generally go back to them, just on principle. Hate to leave them undone. And in this case (and most cases) I end up liking the finished doodle.
I’ve come to realize that it’s even better when I dont’ like a doodle, because I never worry about messing it up. 8)
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ybonesy, good to hear from you half way across the world. And that you had a good flight. Liz’s brother travels a lot for work and we were talking last week about how much he loves it when the middle seat beside him is empty. He said people just seem to gravitate toward talking to him, too, so he wears headphones when he wants space.
Planes can be such strange environments. He and his wife are taking a trip to South Africa in the coming days, a long flight. Reminded me of your long trips to Vietnam.
Can’t believe you forgot your camera cable! Bummer. Take lots of photos anyway. Look forward to hearing from you again.
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Have a great time in Viet Nam! Too bad you don’t have time to enjoy SF. It’s my home, and there is so much to see and do…such a beautiful city. While an airport….well, it’s an airport.
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South Africa, QM, that’s a looonnng flight. As I recall, the direct flight from either Atlanta or NYC to Johannesburg is the longest nonstop you can take, about 20 hours without fueling. But I may be misremembering that. I did it once, and sat in Economy but upstairs in a bulkhead seat that I shared with a fellow traveler. Not bad at all.
I think we have such low expecations of these long flights, that when they’re over they’re usually never as bad as expected. Kind of like the reverse of childbirth (if that makes sense).
It’s Wednesday, and I feel good. Slept like a log.
Hey, Jules, I didn’t know you’re from San Francisco, too. It’s a gorgeous city. I was just there in June for a vacation. Mostly in Palo Alto, but we spent a day in San Francisco. One of my favorite places to go.
QM, it dawned on me that “burro” is the name for someone who runs drugs across boundaries. Isn’t it? What was that movie where the woman from Colombia swallows all those balloons with cocaine? Incredible movie, but I think she was a burro. Oops. Should have come up with a different title. 8)
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ybonesy, yes, I think he mentioned it’s one of the longest nonstops. I’d probably go nuts. Never tried it. Glad you have caught up on your sleep. Can’t remember what movie that was. Is a burro the same as a mule? I kind of like the title though. Fits with the fish out of water theme. Speaking of fish, I just got a hankering to go swimming. I wonder if Liz would want to head over to one of the lakes this weekend so we can take a dip. Not sure why it’s come over me. The ocean would be better. I really want to plan a vacation next year out to the Oregon coast and visit Portland. I’ve planted a seed. So long since I’ve been that far West. And I still haven’t shown Liz western Montana. 8)
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