Along the Long Way

By Nhi

I am not on the plane often. The last time was almost three years ago when I travelled with relatives. The flight was exhausting, lasting for more than fifteen hours. I remembered the last minutes when I was overwhelmed with the desperate need to get away from the closed space that carried too many lives. My skin and lip turned dry while breathing became difficult. I told myself, “I have been fooled for my whole life. The plane just looks nice, liberating and symbolically ideal from the outside. The inside is like prison.”

This time, I am also on a plane for fifteen hours straight but there are two different things. I am traveling by myself and I have photography and writing as companions.

I will be having a new project posted soon about Hanoi, Vietnam. But first, here are some pictures along the way back. (Click on the pictures if you want to see the original version on Flickr)

JFK airport. It was drizzling. Most people got their luggages wrapped with cover for fear of damage (15 bucks each). I refused to use my money.

My last look at the the endearing New York City. According to the regulation, no electric device should be turned on when the plane took off, so I limited my use (believe me). If I had snapped uncontrollably, I would have better photos.

I arrived in Taipei at 5:30, when the sun was rising. It is a lovely detail for me at least, because last time, I took the flight from Taipei to New York during sunset.

Beautiful.

Only at the last hour on the plan, did I start talking to the person sitting next to me. She is also a student from New York traveling home. Sitting next to the window, she had to make way for me to take photos. This picture reminds me of her because she likes it a lot.

Different from New York, Taipei is filled with a green color sprinkled with buildings.

Taken in Taipei airport. My favorite picture of that day. This is one of the first lights of a new day in Taipei.

Wandering around Taipei airport during my transit hours, I found many stores and restaurants. The woman in this picture intrigued me because she just stood there motionless. I kept looking at her (sorry for being weird) but she didn’t show any emotion or movement.

My black-and-white picture of the day

More light

Waiting for the next flight

Fly!