leavin on a jet plane...

I've been flying on airplanes since I was a baby, and flying by myself since I was five years old (to visit grandparents on the other side of california). I absolutely LOVE flying. It made me feel very grown up, very independent. I've always loved the people watching in airports. The engineer in me geeks out over man's ability to defy gravity and mimic birds. Even as a kid I've always been good at entertaining myself, and being alone. I'm never the super talkative one on an airplane. But I spend my time reading and listening to music, gazing out the window. I require window seats when possible. I also geek out about clouds. I took a meteorology/earth systems science class my second year of college and have been obsessed with clouds ever since. Discovering the inner workings of nature give me a greater appreciation. To be above the clouds during the flight is amazing, especially when you can see the tip tops of mountains peeking through.

I've never flown first class, and the longest flight I'd been on before europe was 5 hours to hawaii.

I'll admit, 11 hours to london was not the easiest thing in the world but there are a couple things that helped make it manageable. Let me just say that Virgin Atlantic is the best ever! My friends flew a different airline (our flights actually left at the same time from the same airport) and my experience sounded infinitely better, even if it might have been slightly more expensive. First thing I secretly loved: British flight crew. I love an accent and it was a wonderful precursor to the place I was going to visit. I flew economy but the seats were quite spacious. I purchased my tickets about 2 months before so I didn't get a window seat, but I was glad to have an aisle seat for bathroom breaks! My seat was close to the bathrooms too, pro: not far to walk, con: there was a lot of people traffic by my seat. I got a blanket and socks, a pillow, toothbrush and toothpaste and I think a notebook and pen. Each seat had it's own individual TV (if any were broken then they would bring you a portable DVD player), headphones complimentary. There were options of tons of movies, tv shows, music stations and games (that you could even play against other passengers on the plane). The food was spectacular. My flight to London was overnight so we got dinner and breakfast plus multiple snacks and all-you-can-drink beverages. The food tasted fresh and nicely cooked, not reheated. They even offered red/white wine (and didn't card! I suppose I was over international waters so laws are different :) ). I highly recommend Virgin, there is not one thing that disappointed me.