On the Road: Notes from LAX

I was flying to Sydney via Los Angeles and Brisbane, but at the moment it didn’t matter. What mattered was: I was heading out to see the world.

I touched down in LAX via the Greyhound of the West Coast skies, otherwise known as Alaska Airlines. Heading outside, I blinked at the flashing lights of the hotel shuttles and taxis.

It was my favorite time of day—early evening when the sun sets and swarms of passengers arrive for red-eye flights from the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

I watched a...