on plane rides

i feel like someone needs to come into this apartment and drag me out by the hair. i've been home since 2:00 this afternoon, but i havent been able to muster much in the area of energy or motivation. granted, this week has been mighty rough on me, particularly the back end of it.

i'm anxiously awaiting my short weekend jaunt back down to the philippines for my 23rd birthday. lately saigon, more than i can remember, has been suffocating, and this trip feels much like coming up for air. almost as much as seeing my family, though, i look forward to being on a plane again.

i love the feeling i get while in transit -- especially planes and trains. that feeling of detachment -- so much so that it sits on the outskirts of the ethereal at times. i feel so disconnected from the realities of my destination, the cold and sometimes cruel ground beneath my feet. i turn inward in the best way possible, viewing myself as if that self were merely another square of woods, a small tributary winding it's way around pockmarked patches of earth.

it may be a universal thing. it may be a characteristic of journeymen/journeywomen, the kinds that spend large pieces of their lives with their feet on one soil and their nose searching the scent of another. it may just be an age thing. either way, i doubt it's just me.

even as i'm coming up for fresh air, in itself, the journey up and (yes, back down) will offer a really good opportunity to reflect on what things i need to leave behind in the next year, what needs to be carried over, and what else is left to be met.