Flying Home

Saturday Nov. 25

After dragging my 50 kilograms personal ’road train’ to the station, up and down innumerable stairs and endless corridors, I end up on the train to Narita. It’ll probably be my last subway ride on this side of the globe, and like on most other days people in the train sit, or occasionally even stand, and sleep. This will be the one memory of the Tokyo metro system, that will stay with me hopefully forever.

When reaching the airport, I’m worn out even before the real journey home has started. Security check is a quick, shoeless affair, copies of my boarding pass and passport are faxed to the shipping agent, so customs will trust that I’m gone for good, and I will get my carnet deposit back. Also fork out 3,000 yen for a luggage cart, because my back already suffers from dragging things here. I should have hired natives for carrying all this stuff, and maybe even carrying me. Now that I think about it, a BMW riding butler with all the luggage wouldn’t have been a bad idea either. The Nimbus really was so much more fun without all the dead weight.

Amongst minor miracles I count the only half full 747, this meaning I can choose for myself a seat where my long legs can actually be stretched out. To the extent I don’t mind people tripping over them, while I try to sleep. This is incredibly much nicer than when I flew the other way, and the flight attendants are in a great mood to, having only half their usual workload. For the first time in eight weeks I hold a knife and fork in my hands; the Japanese part of this trip ended the very moment the wheels left the ground. I surf the 15-20 movie channels available, and hear Bob Dylan’s new, boring album on the headphones.

Even Heathrow is easy this time, and quick, as there’s only just time to quickly catch the connecting flight. At least for me; there’s some kind of déjà vu in Copenhagen, because just like on the flight out, my check-in luggage has decided to spend a little more time in London. Perfectly fine with me, I had dreaded the thought of manhandling all that weight home on the train and the bus.