Why does this flight have to be so long?

This is the question I would ask myself when taking my usual 2hr flight to Cape Town from Johannesburg. About 1800kms of S.A. in between. 2hours has turned out to be nothing in the air. That is just under double the time I now spend in the airports from country to country. The flights, they are grandfathers to my little 2 hour cloud trek across South Africa.

London - Moscow 5 hours or so.
London – Argentina, Buenos Aires, stop over in Brazil: 11h 20min
Brazil, Sao Paulo – Argentina, Buenos Argentina: 2h 55min
Buenos Aires – Mexico City D.F.: 9h 35min
Mexico City – Sao Paulo: 9h 20min

Long and interesting hauls across continents and ocean. And it’s only the beginning of me becoming an expert on airports and actually knowing exactly how to have a great flight, which seats to ask for depending on the type of airplane, knowing when to ask for a window seat and when not to, alternating between beef and chicken, calculating the time between the first drink and the last one before needing to empty my bladder, knowing when to go to the loo without having to wait too long in the queue, keeping passport in an easily accessible place, moisturizing every few hours and keeping skin hydrated, stretching legs and letting blood flow freely, making notes from interesting articles from the in flight magazine, which is sometimes complementary, knowing exactly where my nearest exit door is, just in case. All these things are part of the game of making each long flight one that is memorable and comfortable.

Airport time usually begins on a stressful foot, hauling 30 kilograms of luggage to the check in desk and praying that I won’t get charged for being over the limit, exchanging money back to dollars or pounds, finding food and drink, going through immigration, the hectic security checks.

London has got to be the strictest airport when it comes to security and you can feel the tension everywhere. Moscow airport wasn’t too bad, but they also made us take off our shoes when going through metal detector machines, just like Heathrow. Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Brazil were a breeze and quite stress free.

After all the official stuff we spend a lot of time in the waiting areas, after everything in the stores become not so fascinating and fatigue pays us a visit, we tend to just sit quietly with our thoughts somewhere comfortable. Thinking is one my favourite things to do, alone and getting lost in my head. Jotting down key points about an experience for my blogs, imagining the next city, going through the pictures I’ve taken and laughing to myself, it’s all a part of escaping and just living in my head for a little while and letting my body and mind relax and just be.

Airports are my new best friends; it’s all a part of the experience.