It depends on the type of aircraft, but usually seats over the wing root and forward experience the least amount of turbulence, etc. Plus, the further forward, the less engine and slipstream noise. It all comes down to where you are in relation to where the x, y, & z axis meet. Wiki explanation of a "Dutch Roll". It sort of explains why the ride in the tail of the aircraft is usually bumpiest. I love road trips, but I outside the fuckedupness that is TSA I enjoy flying as well. On overseas flights that require a long layover, I'll try and make it long enough if not a full day so I can leave the airport and wander around the city for a few hours. I've done this in London, Amsterdam and Paris. Some aircraft can tip back onto the tail if loaded back to front.
I usually just sit in the lounge until the plane has nearly boarded and then get on. I'm either going to be sitting waiting in the terminal or sitting waiting on the plane, and if my seat is booked it makes no difference. I always just tuck my backpack under the seat in front of me or in the space under my legs when I stretch out. Caveat to this: The one time I flew domestic in the US they seemed to have a bizarrely large carry on allowance which meant there was a mad scramble for the overhead lockers before a bunch of bags were taken off and put under the plane anyway. Obviously if you are in a life or death battle for overhead locker space the 'waiting in the lounge' option doesn't work.
Nothing was more fun than sitting in the back of a Stretch 8 (an elongated DC-8) and looking up the aisle... and watching it snake like a garden hose. Point that out to a nervous flyer, and giggle like a schoolgirl while they implode and lose their shit.
Thankfully I've never hit a substantial air pocket, but I've heard those are the most fun. My pops have told me you'll be flying along then all of the sudden plummet straight down, meanwhile everything not locked down goes flying. Sounds like hell.
I get slightly jittery at take off and landing but not really that bad. Flying has its pros and cons like road trips do. I hate dealing with the expense and hassle of renting a car at my destination. I try to limit my luggage to one carry on so I don't have to deal with much hassle with the TSA and not deal with picking up checked luggage. Ill take a few benadryl before any flight and snooze the whole time. You really can't beat flight times. If we could just get our shit together with the TSA nonsense flying would even less stressful. I think it was our family road trip to Florida every year that has given me a great appreciation for long distance road trips. If I get proper lead time with sleep I'll enjoy doing the bulk if not all driving on 8-10 hour trips. While I'll try to sleep as much as I can, I have always been more of a sightseer and enjoy counting down the milage on road signs and landmarks if I know the route. Ive got 75 down cold. Without proper sleep before a drive can ruin the fucking trip. The last road trip I took to Atlanta when my brother got married, we left after I had just gotten off a long shift and I had been up the rest of the day before hand. I couldn't get any sleep before my mom made me drive and we arrived only a few hours before we had to be at the courthouse. I was on zero sleep for 24 hours. I zonked as soon as we got back to my brother's to celebrate and was wiped for the rest of the weekend. Fucked my whole trip.
Apparently they used to do that back in the 1800's - take two trains and put them on the same track and then ram them into each other for entertainment. They called them cornfield meets and would sell tickets and everything. And they say we're less cultured in modern times.
My kid and I took the train from Virginia to NYC this past June and it was fantastic. You could get up and walk around anytime you wanted. There was wifi, and plugs to charge your shit. Never at any point did you have to wear a seatbelt or wait to take a piss. There was a food car that contained a much bigger selection of horribly overpriced food. Did I mention it was fantastic? Even the parking was cheaper. I think the only downside other than being raped by the food bill total was that on the way back we had some cackling hens that would not shut the fuck up the entire time. Although if we had been in the silent car that would not have been a problem.
Yes, and no where on that menu did I see an option for fingering two hookers while they both tongue my balls. What kind of shitty brothels did they have back then anyway?
The only issue I have with flying is I'm 6'3 and being cramped up like that sucks. I normally drive home if I'm going for a decent amount of time. I stop and catch up with friends on the way instead of spending an entire day on trains and planes getting to where my family live.
