This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2044.
Do you like airplane food?
Easy conversation starters about travel style.
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When you fly on an airplane, do you recline your seat?
We all love to travel, but today you'll get five conversation starters to ask someone their opinions about plane time.
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Hey, Michelle, I've got a question for you.
Oh, can't wait to hear it.
What is it?
Well, do you like flying?
Some people love it.
Some people hate it.
Some people just do it because they have to.
What are your thoughts on flying?
I love flying.
I mean, especially flying to a vacation, right?
Like flying home, I don't like as much.
However, I do love just like being on the plane.
I feel like it's a time of peace because I can't do anything.
I mean now on like for better or for worse, you can do, you know, you can be on your computer, you can blah blah, blah.
But at the same time, it just feels like I'm here.
I have nowhere else to be.
Yeah.
Right.
So like um, I just kind of like it, but there's nothing more exciting than you know being on a plane to somewhere.
What do you think, Lindsay?
Do you like flying?
I agree.
I think airports are super exciting.
We've talked about this before.
We both share that perspective.
I like flying because... Well, lately, I've been flying a ton.
But I like flying because I don't really try to work.
I don't try to connect to the internet on these flights because I've had some bad experiences.
Paying for it didn't work and then I got frustrated.
So now I just load up on movies.
I just go nuts.
I just bring my iPad and I load up tons of movies or I always... use the seat back entertainment.
And I just junk out.
And then that just kind of gets me through.
So that's what I do.
So it's kind of a little break from life.
Because you're right, you can't do anything.
Right?
Yeah.
So however, I will say that now flying with two children is different.
And it's not a break.
But even so...
I like it.
When we flew back, we were in Paris and London.
And when we were flying back from London, when we flew there, it was a red eye.
So both of my kids just slept.
Yeah.
The flight was at like 4 p.m.
So everybody was awake.
So that wasn't but it was still it was still fun, but it was a little bit.
I was a little bit crazy.
Yeah.
It's always tough when you go to Europe because most of your flights at least from the East Coast, especially going to Europe, Western Europe are always going to be red eyes most of the time.
Right.
And so you're going to end up up for 48 hours.
You're going to have to stay awake that whole day and then go to bed early.
Oh, it's tough.
It's tough.
But it's exciting because then you're in a new place.
Exactly.
So you have that adrenaline going.
You're happy.
Yes.
So I like it.
So guys, we're going to be talking... a lot.
This is, you know, a big travel week, right?
On All Ears English, right, Lindsay?
Yeah.
Tomorrow and tomorrow's episode we're going to bring you an interview that we did with Jared Kamrowski.
And he's giving us the updated playbook for booking global travel in 2023.
He shared some secrets, some things that have changed since pre-pandemic.
Things have changed a little bit.
There are new methods that we can use to find cheap flights.
So listen tomorrow.
Make sure you are hitting follow on Allers English so you don't miss Jared's interview tomorrow.
But for today, we're going into how do you talk about travel?
How do you talk about your airplane preferences? is really what it is, right?
Yes, exactly.
Because this is a huge connection topic.
I mean, Lindsay and I, we're going to make this a really a conversation episode, and you can, just because what we want when we have these kinds of episodes, we want you guys to see how much you can connect over something like this.
Like Lindsay and I have not had this conversation before.
We have some questions, but you're going to see like, how animated and excited and fun of a topic it is.
That's really just a great one to bring up.
This is a fun.
These are really fun conversation questions we're going to go through today because people have opinions, especially if they travel a lot.
They have strong opinions about these things.
Because when you're in that plane, you're stuck there.
You're stuck there potentially for 12, 15 hours, if you're traveling from the US to Asia, for example.
So you've developed strong opinions on these topics.
And again, I just want you guys to take away from All Ears English, this week in particular.
The world's waiting for us.
Let's get out there and travel again.
Michelle, you and I have just been, I've been to Egypt, you've been to Western Europe.
