My co-writers on this blog suggested I keep a log of my long flight on Virgin Australia to Los Angeles from Brisbane (I have another flight from there to New York, but you already know how to survive a 5-hour flight, I’m sure!). I’m not sure if they realize what a boring flier I am. Truth be told I have a fear of flying, which I regularly overcome when flying stands between point A and point B. In this case those two points happen to be on opposite sides of the world.
Point being, any flight that gets me to my destination safely is a good one for me, so you won’t find me complaining much about rude passengers, people taking their shoes off, crying babies (actually I sympathize with the babies, and as a father of a 22-month old, I sympathize with parents too…sometimes doing things to get them to stop crying makes them cry more!), or any of those other common topics/complaints I see a lot in flying stories.
Me? I plan to read an e-book, maybe watch the second and third Bourne movies for the first time (watched “Identity” on the way over…never seen it before. It was good!), and time my sleep to hopefully minimize jet lag as I go back in time to Los Angeles — The strangest thing on this trip for me will be taking off at around 11 a.m. and landing in LA at 6:30 the same morning! I have some ZzzQuil to hopefully help with timing my sleep; I plan to take it about five or six hours into my flight.
As I sit on the plane before takeoff, I guess I can recount my airport experience. I got stopped at security for having a fork in my bag. Funny thing about that fork…I was at my company’s home office in Brisbane and only had a short while to grab lunch. I borrowed the fork from the office and ate during a meeting. We were kicked out of our meeting room by others who had booked it, and in my haste to leave, I threw everything into my laptop case and left. Inadvertently, that included the fork, and there it stayed until it caused a minor issue at the airport.
And we’re in the air. Takeoffs and landings get to me the most, but only a little more than being at cruising altitude, if I’m going to be honest in this log. It’s strange though — even if you get a bit nervous on flights like I do, you have to be able to take a glance out the window and take in the amazing views afforded to you.
High above the Pacific Ocean. This was actually taken on the flight to Brisbane…I didn’t have a window seat on the flight back.
The person in front of me has taken advantage of the seat’s reclining ability early on. Again, I’m not really bothered, but figure this is the type of stuff I’m supposed to log and comment on. So, take that, person in front of me.
I go back to the e-book that got me through takeoff. It’s Glen Cook’s The Black Company, if you’re interested. Excellent fantasy novel (series, really) that captures a lot of the gritty realities of the mercenary company it chronicles while adding many of the fantasy elements you’d expect from the genre (scary magic, epic battles, and cool names like Bonegnasher and The Hanged Man). It’s written in first person by a character that is keeping a journal of the Company’s exploits. Between this log and that book, I’m basically jumping back and forth from journal to journal, so if one influences the other and I get a bit carried away with my prose, you’ll know why.
12:05 p.m.: I should keep track of times I realize. I’ll stay in Australian time the entire way in this log so you get a true feeling for how much time is going by. I’d say I’ve been on the plane for about an hour already; in the air for a bit less than that.
I’m always the idiot who looks around during turbulence seeking silent assurances from the herd. No one looked back except a little kid who looks about two and probably has no concept of danger yet, so I’d say we’re all good. Also, we got the card to fill out for re-entry to the U.S. Just once I’d love to check that, yes, I have more than $10,000 in any currency.
12:12: That kid I mentioned before is making constant…I guess I’d call it Jurassic Park dinosaur sounds. I feel like joining him. The flight would probably be more fun if we all just made sound effects at each other the whole way.
12:20: Movie selections on Red (Virgin’s onboard entertainment): a decent total number and a decent mix that ranges from kids’ movies, to action, to drama; even one on Steve Jobs. Nothing that screams “must-see” to me, but a solid overall selection. Four Superman movies, which leads me to believe someone at Virgin must be a big fan! Also, I had no idea Marlon Brando was in the original Christopher Reeves Superman. And also, why Johnny Mnemonic???
12:50: We’ve been instructed to place our seats in the upright position for meal service. Person in front of me did not comply. I forgot the meal options…one was vegetable lasagna, which naturally has me thinking of Seinfeld. Meanwhile, in my book, the Black Company has been forced to retreat from the battlefield. More when the meal cart arrives!
1:15: No meal cart yet. I’ve decided to check out the listening options on Red. I’ve started with Beck’s Morning Phase…isn’t that the one that won a Grammy recently, sending Kanye into another predictable rant? The album’s not bad. Very mellow, and soothing for a nervous flier. I’ll say that I like Beck’s 2008 album Modern Guilt better though. Check it out if you haven’t heard it…Danger Mouse helps produce it, so it has that sound. The title track crushes it.