I find that "fighting for overhead bin space" happens more often than not in the US. It irritates the shit out of me because I usually travel with a backpack full of fairly expensive camera gear. The backpack is not large, and on many planes it even fits under the seat, but it's not something that can be checked. So I end up in a mad dash to secure overhead bin space for my normal sized carry-on just because some douchebag with a massive Louis Vuitton suitcase wanted to pack major kitchen appliances, and hold up the whole boarding process trying to stuff it into the overhead bin, since it's clearly too inconvenient for him to collect it from the baggage claim after the flight. I've gotten on a few flights where the attendants are luggage Nazis and I enjoy that to no end.
With the advent of charging for every single check on upfront it is no wonder people started doing this. You also have to know that people try sneaking bigger than allowable carry ons so that they can check it at the gate for free if the flight attendants discover its too big.
Flying is fine; airlines suck. I keep waiting for the gate clerk to charge me extra for flying. "Oh, the ticket you bought only reserved the seat, it will be an extra $200 for us to actually fly you to your destination."
I travel a ton for work and I have my packing and luggage down to science. I even bought a suitcase that specifically fits in overhead bins. Any time I'm told I have to gate check it feels like I've been selected to ride a train to Dachau. Its a horrible (or mildly inconvenient) experience.
I completely agree, but at a certain point, trying to circumvent the rules causes you to be an asshole to those around you.
I'll also typically wait until they call final boarding. I'd rather sit in the terminal than on the jet where people are either constantly hitting you as they walk by or you're freezing/melting depending on the time of year. I also travel with a bag of camera gear and I've given up trying to keep it in the bin directly over my seat. Anymore I'm just happy if I can keep it in the same aisle as me and between my seat and the exit. People lose their shit when you try and salmon to the back for your bag. Speaking of which, I miss the days when flight attendants would ask people to remain seated and let those with extremely short connections off first. I've missed a few connections because people wouldn't listen.
Not to mention, depending on the plane/airline, you get it given to you as you depart the plane. Gate checking and then needing to pick it up at baggage claim is annoying, gate checking and grabbing it as you leave the plane is glorious. My carry-on is borderline size, especially now that more airlines are flying regional jets more often, and when they announce in the terminal its a full flight and gate checking may be needed, I always give them my bag before I even board. Better to not have to deal with it on the plane and get it even more conveniently after. You want luggage Nazis, fly any discount airline in Europe. EasyJet is 1 carry-on, not a carry-on plus a personal item, 1 item PERIOD. And those cute size cutouts that just take up space in American airports, well there is a desk agent standing next to it as you board and everyone must place their bag in to show it fits. Flying from Paris to Italy this summer, a furious Russian man was stuffing his clearly oversized bag into the mold, pretty much jumping and stamping on top of it to prove it fits, making a huge scene. Shit was ridiculous. My dad always jokes that the deregulation of airlines was the worst thing to ever happen to air travel, cause it opened it up to a whole different class of people who are now flying, that would be taking a Greyhound normally. And allows flying pigpens like Spirit Airlines to exist. Id rather drive anywhere than fly those fuckfaces
I'm old enough to remember when you got dressed up to fly. Those times are gone. Fuckers are lucky I'm wearing pants when I fly now.
I'm silently judging you while waiting in line. Even more so watching you pound it in (haha) the overhead compartment. You mean like people that won't pay $25 to check their borderline bag? I find it convenient checking my bag and then sailing down the aisle without having to stop and open and/or look at every damn overhead compartment trying to squeeze in my clearly oversize bag. And then just leaving the plane at my convenience. Except having to wait on the people that stood up before the plane is even docked and then wait for the people to get their bags, except they can't always remember the exact compartment. That's fun. I also get great enjoyment out of people that try to sit together, when it's not their actual seat, and then play the whole "what? I'm in the wrong seat? Oh yeah, you're right, huh, weird" game. And then get up and move across the aisle and up or down several rows. I see how they got that confused. The seats were practically next to each other.