The feeling you get when you come home from that trip is just magical.
I don't know.
It's incredible.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
And guys, we want to remind you to go to allearsenglishcom slash app APP to get the All Ears English app.
Guys, there's going to be a lot of vocab from today.
And on this app, you get the transcript as you're listening.
And then you get bonus words that you can put into your own personalized power vocab list so you can stay organized and have your vocabulary in one place.
Yeah, this is gonna be awesome.
And there's also another episode that we did in the past episode 1203 called Flying How to Ask for a Seat Swap?
So that is a very, very specific skill you're gonna get in that episode.
But today's skill is gonna be a little different.
Again, you can use these phrases and questions to talk with a friend about their airline preferences.
Could also get into a conversation, I guess, with the person next to you about this.
But we may do another episode another day about how to start that nuanced conversation with the person next to you.
Like, how do you know if they really want to talk to you?
What are the signs?
Right?
How do we do it?
Yes.
Okay.
Well, actually, let's start with that, Lindsay.
I mean, do you like to talk to the person next to you, or do you have any experiences striking up conversations with the people next to you?
I think things have changed over the years a little bit.
Everyone's got like, like I said, I just junk out on movies.
So I've got my earbuds in all the time.
I've got my iPad in front of my face.
So I do it a lot less than I used to.
But I will say a little fun fact about me.
When I was in college, I ended up briefly dating someone that I met on an airplane.
Oh my gosh.
Like for a few months.
After I met him on the plane, I met him on the way back from Virginia and to Connecticut flying and he was from there and we ended up dating brief for a couple months.
But that's kind of fun.
So I guess I do strike up conversations, I guess you do.
Wow well, that is very interesting.
Yeah, I feel like um it's, it's hit or miss.
I mean, with like starting those conversations, I remember like on this past flight home there was a couple next to me Um, actually the wife was in a different seat, and then blah blah blah blah, blah.
We did a whole shuffle and then she sat next to me in the middle and I was kind of talking to the husband and then the wife was in the middle but I I felt like I really wanted to talk to them.
Yeah.
I could tell they had come from, where were they traveling from?
I want to say Egypt too.
And then they had like a layover in London and then, but the and then, like they were, so I think they were exhausted, because then they also had to go to San Francisco.
So I think they were just exhausted.
So like I could tell it wasn't going to happen.
But then on another flight I uh back from Florida.
Once I had a whole long you know heart to heart with this woman.
Um so yeah it's it's, it happens.
But So Lindsay, here's another conversation question that people might have strong opinions about.
Do you like airplane food?
Oh, it so depends on the airplane, Michelle.
I guess it also depends on which class you're sitting in.
I do not really do first class, but people that I know have done it for business, travel and or for just life.
And it's just always so much better.
It depends on the airline.
I think typically, you know, I've had great experiences with Turkish Airlines food, actually.
I'm going to call out Turkish Airlines.
Hello, Turkish Airlines.
Yes, I like your food.
See, we have these strong opinions.
What do you think, Michelle?
What are your thoughts on airplane food?
Not like in love with it.
Sometimes like...
You know what?
Okay.
It's not so much the food that bothers me.
It's when they try... It's the timing of the delivery of the food.
Do you ever... Because when they try and get you adjusted to the new time zone... Yeah, it's weird.
You turn the lights on, serve breakfast.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's like 8 o'clock at night and you're eating breakfast and you're like what just happened to my life?
Like...
It's just like that's what everyone eats because it's there.
It's in front of you because you're bored.
Because you're like, well, I guess so.
But I know.
And yeah, that's always an awkward time, like especially when we got on the red eye to Europe, and we're sitting there and you know it's like dark and then it's light.
And you're like, well, I want to sleep now.
Do we have to everyone turn on the light?
Yeah.
Yes, it is kind of a mess.
You're trying to regulate your body, but you should be sleeping, but you should be awake.
And it's kind of a mess.
