May 14. Excited to be traveling. I used to have so much routine that I could leave for any place in the world within five minutes. Now I feel like a small-towner. The chances of me forgetting something important are high.

Taking off from JFK unexpectedly emotional. The rumble in the parts of the plane already moves me to tears. Jamaica Bay, shining bronze water, long-wave patterns on a fine-wave background. Freighters on the Atlantic. And the clouds. We look at this like children flying for the first time. But it’s not the first time. We are back in a world mode we had lost. Endless longing to get further than our bodies, to take whatever next steps our species can.