📓 Somewhere over Iceland, someone screamed for help
Field Notes
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Last week we flew home from Copenhagen, and somewhere over Iceland a woman behind us started shouting, "Help! Someone help me." I had my headphones on and a movie playing, and it took me a few seconds to realize the shouting wasn't coming from the movie. When I finally turned around, one of the flight attendants was bent over in the aisle, and on the floor next to her was a man who had just walked out of the bathroom and fainted.
There's a particular kind of helpless you feel on a plane when something goes wrong. You can't leave, you can't call anyone, and if you don't have medical training, the most useful thing you can do is stay in your seat and keep the aisle clear. So that's what we did. The rest of the crew came hurrying down the aisle asking if there was a doctor on board, or a nurse, or anyone with medical training at all, and before they finished asking, people were already getting out of their seats. A few of them worked at VA hospitals. A couple were ER nurses. I had walked right past most of them on my way to my seat without giving them a second thought.
They got the man awake and started running tests on him right there in the aisle. One of the flight attendants was on the phone with the pilot, and we could hear pieces of a conversation about an emergency landing. For a while it felt like the plane was just hovering over Iceland while everyone decided what to do. In the end he was okay. He didn't have any medical history that explained it. He had simply stood up and fainted, and a group of strangers made sure that was the worst thing that happened to him that day.
Sara and I have flown a lot over the years, and this was the first time we'd ever been on a flight with a medical emergency, so of course I went looking for numbers once we landed. It turns out this happens on about one out of every six hundred flights, and fainting is the most common reason. What surprised me most is that when the crew asks if there's a doctor on board, about half the time there is one, and they step in as volunteers. The airline doesn't pay them, and nobody makes them do it. They hear someone ask for help, and they get up.
I think about how I usually move through an airport. I'm watching for my boarding group, guarding my space in the overhead bin, and quietly hoping the person in the middle seat isn't a big talker. Most of us treat the people around us on a plane like obstacles between us and our seat. But every one of those people has a story, and some of them have spent years learning how to keep a stranger alive, and they carry that onto the plane with them like it's nothing.
We didn't save anybody that day, and we didn't need to. But we walked off that plane a little more grateful for the people we share these small spaces with. They're usually a lot more capable, and a lot kinder, than we give them credit for. So the next time you're on a crowded flight, take one of your headphones out and look around for a minute. You might be sitting next to exactly the person somebody is going to need.
P.S. Have you ever been on a flight where something like this happened, or been the one who stood up to help? Hit reply and tell us about it. We'd love to share a few of your stories next week.
🎥 From the Archive
Canada Built a 146-Mile Bike Trail Where Every Stop is a Restaurant
Our RAGBRAI video needs a little more time, so this week we're pulling one from the archive that keeps the bikes rolling. The Véloroute Gourmande runs from Montreal to Sherbrooke, with over 100 places to eat along the way. We rode it over four days with Kramer, and Quebec in the fall is a pretty good time to start planning a trip like this.
Watching that crew work over Iceland got us thinking about what happens when something goes wrong far from home. Most health insurance does very little for you once you leave the country. SafetyWing is travel medical insurance built for people who are on the road a lot, and it's there for the things you hope you never need, like an emergency room visit or a hospital stay in a country where you don't speak the language. You can sign up online before you leave or partway through a trip, and pay for it every four weeks for as long as you're gone.
Sweden opened a travel agency for introverts. Pop-ups in Berlin, Paris and London, with a quiz where one answer is a cinnamon bun. We spent weeks in Sweden and nobody made us small talk once.
Backpack won Fat Bear Week.You clicked the bracket last week, so here's the finish. A 20-year-old bear who avoids drama and fishes from the same rock every day won by about 5,000 votes. We relate.
U.S. passports are going online. Starting in 2027, first-time applicants will be able to apply, upload a photo and pay online, then track it from their phone. If you already have a passport, nothing changes. It stays good until it expires.
⚡ Going Is 40% Off Through Wednesday
Every flight deal below comes from Going, and right now you can get 40% off your first year of Premium or Elite with code FLASH40 at checkout.
There's also a feature a lot of people miss. After you book a flight, you add it to Going with what you paid, and they watch the fare every day. If the price drops, they send you the steps to claim the savings, and your seats and times stay the same.
Ecuador's biggest city and the main jumping-off point for the Galápagos, on Copa through Panama City, October through December.
We find all of these through Going. It's worth setting up alerts for your home airport. Most of these deals won't last long, so if one catches your eye, don't sit on it.
Is there a city you wish we would feature for flights? Email us back and we'll put it in the next email.
💬 From the Replies
Last week we asked about the place everyone told you to love that didn't land for you. A few of you had answers ready.
Rich & Vicky on Telluride:
"Who pays $4.90 for a donut that normally would cost $1.29? Or $4 for a 12oz soda? Don't even think about trying to park somewhere, that is expensive too (if you can find a spot)."
Aryn on Savannah:
"I'd had a complete Pinterest board for years with tons of itineraries, suggestions, coffee shops, you name it." ... "We were ready to go after 2 hours." ... "I'm glad we went and figured it out for ourselves so I could stop romanticizing it!"
Connor on Colorado's famous mountain towns:
"Denver, Vail, Breckenridge, Estes Park (all the most popular mountain towns). The less popular and further to reach ones are sooooooo much better!"
Keep them coming!! We read every one.
Thanks for reading Field Notes. We're trying to make this a space worth saving, full of things we'd actually send to a friend.
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And if something in here made you laugh, think, or book a flight, we'd love to hear about it. Just hit reply or tag us @chrisandsara_ on Instagram.
Want flight deals worth booking and travel updates that don't sound like marketing?
Join 10,000+ readers getting Field Notes. We're full-time travelers finding deals we'd actually book, bookmarking things worth your time, and writing honest updates from the road. You get the deals, the links, and the real stories—weekly.
