In the previous part of this article I covered what steps you can take to ensure your long haul flight to Australia is a stress-free and comfortable experience. As I mentioned, I am shortly going to be planning a holiday to visit family in Sydney and so I’ve got a lot of planning and preparing to do, in doing so I’ve come across a bunch of helpful tips to make sure your long haul journey isn’t going to make your trip regrettable, this next part continues with how to spend time whilst on the plane.
Assuming there’s no delays or cancellations I’ll be boarding the plane and in no time I’ll be on the flight heading east, this is probably the worst part of the trip, having to stay seated for the good part of a day, I’m not an overly active person normally but I still appreciate being able to get up and take a stroll outside. This is obviously not an option unless I sprout wings, although there’s a list of smaller exercises you can do whilst sat on a plane in order to keep the circulation going and reducing the risk of a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
As well as this the pressurised cabin is going to really make me uncomfortable due to my contact lenses, the air is really dry in a plane so I think I’ll be taking them out before the flight, the dryness of the air will also mean that you’re left dehydrated. Being dehydrated is the greatest problem on a plane, it is not unknown for people to not realise and end up fainting or passing out. Although drinks like coffee and alcohol are free it isn’t advisable since these drinks are considered as diuretics, meaning you’re going to be up and down going to the toilet all through the flight.
Going to the toilet is obviously an expected occurrence but if you’ve ever had to endure an airplane’s toilet in the past you’ll know they’re not the most pleasant facility in the world, so the less I need to go the better, it is advised that drinking plenty of water prior to flying keeps you hydrated and having some water in a bottle during your flights is a good idea especially since you’ll be on the plane for a long time.
Aside from the in-flight entertainment which always seems to involve an episode of Only Fools and Horses that I’ve seen a thousand times and a film that I probably would have never seen if given the choice there’s not much else on offer. Luckily I’ve got a few options since I plan to bring my PSP and iPod to while away the time, some flights even have electrical outlets in the seat but this tends to be a feature of business or first class travel, so if the flight has sockets then I won’t need to worry about batteries running out. I’ve always got a book which I’ve been meaning to work my way through so I’m a bit spoiled for choice in the entertainment department.
One thing I don’t want to do when I get there is feel like I need to take a nap, by then I should be wide awake and ready to do some sightseeing, especially in Singapore so I don’t think I’ll spend too much time playing music and games and get some shut eye. I’ve heard from some travel tipsters that setting your watch to the local time of where you’re going and sleeping according to that time is a great way to avoid jetlag; this is something I’m going to try out since I don’t want to get into Singapore and end up sleeping whilst my connecting flight takes off.
So if I follow the advice I’ve found out about and do some preparation then hopefully I’ll have a fairly pleasant flight. Contrary to popular belief it’s possible to get cheap flights to Sydney these days and coupled with the fact that I won’t need to pay accommodation this should work out as a pretty thrifty holiday.
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