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Sensazione di volo
  • Christopher May
  • Stuart Edser
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  • Christopher May
  • Stuart Edser

Sensazione di volo

UK and Italy, 2026 Read more
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    🇦🇺 Bayside Council, Austrália
    Sensazione di volo
    François Doorstop will watch our hall while we are away
    A family of travellersSo much of Sydney International is familiar now, like this glasswork at Arrivals1The eye of Sauron in the last light of the dayThe Cloud 9 Bar overlooking the runwaysThe Amazon tracking photo of our house without us

    peak emotion

    Yesterday in Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    It's a glorious travel tradition of mine to have a good cry at Rydges Sydney Airport hotel. I've done this for every overseas trip I've ever been on, I think. Maybe it's a way of releasing the stress of preparation; maybe it's a way of saying goodbye; maybe it's because I am scared of being away from home; maybe it's because I feel like I don't deserve nice things. I've thought about it a lot over the years, and I really can't account for it, so suffice it to say that this is how Christopher May leaves the country: in tears.

    The transfer to the airport was absolutely luxurious, thanks to Mum and Dad driving *up* from Gwandalan then *down* to Botany. We made it from our front yard to Smithy's Bar in pretty much 2 hours - much faster than it would have been had I driven, and *much* faster than the train. We laughed and chatted and had some dunch together. Watching them walk away was a big pang. Last time we were in London they were with us.

    Saying goodbye to our daily visitors - the magpies, and the cat Haku - was sad. It has been a cold winter, and little Haku has often been sleeping in front of our heater, or on one of our armchairs. When we arrived at the airport hotel, I got an email from Amazon advising that a cancelled package had been delivered to my front verandah. The tracking picture showed Haku asleep on his spot. I wonder how long it will take him to understand that we are gone for the forseeable. He's a pretty craven little shit, so maybe three days.

    We have arranged the most gradual exit from Australia that we have ever done. A whole day at Sydney airport before departure. It will be interested to see if this gentle departure makes a difference to the arrival.    Read more

  • Sensazione di volo
    "Sensazione di volo 1, 2, 3" by TATO, Italian futurism from 1929
    a bag is a miniature house

    butterflies

    August 12 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    These are familiar sensations: the exhaustion from planning, the triumph of crossing items off a list, the pang of loss looking at the magpies, at the sheets of my bed, at the marigolds I grew this year from seed. I am going away.

    And every time I go away, I find myself in the ironic predicament of wishing I could stay. This, after all these months of craving change, suddenly I get to the cusp of it and I want to cancel the whole trip, make a nice cup of coffee, sit on my side of the couch, and practice my Portuguese for a few months.

    But London is calling, and won't be denied. The last weeks of summer in the UK will give way to an Italian spring. Stu and I have packed for the heat of London and Tropea as well as the cold of Thurso and Milano. This trip has a quality of repetition - we are spending almost identical days in the UK - but also of reversal - instead of starting in Italy, we will end there, as the weather cools.

    We are ready, I think. We have assembled the money and medication, the documents and the electronics, the garments and the trinkets, the books and art supplies, the toiletries and perfume. Life in a bag on wheels.

    I have gotten through the feelings of remorse that I have not transformed sufficiently. In many ways, I'm cured of my fantasy that Europe is intrinsically edifying or maybe I mean: that I am capable of being edified. I have formed my own relationship with the place at last. Whatever giddy feeling I have now, it's not a fear of the unknown.

    Somehow, sitting up in my bed, listening to the familiar soundscape, I feel like I'm already on the plane.    Read more

    Trip start
    August 12, 2026