take your seat belts off

Everyone is smiling when we get on the plane. There are no masks now, no passenger locator forms or tests and it’s a warm, sunny day and all this seems to have put everyone in a good mood. Gradually we all sit down and put on our seat belts. We’re sitting with our seat belts …

“Are we going to die, Mum?” — that night, twenty years ago.

(This story is also on Medium. Follow me here.) I remember him falling into a river and clinging to something – a leaf or a stick – to stay afloat. He was injured, scared, and all on his own. The current was sweeping him forwards and ahead he could see he was hurtling towards the …

The Woman Who Taught Me How to Walk (Again)

“One Euro one, six for six. Very, very tasty, very, very good!” So went the song of the samosa salesman. He was a youngish guy of South-Asian origin, and I wondered why he sang in English rather than Catalan or – heaven forbid around these parts – Spanish. I normally find these hawkers irritating when …

Fun and Interesting Things that have Happened on Planes

I often find that planes and airports can be interesting places. I've long felt that I do some of my best writing while flying. Being removed from my everyday life, having the time to think and being faced with so many people from all over the world put me in a reflective mood. But apart …

Watermelon for the Runner

You know those people you get in hostels who are by themselves and yet seem to be at the centre of everything? This guy seemed like that, firing off jokes to people who walked by or other people sitting around us, chatting amicably to the staff. Despite his age, he seemed to be in his element. He turned back to me and said, “well, are you gonna come and tell me about yourself or what?”

Flying: A Love/Hate Story

I was flying home for Christmas. It was icy and windy in Leeds and the plane was getting thrown about so much that at one point we seemed to be approaching the runway side-on