Airplane trouble
While I was on a plane bound for sunny spain, (Wow, that rhymes, I think I should be a poet) I came to some conclusions about flight travel. Some of you may think that the whole travel/airplane thing is fun. Well it is... but only for about two hours (or till you are done with the first in-flight movie). You start out excited about traveling, but that sentiment quickly changes into angst.
Fortunately I was flying on a Boeing 777, which is by far the nicest aircraft to fly the skies. I had my own television with a plethora of movie choices. This is both a blessing and a curse. It is great on the way back from Spain, because you are supposed to stay awake to counteract the jet lag once you arrive. However, when you are flying east, it is far better to sleep on the flight. Unfortunately, I am in a sticky situation when the movies are before me...
Yes, yes. I know. Just take a sleeping pill and slumber away. It sounds great in theory, but in practice it works very differently. First, you take the pill and wait to get sleepy. Then you start getting anxious because you think that the pill is not working. This of course only wakes you up more. Finally you get drowsy and start to doze off. Inevitably, five minutes after the moment you fall asleep, you will be woken up by the person next to you getting up to go to the bathroom. So you get up, let them by and sit back down. You sit there for 5 minutes, trying to stay awake until that person comes back, so that you aren't shaken awake again. Of course, Murphy's law decrees that this person is the one person on the flight with a chronic bowel disorder. So you stay awake for 20 minutes until he comes back.
Just as you drift into dreamworld once again, the flight attendant (invariably a southern woman named Shannon, who calls you "hun") wakes you for dinner. You are about to say that you don't want any, but she ignores you and puts a tray in front of you, making it impossible to sleep now that 80% of your space has just been taken up by "food" on a flat piece of plastic. Eventually the tray is cleared, and relaxation is (at least in theory) possible. But alas, your body has been working so hard to keep you awake that it does not want to let you sleep. Of course, this will also be the time in the flight when all the movies are done. So you sit there, staring at your own sweaty palms like a pot head, contemplating performing a ritual japanese suicide with the plastic silverware that is given out with meals.
No, I do not think that the sleeping pill is usually a good idea. I have tried other methods of relaxation as well (many of which are available in the "award winning in-flight magazine), but none seem to work. It is on flights like these that I wish I had one of those hibernation chambers that all sci-fi spaceships seem to have; they get in them, and sleep until arrival. But lets be realistic, most 777's that I have been on don't have those practical little details.
So, for now, I will stick to my tried and true flight strategy: comfortable clothes, a book, a glass of wine, and the movies.
Fortunately I was flying on a Boeing 777, which is by far the nicest aircraft to fly the skies. I had my own television with a plethora of movie choices. This is both a blessing and a curse. It is great on the way back from Spain, because you are supposed to stay awake to counteract the jet lag once you arrive. However, when you are flying east, it is far better to sleep on the flight. Unfortunately, I am in a sticky situation when the movies are before me...
Yes, yes. I know. Just take a sleeping pill and slumber away. It sounds great in theory, but in practice it works very differently. First, you take the pill and wait to get sleepy. Then you start getting anxious because you think that the pill is not working. This of course only wakes you up more. Finally you get drowsy and start to doze off. Inevitably, five minutes after the moment you fall asleep, you will be woken up by the person next to you getting up to go to the bathroom. So you get up, let them by and sit back down. You sit there for 5 minutes, trying to stay awake until that person comes back, so that you aren't shaken awake again. Of course, Murphy's law decrees that this person is the one person on the flight with a chronic bowel disorder. So you stay awake for 20 minutes until he comes back.
Just as you drift into dreamworld once again, the flight attendant (invariably a southern woman named Shannon, who calls you "hun") wakes you for dinner. You are about to say that you don't want any, but she ignores you and puts a tray in front of you, making it impossible to sleep now that 80% of your space has just been taken up by "food" on a flat piece of plastic. Eventually the tray is cleared, and relaxation is (at least in theory) possible. But alas, your body has been working so hard to keep you awake that it does not want to let you sleep. Of course, this will also be the time in the flight when all the movies are done. So you sit there, staring at your own sweaty palms like a pot head, contemplating performing a ritual japanese suicide with the plastic silverware that is given out with meals.
No, I do not think that the sleeping pill is usually a good idea. I have tried other methods of relaxation as well (many of which are available in the "award winning in-flight magazine), but none seem to work. It is on flights like these that I wish I had one of those hibernation chambers that all sci-fi spaceships seem to have; they get in them, and sleep until arrival. But lets be realistic, most 777's that I have been on don't have those practical little details.
So, for now, I will stick to my tried and true flight strategy: comfortable clothes, a book, a glass of wine, and the movies.
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