Departure – Wednesday, November 19th

I like to travel light. I use one checked suitcase. I carry a couple things in my backpack. My mother, however, knows that each passenger is allowed two checked items, one carry-on, and a personal item. She packs three suitcases, a carry-on, her laptop bag, and a second carry-on for me. So I guess I won’t be traveling light. After checking in and making our way through security, Mom decides she’s maybe kind of hungry but won’t decide where to eat. She claims to be ‘okay with anything’ but somehow rejects each eatery we pass. Twenty minutes later, she finally settles on McDonald’s of all places, and I decide this is not a good start to the trip.

Once we board the plane, I decide to put the rolling carry-on in an overhead compartment and keep my backpack underneath the seat in front of me. Mom, however, elects to keep her carry-on and her laptop bag at her feet, cutting down on the room available for my backpack and, therefore, my legs and feet. Fantastic. Oh, and she takes the aisle seat.

After 3 hours in the air, The Dark Knight, and some mediocre pasta with chicken, Mom decides she’d rather have the window seat. One would think I’d be used to dealing with all this after years of traveling with my mother, but, alas, no, I’m not. I take a Diazepam and sleep for a few hours, wake up for 2 hours, and sleep for a few more hours. I’m not sure how long I sleep on the plane, but it doesn’t feel like 15 hours. That’s partially because it hasn’t been 15 hours since takeoff. We’re told we will reach Delhi about an hour early.