TRAVELS | PART ONE.

This post was originally shared on Amy's blog, but for my organized brain, I've decided to post it here, too, so that readers can find it.

image via Unsplash.

Walking down the aisle was claustrophobic, to say the least. And then there was the stop and go traffic, too. People were shoving suitcases far too large into the tiny compartment above their heads. Others were trying to squeeze past them, trying to get to their seats. And then there was me, stuck in between. It was much too awkward to try and squeeze past the man in front of me but I knew that everyone behind me was waiting for me to move. The crossbody strap on my bag dug deeper into my shoulder and a held it close to my body as I tried moving forward.

"Finally!" The man exclaimed, looking around and waiting for some sort of congratulatory response. No one could hear him, though, because everyone else was too busy grumbling and oomphing to get comfortable.

I finally reached my seat and slid my bag underneath it. I looked out the window to my left and then looked around plane and watched as people continued down the aisle, looking from their seats in front of them to the ticket in their hands.

A woman and her crying baby stopped near my seat and I may or may not have prayed a silent prayer that she would move on. She looked at me, frazzled, and I forced a small sympathetic smile. She continued down the aisle and I let out a sigh of relief. At least I could try and get a little sleep on this flight.

I slid my earbuds in and tried to relax as the last stragglers found their seats. An older man sat down in the aisle seat, one chair from me, and nodded when I looked towards his direction. He pulled out a crossword puzzle book and immediately went to work, ignoring all of the people around him.

It seemed to relax and people seemed to be settling down when I felt the vibration of a person running down the aisle of the plane. I looked up and watched as he apologized to everyone he and his backpack bumped into as he continued down the plane. He ran past me but immediately turned around and tried climbing over the man in my row. He plopped down in the seat beside me and sighed a very audible sigh of relief.

He was out of breath and apparently pretty out of shape, too. I looked over at him, forcing yet another sympathetic smile and he smiled back, still trying to catch his breath. "Well, at least he's got the cute factor going," I thought. He tried pushing his over-stuffed backpack under the seat with his hands and accidentally whapped me with his backpack strap.

"Whoops, sorry about that!" he looked over at me and our eyes met. He smiled an overly friendly smile and reached out his hand.

"I'm Jeremy," he said. I could detect a slight accent in his voice and was instantly intrigued by this new seatmate.

I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled back--a genuine smile this time around.