Returning to the busy hum of expatriate life is always a strange mix of emotions. One day you are walking through the lush green fields of your hometown, and the next, you are staring out at a wide desert horizon. After a beautiful vacation that stretched over 100 days back in Kerala, the time had finally come for me to return to Saudi soil.
Thanks to standard procedures, the re-entry process was completely smooth and hassle-free. Before heading home on leave, I had already completed both doses of my vaccine in Saudi Arabia, which cleared up a lot of travel red tape. For this journey, I booked a ticket on a special charter flight arranged by Book My Trip Holidays for the United Nurses Association (UNA). What I initially expected to be a long, tiring, and boring flight turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable and deeply reflective journey.
A Lucky Start in Kochi
My luck kicked in the moment I reached the boarding gate at the Kochi airport. When checking in, I had requested a window seat, hoping to catch a few final glimpses of the coastline.
When I finally boarded the aircraft and found my row, I received a wonderful surprise: the seat right next to me remained completely empty. In fact, it turned out to be the only vacant spot in the entire cabin! For any frequent traveler, an empty middle seat is like winning a mini-lottery. It gave me that extra bit of "breathing room" and privacy we all dream of on a long international flight.
About two hours after taking off from Kochi, our plane smoothly touched down at the Mumbai airport. This was just a brief, one-hour technical halt meant for a quick crew change and refueling. Passengers weren't allowed to disembark, so I stayed in my cozy corner and looked out the window. Watching the busy ground crew scramble across the tarmac while the humid Mumbai air shimmered over the hot runway was a fascinating way to pass the time.
Mid-Air Tea and Memories
Once the plane took off from Mumbai, roared into the sky, and leveled out over the deep blue waters of the Arabian Sea, my stomach began to rumble. Hunger was setting in.
Because this was a specific charter flight, I knew IndiGo wouldn't be serving complimentary hot meals. I had fully intended to grab a heavy snack at the airport before boarding, but between the security checks and document verifications, time had completely slipped away.
| FLIGHT SNAPSHOT | |
|---|---|
| Route | Kochi (COK) ➔ Mumbai ➔ Jeddah (JED) |
| Flight Type | UNA Charter (By Book My Trip) |
| In-Flight Snack | Hot Chai + Homemade Unniyappams |
| Mid-Air Movie | "Sunny" (on Amazon Prime) |
To quiet my hunger, I waved down the cabin crew and ordered a cup of hot tea. As the flight attendant handed me the steaming cup, I reached deep into my hand luggage and pulled out a small plastic packet. Inside were a handful of Unniyappam (sweet, fried rice fritters) that had been lovingly prepared and packed by my family back home.
There is something incredibly nostalgic—and perhaps a little bittersweet—about biting into a traditional, homemade snack while cruising 30,000 feet in the air. Each sweet, cardamom-spiced bite felt like a final, physical link to my kitchen back in Kerala, bridging the gap between the life I was leaving behind and the one waiting for me ahead.
Clouds, Cinema, and Coastlines
For a long stretch of the journey, the world outside the window vanished. There was nothing to see below us except a vast, endless ocean of thick white clouds that looked like fluffy cotton candy. Inside the cabin, the lights were dimmed, and most of my fellow passengers had surrendered to sleep.
Since I wasn't tired at all, I propped up my phone, opened my downloaded videos on Amazon Prime, and watched the Malayalam movie Sunny. Watching a film about isolation and personal journeys felt incredibly fitting for a solo expat flight.
By the time the end credits rolled, I glanced out the window again and realized the scenery had completely transformed. We had left the Arabian Sea far behind and were now flying high over Oman. The view below was a stark, dramatic contrast to the dense greenery of Kerala:
- The Mountains: Rugged, sharp, sun-baked peaks stretched across the land, with winding mountain roads carved into the rocks looking like tiny white threads from our height.
- The Shifting Colors: The color palette of the earth changed rapidly. As the afternoon sun hit the rocky terrain, the ground shifted from deep, dark browns to brilliant, burnt oranges.
- The Desert Horizon: Soon, as we crossed into Saudi airspace, the rugged mountains smoothed out into an unbelievable, golden expanse of sand. Every now and then, I could spot a lonely circular green farm or a straight-as-an-arrow highway cutting directly through the desert, stretching out toward the horizon.
About the Author
Ikbal Valiyathodi is the founder of Ishabil.com, a travel blog sharing budget-friendly travel stories, stopover hacks, and real experiences from around the world. He believes travel should be simple, honest, and possible for everyone.
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