I arrived at the airport with the usual ball of excitement, fear, and tension churning in the pit of my stomach. I know that for most people, this is an enjoyable part of the trip. Personally, this is the precise moment when my ticket starts to look more like a betting slip, guaranteeing only the possibility of travel. What if I were to trip up the curb as I left the taxi and break my leg? What if some hitherto unidentified computer glitch erroneously assigned me to the no fly list? A veritable buffet of potential pitfalls could see me standing shell-shocked in a departure lounge, wondering why I'd bet 30,000 THB on such a perilous hand.
