The Bubble

What's up everyone? Unfortunately I only have 40 minutes to blog today; I'm hoping to take advantage of it so hopefully it's enough.

So Karen and my parents and I have really started to send our Rio trip into orbit. That's just fucking awesome. This trip is going to be magical. Traveling is fun.

In other news, Karen and I have decided against going to Ecuador to volunteer and instead we decided it'd be better to go to Cambodia. Yup. Cambodia. That would mean I'll have stepped foot on 5 continents by age 21. So we're getting pretty stoked for that. Cambodia mixed with Rio would no doubt make this summer the absolute best summer that has ever been experienced by anyone. Ever.

Let that sink in.

Since we've decided on Cambodia, I took it upon myself, like I always do, to read as much information as I can on the country. I've quickly come to the conclusion that Cambodia is the saddest country on earth. Aside from the genocide, the civil wars, the poverty, and the lack of healthcare, this country just has nothing to it's name.

So Karen and I are going over there to help. We're gonna chill with orphans and help them learn English and read and get an education during the day, and go out at night. That's going to be our life for a few weeks. I haven't really been philanthropic since I went to Honduras, so I'm glad to be doing it again. I was talking with Karen about it while pregaming the Thor sequel, and forgot the deep emotions poverty tends to stir.

I realized this in Honduras; I observed first-hand this really humbling and peaceful truth about the world and the influence one can make. When in Honduras, we visited several houses, orphanages, slums, etc. just to chat with them and give them some presents from America. It was great playing soccer, telling stories, playing Pato-Pato-Gonzo with the little squirts and simply giving them our time. But it wasn't until the third or fourth day of this that I noticed something in the eyes of each underprivileged child.

Not a single kid knew exactly where we came from. They know the word America, but not much about it other than that it's pretty much where most of the white people come from. They don't have a clue how successful we are or how much money we have; they have nothing to compare us to. All they know is that we came a long way to see him or her, and to take time to play soccer or teach them how to play duck duck goose.

I just started to notice that they didn't see us as movie stars or wealthy Americans, all they knew was that we were good. Good and bad was the only distinction they seemed to be able to make and because we were helping them, they saw nothing but good. And even though we left after just one short week and partied on the way out, these children with very little to survive saw us as good people. That was the mark we left. Despite the war and crime and poverty, we brought something good to them and their country.

And that's why I have no problem going to help out in Cambodia. It's because I know that after x amount of weeks, we will have done something good no matter how minuscule it may be.

Of course there's another reason I have no problem going to help out in Cambodia, and that resides in the adventure. America really doesn't have much adventure. It is literally impossible to die here. Even if a dog dies at a premature age everyone is shocked and pissed off which doesn't make sense once you see less fortunate parts of the world.

The way I see it, there's a bubble over the western world. In this bubble, it's pretty easy to survive. In the bubble you are always less than an hour from medical treatment, and never more than a few minutes from food. It's fucking ridiculous how easy it is inside this metaphorical bubble. It's like the safehouse in a videogame, even if you got shot in the chest you have like a 99% chance of living. But it goes completely unnoticed.

True adventure doesn't come about until you leave that bubble. No matter what you do in the bubble, it's fake. Mountain climbing, scuba diving, anything American's think of as "adventurous" really is like the safest thing in the world compared to everything outside the bubble. That's why I love taking as many steps as possible from the edge. Honduras and Morocco are my only chances thus far, but they are also the best stories I have in my arsenal.

Once you're out, it's as if the sky dims a little bit. Reality almost instantly sets in as you see most of the world as it truly is. And shortly thereafter you realize that now that you've ventured outside of the bubble, and you could die at any second. Every car ride you take, you risk being killed by a drunk driver's hit and run. Every time you trip you can't help but remember that a compound fracture is often fatal in third world countries. Risk and excitement is all around you, and it is absolutely exhilarating. It takes a little while to get used to daily life outside the bubble. But every step you take further and further from home is one more amplification of the thrill.

The further from home, the more adventure. And there's nothing I love more than an adventure. Until next time...

Who the Hell Renamed FAJS?

What's up world. I'm very sorry for not blogging in like a month. I've been busy and for the first time in years I haven't have the drive to put out any posts. But a lot of shit is going on currently, Karen and I are quitting the RA gig and moving in together in a month or so, I'm rocking the POC shit with Air Force, and college is still hard. I've been simming pretty hard in the past month or two. I mean I spent like 90 bucks on that PMDG 777 I am going to get the most out of it.

Currently, Karen and I are a few hours enroute from J-burg to Atlanta, the new longest nonstop flight in existence since Singapore 18 was canceled. I decided to attempt a blog post since I spent a majority of the day studying.

This blog post is difficult, I can't think of anything good to write about. Instead of trying and potentially failing at writing something inspirational, I'd rather just write about planes.

Someone recently changed the ICAO code for Johannesburg's Int'l airport. And nobody fucking told me so I ended up spending more time than I wanted blankly staring at the computer screen wondering why my route for FAJS won't load. You think I'd get some sort of memo from SOMEONE in the industry, or hell, even the virtual industry that the most major African gateway was undergoing some nomenclature changes.

Anyway, I learned some interesting facts about the routing in and out of OR Tambo International. I did not formerly know that J-burg sits at like 5,500ft above sea level. When you're that high up and that far away from like every single high-density airport in the world, long hauls are selected quite a bit more strategically. Perhaps the most prevalent example is that Atlanta and Miami are like the only Class Bravo airports in the United States that are within range of Tambo.

But it's not the range that makes it impossible, it's that they have 7800nm to fly with a typical headwind component 40kts (which you fight for every second of those 17 hours). But even then, in most extended range long-haulers you could make that plus a few hundred extra miles at full fuel capacity. It's that 5,500ft elevation that gets ya, because even with a 14 thousand foot runway your v-speeds are going to be supersonic; and with the reduced thrust your engines are going to be putting out in the lighter air it's going to be a hell of a long roll.

Mix all factors together, and the result is one flight a day from South Africa to North America, and it's the longest in the world. So there's your little "Did You Know?" factoid on longhaul airline operations for the day.

Changing gears here, for Air Force I gave a big briefing for an upcoming Airpower Exercise. That was stressful but rewarding. I'm getting pretty good at timing. I had to finish my presentation at exactly 1635, and I was able to pull it off to the second. That's precision engagement, a good skill for a pilot to have.

Anyway I think I've written enough for now. I'll try to blog later and get back into it. Have a good weekend everyone! Until next time...