FLIGHT BAW207

I twiddled open the blind. It's a bright blue January sky today, clear and cold with that little hint of Spring.

A tiny flash of light caught my eye, glinting in the morning sunlight - a plane of course, heading west, packed with adventurers, holiday-makers, business people in suits flicking through in-flight magazines and attendants filling up coffee cups... I imagine.

I wonder where it's going? I said to myself.

So I found out. There's a website called FlightRadar24.com and it shows you a map of every registered plane in the sky in real-time. You can find out all kinds of information including the exact position, altitude, speed, designation, origin and destination of a flight.

It turns out my little glinting plane was flight BAW207 on its way to Miami. Well, it's still on its way actually. A quick check of the site tells me it's just launched out over the West Coast of Ireland and is travelling at 539mph on a bearing of 286 degrees with an altitude of 35,000ft. Miami eh? Where Will Smith chills out in his 90s convertible, where off-beat cops chase drug-fuelled criminals in a screech of tyres and brake dust; where men with moustaches drive speedboats in huge white circles and beautiful women rollerblade along beachside paths under tall green palm trees.

I wish I were launching out across the Atlantic. My current speed is 0.0mph, I'm on a bearing of roughly North (though it's hard to tell) and I'm cruising at an altitude of 70cm (thanks to my office chair). The only adventure that awaits me is my forthcoming trip to the kitchen to find out what juices are stacked up next to the Nestle 3000.

I think perhaps I need to change my attitude. First of all, there's no point complaining about something if you're not prepared to do something about it. Even then, complaining doesn't really help. I need adventure not a whingeworthy soapbox which you all get fed up with after a few blog posts of me bemoaning a situation which essentially I am completely in charge of. It can get tiresome can't it?

So, it's time for a plan, an adventure that's more than just a pipedream. I think I have to make it happen, climb aboard that little glinting plane and punch through the clouds of mediocrity into the beautiful unknown skies above. I have an idea...