1:30: Looks like foods arriving. They made the person in front put the seat up, so that drama that never was is over. Exciting, huh?
I selected chicken cacciatore (thank you, autocorrect…you take a beating for your unintended changes, but don’t get enough credit for the good things). It was good. Coming from a Maltese family, naturally I spread mine across the bread they provided and ate it that way.
We also had cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and olives in a salad, in addition to a side of rice, and chocolate mousse for dessert. I wasn’t sure why we got two crackers until I noticed the cheddar cheese, so that was a nice surprise.
You gotta dip the bread!
Decent meal. I read a blog somewhere (editor’s note: it was a story on Peter Greenberg’s blog) about how your taste is dulled in a plane and that’s why you don’t get a “wow” moment with airline food. But I’m not a foodie. This was perfectly fine by my standards. Keep in mind those are standards that make plenty of room for fast food burgers, so take my opinion for what it’s worth.
Also, I lost my in flight entertainment headphones on the floor. Had to pull them up awkwardly from where they’re plugged into the seat in a way that felt like I was pulling up a pot of Alaska king crab on Deadliest Catch.
Back to my book, then time for Bourne Supremacy once they take the food away.
2:05: “Country Down” on the Beck album is a solid song. Really well done. The bass ventures high up on the neck at times to add some interesting sounds…slide guitar, vocals done in a lazy sort of way. I like it.
2:20: Well, lunch is over and the seat in front of me is back again. ALL the way this time. I have to admit to being a little inconvenienced by that. Oh well, movie time.
One point of humor…I said I don’t get bothered by stuff on planes, and I don’t, but everything I mentioned is around me: dude in white and pink socks standing in the aisle next to me, kid making dinosaur sounds, and lady who jammed her seat into my lap (who is also barefoot and decided to stretch in a way that put her foot nearly on my tray table). Never had it all at once before. Fate’s testing my bold statement of indifference!
4:30: Movie’s over. Supremacy was good until they got to Moscow. A bit predictable, but still fun. I have about an hour to kill before taking ZzzQuil and trying to go to sleep. My plan is to get 8 hours before landing at 6:30 a.m. California time. Then it will be like I slept a full night until morning. We’ll see how that goes.
I dug into a bag of potato chips I bought at the airport. Always buy extra food and water on planes — that’s my sound advice, and I consider it more important than entertainment, pillows, or whatever. Although in the Brisbane airport, a small bag of chips and a medium-sized bottle of water sets you back like $6.50 Australian. A bit steep if you ask me, even given the exchange rate. I actually bought two bags of potato chips since they’re small and the flight is long. I’m regretting not going for that crunch bar instead. I just felt like it wasn’t durable enough…it’d crumble or melt or something. I’d kind of like it now though…
Back to my book for a bit; then hopefully some sleep.
I should note I have about 65% battery left on the laptop and 84% on this iPad. I’ve been keeping this log on the iPad with Notes, since it has a longer battery life and I need the laptop to play my DVDs.
Some power saving tips: dim your screen as much as possible. Most importantly, close all programs you’re not using. Some are hogs. I find Google Chrome to be a bit power hungry. And, of course, spread your entertainment out among devices.
5:10: ZzzQuil away. Figure I should be asleep by around 5:30. I’m just going to read until then; maybe get up and stretch my legs. That’s important on a 14-hour haul by the way. Turbulence picking up now and then, too, but hey, you can only control what you can control.
6:00: Sleep hasn’t come so easily, but just as well…they brought out sandwiches. Grilled cheese with some extra goodness inside (I’m not sure what it is, to be honest). I’ll read again and see if I get tired enough for sleep.
10:15: Awake for breakfast (so much for eight hours!). Scrambled eggs, sausage, home fries, juice, a fruit cup, and a muffin. It was OK. Powdered eggs can only go so far, but they were seasoned well enough.
I’ll blame the time of day for the strange purple glow across this picture of my breakfast. Those are eggs on the left, by the way.
10:41: Should be landing in about an hour. Quicker flight than I thought; faster than on the way over. I’ll just read until we’re there. Also listening to Red entertainment: Rolling Stones, Hyde Park Live.
11:55: Preparing for landing. So that’s how you survive a long flight I guess. No big secret…stretch when you can, sleep when you’re able, and try to entertain yourself.
If you’re a nervous flier, maybe think about keeping a log like I just did. I have to say, it helps to spill your thoughts onto a page and babble a bit in the written word (you might annoy your neighbors if you babble out loud).
12:16 a.m.: On the ground and that’s a wrap!
