Avoiding that flight to fiasco

From a seat perched on high, the world can take on a deceptively peaceful appearance. Details that may be obvious from ground level can appear less severe from the air.

What homeowners may consider to be a devastating flood might look no more significant than a wide body of calm water. Similarly, the existence of a drought that has ravaged a wide region may strike the traveler in flight as an arid, but beautiful, scene.

The unwary pilot or passenger who travels from far has no frame of reference as to what the landscape normally looks like. How could they know?

On closer inspection after landing, the human being who finds themselves in new, strange surroundings can become far more aware of the hardship and brutality of the situation on the ground — be that natural or man-made.

Last week there was an example of this sort of thing. It happened in a far-off land. A place poorly understood by most Americans. A destination filled with people and systems our parents distrusted and sometimes feared. But before we address that, let’s consider the following:

To travel is to grow and learn. It is worth noting, however, that not all growth is painless. Not all knowledge brings joy. Those who travel broadly best beware of what is on the other side of that hill. Curiosity did kill the cat, after all.

In the age of aviation we humans have benefited from the ability to get from here to there quickly. That’s true on a pretty much global scale. We can literally circumnavigate the globe in two days — a reality that puts virtually every spot on the planet within reach of every individual who wishes to travel there. Time, distance, and cost are the variables. But then, those have always been the obstacles to travel.

The first sailors to leave the perceived safety of the shoreline to travel over the horizon stumbled blindly onto wondrous lands, assuming they survived the journey. After braving wind and waves, sunny days when they were becalmed and torrential storms that tossed their boats like bathtub toys, they came to the shores of foreign lands where trade could be established. Or war could be waged.

The trip might take days, or weeks, or months. Some early explorers led their crews on adventures that lasted years. Those who returned home were often hailed as heroes. Those who did not were commonly forgotten by history, even as their families mourned their loss.

There was a time when my great-grandfather Frederick traveled to America aboard a wooden ship powered by the wind. His wife Emilie did the same, although on a different ship on a different timetable. They traveled to this country, met, married, and established another link in the long human chain of life that led to me being here, as well as my children, and grandchildren.

Life goes on.

They traveled slowly, as was the technological limit in the late 19th Century. In the late middle 20th Century my father was one of those few who actually did circumnavigate the globe in just a couple days. Pan Am Flight 50 took off in October 1977, circling the Earth over the poles rather than the more conventional equatorial path one might expect. From start to finish the trip took just 54 hours, with the Clipper New Horizons finally landing in San Francisco, where their journey began.

For most of us, travel works out just fine. It’s an adventure. A truly memorable experience we share as stories and photos with our friends and family.

Sure, there might be the odd discomfort here and there. Perhaps you’ll catch a stomach bug while traveling. It happens. Pan Am pilots called their gastronomic distress “Delhi Belly,” because so many of them got sick while in New Delhi or on the trip home.

People are resilient, though. Even sickness and lost bags can become an entertaining story when reflected on years later.

The big challenges come for a minority of us. But the problem can be considerable. When we attempt to board an aircraft, or deplane on the other end of the trip, we are under scrutiny. If we are less than diligent in our plans and actions, this review of our person and belongings can shift our entire future in a direction we would rather avoid.

Unlike the old days when Frederick and Emilie could pack pretty much whatever they wanted into their duffel or trunk, the prohibition of certain substances, apparel, or actions at various destinations around the world is well known now. Or at least it should be.

Whether we consider the plight of Paul McCartney being jailed in Japan for nine days in 1980 and the cancellation of a fully sold-out Japanese tour because Sir Paul was toting nearly half a pound of marijuana in his bags, or the recent sentencing of WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in a Russian prison for possessing a small amount of cannabis oil, there is danger lurking out there for the careless traveler.

Politics aside, these are real people who have found themselves in real trouble for making what many of us would consider to be a simple, if not stupid, mistake. Celebrity can make some of us targets. Those folks can become convenient vehicles for a foreign government or legal system to send a message to the world about their hard-line approach. Those who do not possess the benefits of sufficient celebrity may very well feel the full burden of those systems and a horribly altered life as a result.

For American general aviation pilots, Mexico is just on the other side of the Rio Grande, a body of water that is smaller and far less intimidating than many would believe. South America is a picturesque island-hopping adventure away. Canada lies right there above Detroit, waiting to welcome us. Our options are many. But those options come with strings. Be aware of them before you go. Always.

Travel if you can. Enjoy the many freedoms our technology and relative affluence afford us. But do not become the ugly or entitled American when you go. The price can be high — sometimes far higher than you or your family is willing or able to pay.