One of the most interesting people I’ve met since starting this blog is Sam, a thirty year old Ukrainian SEO expert from DomainOptions.net, the company that helped me design this blog. Sam recently visited the United States for a conference on Search Engine Optimization and to get here he got a a plane for the first time. He agreed to document the experience and do a “trip report” for me about his experiences. I got to sit down with Sam on Sunday and interview him about this journey and here is the first part of a series of posts about his experiences. All the images in this post are courtesy of Sam.
Sam lives in Kharkov, Ukraine, a city that will be hosting some of next year’s Euro 2012 matches, which I plan on attending. They describe Kharkov as “…the birthplace of Soviet nuclear technology and is renowned for sporting excellence – it has produced more than 40 Olympic medalists.” But his first flight required him to take a 7 hour overnight train ride to get to Kiev’s Borispol Airport, which in airport code speak is KBP. The train stopped at Borispol station which was quite a distance from the actual airport. Sam arrived at the train station at 4:30 am, and still needed to get to the airport. So Sam took a “Ukrainian style taxi” which he described as an old rusty Soviet style car where the driver picked up another passenger without asking his permission. This didn’t seem to faze Sam, as this as apparently this is how taxis roll in Ukraine.
Sam and I talked about his thoughts about his virgin flight from KBP to MUC, in coach on Lufthansa. He requested (and got) a window seat.
I’ve flown coach on Lufthansa many times, and in my humble opinion, their food in coach is almost always inedible. Once they served corn beef & cabbage which will has yet to be topped as the worst in-flight meal I’ve ever had. My in-flight meal on Air Koryo, the state-owned carrier of North Korea was bizarre and contained two desserts, was at least palatable. And Sam’s first in flight snack box appeared promising.
Sam was also unimpressed by Lufthansa’s food. His meal consisted of sandwich and a chocolate muffin. He described the chocolate muffin as “worse than old, hard Russian bread called sukhari, which translates roughly into “old crusty bread that lasts for weeks.”
I suppose the closest US equivalent would be the day old kind you’d use for croutons. Deplaning in Munich was the first time Sam used a jetway, since in Kiev they passengers board via buses and stairs.
But what was most interesting to me were Sam’s impressions of inside Munich’s airport, which he describes in this clip from our interview:
I’ve noticed these things at the Munich airport myself. I’m a frequent traveler and find myself irked when there are no healthy dining options or wifi at any major airport. Sam, a first time flyer who wasn’t put off by a 7 hour train ride just to get to the airport was just as shocked. He wanted to try some sort of authentic German food, and access to wifi. Simple requests, I think, considering I now take into consideration if gogo inflight wifi is available when choosing my flights.
Next up in the 30 Year Old Flight Virgin series: Sam’s first trans-continental flight on Lufthansa from MUC- BOS (Boston’s Logan Airport).