To see and explore new places far far away from home is one of the biggest and most exciting adventures life has to offer. You can’t wait to witness new sights, embrace the culture differences and leave all your worries MILES behind you. But to earn this pleasure, you must first defeat the LONG haul flight. You may psych yourself up with dreams of sleep, good films and delicious plane food… but there’s hope, and then there’s reality!
- Hope… you’ll get a decent sleep
- Reality – Very very very limited sleep
- Hope… there’s a few good films
- Reality – You’ve already seen all the decent ones
- Hope… there’s some special long haul tasty food
- Reality – Regular plane food
- Hope… to have a good read of your travel guide
- Reality – Stuck talking to guy that annoyingly slept like a baby
Hope… you’ll get a decent sleep
It’s a looooong flight and although you are tempted to set a film marathon world record you know deep down that the sensible idea is to pace yourself. Plus, to avoid the dreaded jet lag you plan to get a solid few hours in to prepare your body for the new adventure ahead.
Reality – Very very very limited sleep
In the remix of R.Kelly sexual classic, ‘your minds telling you YES. But your body… your bodies telling you NO, not comfy!’ You’ll try every which way, but sitting up sleeping is just not a winner. Be prepared for a ridiculous amount of fidgeting, a sore neck, achy legs, crying babies and slobbering in public. All reasons why a long haul flight solid sleep is a big battle.
Hope… there’s a few good films
“Ah finally I can sit back, relax, no distractions and enjoy some great movies. I really hope there’s that new one with…” Keep those pinkies crossed.
Reality – You’ve already seen all the decent ones
There’s hundreds of options, but deep down you’re disappointed. You’ve watched most of the good ones at the cinema or on Netflix. But don’t panic, there’s always Friends… AGAIN! Or some random documentary that actually turns out to be pretty damn good. (We recommend ‘The Beatles’ one!)
Hope… there’s some special long haul tasty food
It’s longer than normal, so will dinner be bigger and better than normal? Mmm what could it be?
Reality – Regular plane food
Don’t get me wrong, it tastes pretty damn good. But you’re extra sleepy and hangry at 40,000 feet, so the air hostess delivering it instantly becomes your new BFF.
Hope… to have a good read of your travel guide
You’ve not done THAT much planning because you have hours to kill on the plane. Your imaginary schedule looks a bit like: film, eat, sleep, read, notes, plan, arrive.
Reality – Stuck talking to guy that annoyingly slept like a baby
So the schedule totally went out the window. The person next to you looks like he’s having the best sleep of his life yet your legs won’t let you get comfy at all. You begrudgingly watch an average (yet secretly really enjoyable) Adam Sandler film and then plan to hit the book straight after, when BAM… “Hey I’m Jeff.” Stuck in a convo. Let’s hope Jeff is interesting and has some good tips!
So there you have the cold hard truth. Long haul flights are a challenge, but remember the saying ‘the tortoise wins the race’?! It may take a while to get there, but the reward will be well worth it. Once you arrive in some far away land, you’ll undoubtedly make amazing memories to last a life time, and the flight will be a distant memory… so get booking!
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