Yes, I totally agree with that.
I mean the thing about airplane food for me is what I said before is like, especially on these long flights, these 12-hour flights to Asia or Africa right,
So we're just bored.
And so food is in front of us, so we eat.
That's me.
Yeah.
There's nothing else to do.
So I just kind of eat the food and then sort of watch a movie.
So it's usually not great food, except for like I said, Turkish Airlines is good food.
But yeah, I have strong opinions on that for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you recline your seat or no?
I do.
Another strong opinion.
Some people think that like you shouldn't do it because it's rude.
I disagree.
You know, I think it's, it's, there's a recliner on the seat for a reason.
Like it, if it were not legitimate to recline your seat, you wouldn't be able to, right?
Like you wouldn't have that mechanism.
And I think, just getting a little bit more space.
You know, sometimes I'll look back and just say like Hey, you know, do you mind if I go back?
But generally I don't find that it really impacts me if someone reclines in front of me.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, that's my opinion on that.
I think it's totally legitimate to recline.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be a button.
So do you always ask before you do it?
Most of the time, I try to look back and kind of gesture and just sort of... But, you know...
Again, I think it's okay to recline your seat in an airplane.
I'm going to stand by that.
Yeah.
I agree with you.
I think it's okay.
Sometimes I... I would say I usually do it just a little bit.
But sometimes I'm just like... I don't know.
I'm kind of weird on planes.
I don't know.
I always want to watch a movie.
And then I look through the movies on the screen.
And I'm like... Restless mind.
But then I...
I very rarely end up actually watching a movie because I think I'm always trying to sleep or just awkward.
I don't know.
Just having a moment of peace.
I don't know.
It's weird.
I don't even know what happened, but somehow the time goes by.
Well, yeah.
So we all have kind of different ways that we try to fill that time.
So reclining your seat is kind of, you know, everyone has their own opinion on it.
Right.
And, you know, it's debatable for sure.
But yeah, that's my thought on it.
Yeah.
Yes.
Okay, Michelle, what would be the next interesting conversation starter here?
Well, we kind of have already been See.
You know, what's interesting about this is that through our natural conversation, we were going to additional questions.
Yes.
So like the next question is, do you watch movies on the plane or read?
Right?
Right.
But we already got into it and it just shows you how... easy it is to just flow into these different topics when you're on a plane or talking about being on a plane um so these are so so natural but um do you follow the map oh no it's too slow i sometimes i'll flip back to it but i can't sit there and just watch it it's too boring for me but it's fun it is fun i will say when you realize that you're over like greenland or something yeah or the arctic circle i don't know if we go over that uh just you're over a place that you imagine just being there and it just blows your mind that's the thing about travel it just blows your mind i don't know it's wild yeah yeah for sure it's amazing it's amazing and what about ears lindsay do your ears pop or do you ever have any ear pain no i i don't really have any issue with that i i don't have any kind of motion sickness sometimes know you'll feel that pressure when you first take off and you sit back and you kind of feel like you want to sleep almost when you're going up you know what i mean and so yeah i just sit back but generally i don't have any issues um you know this yeah what about you michelle how does it how does your body deal with the elevation like going up so 28 dozen feet or however high we fly it's not so much about going up i used to have a lot of trouble with going uh with the descent because my ears would just like, I don't know what would happen to them, but I would have terrible, terrible pain as a kid.
I would just like sit next to my mom and cry.
It felt like my head was going to pop off.
It was terrible.
And so then I used to, I used to call myself the coolest person on the airplane because I would do like a nasal spray, chew gum, like have ear, you know, like ear, plugs to try and to try and help and i would just be like i'm sitting on a plane like and like it's so ridiculous and um so but i i think i've i mean i've i had it so bad where like i had to get off the plane once and it was so bad like i had to go get like a shot from a doctor to help me i don't know i don't know if it was a stare i i don't know what it was but i did Yeah, I've seen that happen to people before.
