Who's the most interesting person you've met/sat next to on a flight/train?

Pjon

Late 80s or early 90s, on the train from London to South Wales and listening to the two people on the table opposite have a conversation...

She was Dutch, probably in her 50s. The bloke opposite was asking about where in the Netherlands she lived etc. I can't remember which city she said she was born in - Amsterdam or Rotterdam, maybe - but she said she'd been evacuated out during the war to a nice house next to a bridge over a river, which turned out to be on the route of Operation Market Garden. She didn't see much of the action being hidden in a basement, or something! I wish I could remember more of the conversation, but it's a long time ago.

rze99

A few. I never acknowledge who they are I just leave them be.

trains

Pat Jennings - former Arsenal and NI goalie. Sat next to me on the tube about a decade ago. Looked fit and well groomed. 
Christopher Biggins - going to the Edinburgh Fringe. Had a bright yellow jacket and e made sure everyone new he was there. 
Louise Jameson - actor on a train going to London Bridge. 

Planes
Michael Praed actor - Robin Hood, Prince Michael of Moldavia - back in the 90s -going to LA. He just read and slept.

dining/hotels

Phillip Glennister (Life on Mars) - couple of weeks ago he sat to the side of me in the Jersey Grand Spa Hotel for breakfast. Aparently he's in the Bergerac reboot. He was talking with another actor who I didn't recognise about the script.
Sally Magnusson - author TV News / Presenter - hotel dining in Iceland.
Nigel Havers - actor - next table lunch dining in Edinburgh restaurant by himself


 

TTony

Only on a flight or a train?

Thats a shame, if only you’d included the #15 (LT) bus.  Or Ronnie Scott’s.  Or the helicopter ride out to JFK one Friday.  Then I could have told you all about the time when I …..

mrkb

Sat next to Sara Cox and Leroy from t’ Prodigy at Highbury

MrSwanson

Empty seat, bliss

EricTheWeary

If I can count the ferry (and not quite next to) but five weeks ago:

https://imgur.com/a/b3ZeH55

spark240

I played golf with a random guy in Spain once, very chatty and a nice guy, back at the clubhouse turns out he was the CEO of some global bank....proper big shot.

mrkb

EricTheWeary said:

If I can count the ferry (and not quite next to) but five weeks ago:

https://imgur.com/a/b3ZeH55

You sat next to the Pet Toilet?

EricTheWeary

mrkb said:

EricTheWeary said:

If I can count the ferry (and not quite next to) but five weeks ago:

https://imgur.com/a/b3ZeH55

You sat next to the Pet Toilet?

Well, I had a dog with me. Why JRM was stood in the pet toilet I don’t really know. 

jonnyburgo

A friend of mine, a jazz guitarist was coming back from a tour in Brazil, gets on the plane and across the aisle on the same row is Brian May. My mate just sat there for the whole 10 hrs or whatever too overwhelmed to even move in case they made eye contact and he said something stupid (like I love you probably)

Musicwolf

jonnyburgo said:

A friend of mine, a jazz guitarist was coming back from a tour in Brazil, gets on the plane and across the aisle on the same row is Brian May. My mate just sat there for the whole 10 hrs or whatever too overwhelmed to even move in case they made eye contact and he said something stupid (like I love you probably)

I attended at event hosted by Lotus Cars, held at The Louvre, on the eve of the Paris Motor-show.  Brian May was sat at the next table (he was introducing one of the new cars).  Nice guy and very approachable.

Brio

Back around 2000, getting on a flight to Western Sahara. All was chilled until Kate Adie boarded.
Nothing happened though at the far end so even she has holidays.

sev112

In 1989, flew out to Amsterdam to start work after uni, only 2 people who put anything in the hold were me with 1 months of clothes in a  suitcase, and Rohan Rafferty the Ryder Cup golfer heading out to the Dutch open. We ended up chatting for ages waiting for our stuff, he was extremely pleasant even though the media painted him as moody

Offset

bobacco said:

roundthebend said:

They were both dentists

Of course they loved The Crown. 

(Alright, alright. I’m leaving…)

Dare I ask if they played guitar?

NelsonP

rlw said:

I sat on a bench next to Damon & Georgie Hill at West Byfleet Station.

I once beat Damon Hill (and his son) in a motor race.

And I met Steve Howe from yes in a bar. Chatted to him for ages  he wouldn't let us leave, said they'd keep bringing drinks because he was Steve Howe. Not sure anyone recognised him really.

Offset

Couple I've forgotten.

Roland Gift.  Victoria Line tube.  Ignored everyone.  Looked fucking grumpy.

Elvis Costello.  Queue at Heathrow check-in.  Appeared normal.

Kurtis

There was a guy across from me on the train the other day kept popping his glass eye out.

He was pretty "interesting".

Roland

If you travel then inevitably you will travel alongside famous people. Some don’t want to talk (Michael Portillo). Some do (Michael Parkinson). Some are good company. Some get upset if you don’t pay them attention (a Coronation Street actress whose name I’d never heard of).

The most interesting people I’ve met haven’t been famous. A girl who’d been trapped under water by the Indian tsunami, only surviving because friends dived down and broke the wall down while she held her breath. She had an interesting view on life and priorities. 

Then there was a girl whose boyfriend had been killed in Paris. She was flying out to identify the body, and to make arrangements to bring him home. No plans, no accommodation, no understanding of what was involved, running on hope. At the time I was running a project for the funeral industry, and had contact details for French funeral directors, and also a British firm whose business is international body recovery. 

On a flight to Belfast I sat next to a nervous looking man. I asked if he was alright. He held up his three fingered left hand, and explained that he’d been in bomb disposal. He hadn’t been back to Belfast since the explosion.

RaymondLin

Don't distinct memory of talking to anyone but one time heading to Glasgow from Birmingham on a FlyBe flight I sat next to a girl in her 20's.  During taxi on take off she suddenly turns to me and said "Can I hold your hand?"  I gave her a weird look and said "whyyy?".  "I am scared of flying."

She proceed to hold my hand during take off up until the plane level off and then we talked for a bit, she worked for one of the political parties.

viz

Specifically while travelling I’ve had interesting times with Thom, Ed and Johnny in Copenhagen airport, Maxim Vengerov and Vag Papian on a plane, Valentina Lisitsa in St Pancras, and Jimmy Page on the Gatwick Express. Oh, and a beer with Greg Lake in the BA lounge. Jimmy was the most interesting coz we sat together and chatted for half an hour.