Kev writes:

To a great extent, just flying at all is a pleasure. Each time you
feel the wheels lift off the runway, you marvel again just a bit that
this is possible at all, and you are thankful that you live in such an
era.

I'll agree that take-off is often the best part. That's how I know that I
like aviation. People with a fear of flying dread take-off more than anything
else; people who like aviation tend to think it's the best part. While I had
some misgivings about the manifest fragility of the first aircraft on which I
rode (a crusty old 737 in the early days of America West), I still thought the
take-off was great (although the whole flight was fun).

I think most of us would prefer to have the time and money to fly long
distances. But if you're limited to a single weekend day, it means
flying around your home base mostly.

So where do you fly? Unless one has some truly varied geography nearby, it
must get awfully familiar very quickly.

Then again, I still fly around my hometown. Sometimes knowing the area makes
it more fun, I guess (and oddly enough it seems to enhance simulation
sometimes).

Still, planning out a long trip makes for good exercise. I for one,
would love to fly to the Bahamas, so I read with interest anyone's
reports in that vein.

How complicated is it to fly to another country, as opposed to staying within
the U.S.?

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