Yeah, I know.
Like people in my family, I've seen them suffer with that before randomly.
Like it won't happen one time and then it'll happen another time.
Yeah.
I don't know.
It's kind of interesting.
I don't know.
I haven't had it in a while.
My ears do pop and I'll have to swallow or chew something sometimes.
But the hard thing is now to watch my son because he'll kind of complain that his ears are hurting and I can't tell how bad.
So I remember we were trying to distract him uh, when we were going to Florida earlier this year and we were like, oh you, it helps if you go, like this guys, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see what I'm doing and like just circle your ears.
We were just trying to do something to like distract him and make him okay, that something was helping.
So yeah, that can be, that can be very painful, so but yeah yeah, for sure you know it's fun.
Talking about our preferences, I mean, I'll just kind of transition are you?
Are you afraid of flying at all, or have you ever been afraid of flying?
Because People also go in and out of this.
So, I mean, yeah, I know people who just don't fly ever.
And I, when I was younger, I mean, this sounds terrible, but I remember I was afraid.
And I actually have this memory.
I was going to Florida with my dad.
And I think I told my friend, I liked this guy named Sean.
Okay.
I remember telling my friend, like, if anything happens to me, tell Sean that I liked him.
Yeah, tell him that I liked him so he knows.
That's so funny.
I still have this memory.
And like, yeah, I mean, I think everyone has this like little thought in their mind, right?
But no, I think I'm mostly excited.
But I, you know, of course, it's always there in like your head a little bit.
What about you?
Yeah, i'm really not.
I'm really not.
I i do have people in my family close to me who have become afraid of flying at different times, like they'll grab my hand when there's turbulence, or they're just afraid of it and have gotten over it, have gotten better at it.
It doesn't stop them from flying right, which is the important thing um, but you know what you could do, guys.
So this is a great topic.
Maybe another day we could transition into more, into another topic in the aviation industry.
Believe it or not, i actually, On my last flight from Boston back to Denver, I watched the documentary about Boeing, everything that's been going on with Boeing.
And this is more of a societal conversation you guys could have, could get into.
But Boeing is a troubled company right now because of the two accidents they had with the 737 MAX.
So you watched that while you were flying?
I watched that on the plane.
Yes, I'm crazy.
I guess I'm not afraid of flying.
But it goes into how Boeing merged with another company and then their safety checks really went downhill.
And then these two crashes happened.
And so this is another topic we could go into related to travel, talking about the company of Boeing versus Airbus, and who is on the upswing and what's happening there.
If you look at the graphs of growth, Airbus is going up, Boeing is going down.
It's really interesting.
It's fascinating what's going on there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Very interesting.
Yeah.
I'm going to have to research more into it.
Maybe I'll watch that documentary, but not on a plane.
Not on the plane.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
I must be the only one who could ever do that.
I don't know why I did, but... Anyways, Michelle, what's the takeaway for today?
What do we think?
Well, the takeaway for today is these are great conversation topics.
Like... it's just so much fun to talk about these things and people have strong preferences.
And I think that's why.
And it also evokes stories to further connect.
So we really just wanted to do this conversation episode, but we also did a lot of vocab today.
I mean, talking about turbulence and airplane food and all sorts of things.
So I think the takeaway is that this is a great connection topic and you should be talking with people about this.
You really should, because it gets you excited, it builds connection, because you both hopefully, love travel, so it bonds you when you talk about these things that you both love.
And today's episode, as well as yesterday's episode about luxury items both, as you said Michelle, shed light on a larger identity.
Like they, let us talk about ourselves without talking about ourselves.
Do you know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's the cool thing about these two topics today.
And tomorrow get ready for my interview with Jared Kim Rowski to learn how to book travel post pandemic.
I love it, Michelle.
Good stuff.
All right, Lindsay, this was fun.
We'll talk more about air travel soon.
All right.
Talk soon.
Bye.
Bye.
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