Kate, 49, and Abby, 52, struck up a conversation on a flight from New York to London in the 90s. They have been close friends ever since
As a friendly student who loved to travel, striking up a conversation on a flight wasn’t unusual for Kate. But when she boarded a plane headed from New York to London in January 1996, she had no idea she would be making a friend for life. “I’d spent the previous summer interning for Rolling Stone magazine and a publishing company in New York, and I was returning for New Year to visit pals,” she says. “I was then going back to university in London.”
She introduced herself to Abby, in the neighbouring seat. “I’d studied in Bristol during my junior year in college and fallen in love with a British boy,” says Abby. “After completing my studies in the States and training at culinary school, I was on my way back to the UK to gain experience working in restaurants for three months.” She was also “incredibly excited” to be seeing her boyfriend again.