Those of you who have travelled a significant distance on a commercial airliner to reach some far-flung part of our planet will know what I am talking about when I say that air travel can be a cantankerous beast. On the one hand it can be the medium of excitement and adventure, but on the other it can provide you with the most uncomfortable and monotonous of times for the longest periods of time.
I certainly find the anticipation of embarking upon a long-haul ride on an airliner to be stimulating and exciting. Settling into the seat and having charming flight attendants bring you various goodies ranging from headphones to warm face washes sets the tone for the trip which stretches out in front of you.
It certainly helps if you have a personalized television screen on the back of the seat in front of you. You can watch your choice of movies and television programmes, or you can even keep tabs on the progress of the flight by watching the channel which constantly updates your whereabouts on the map and gives you information with respect to the altitude of the plane, the temperature outside the plane, and whether or not we are flying with the benefit of a tailwind or are flying into a headwind. I confess to having sat for hours quite fascinated by this, but I am probably in a minority of one or so.
If the plane on which you are travelling does not have a personalized television, you may still be able to watch a bigger screen at the front of the section in which you are seated, but you do not get a choice of programmes this way, and it is only worth watching if you are close enough to the screen in the first place.
A good book is always a reliable distraction in any situation that requires you to be in a small space for a considerable amount of time. If you have a laptop computer with plenty of battery charge you could watch your own movies or play computer games if that is your thing, or do whatever it is that keeps you amused with a keyboard in front of you.
Perhaps you could write an article about the joys of flying!
In-flight meals certainly get a bad press, but I must say that I have usually been pretty satisfied with the quality if not the quantity of meals that I have been served on board commercial airliners. I am a vegetarian, and when I book my ticket I make sure that the fact that I am a vegetarian is noted, and when on board the plane one of the first things the attendants do is to confirm with me my meal requirements and place a sticker on my seat. I find that the meals are usually quite nice and appropriate to my needs.
I also quite enjoy being able to look out of the window during a flight, so I always try to obtain a window seat which is not above the wing. If there is not too much cloud about it can be a breathtaking spectacle at times looking at the vast vista below. I find it a little annoying when at night the attendants require you to close the window hatches for some unknown reason. It is not as though they are going to let much light in at night and keep the other passengers awake.
Airline toilets are usually in strong demand, but if you time your run right you should have little trouble with this necessity of life. The flush mechanism makes such a strong swooshing sound and seems to suck so efficiently that you get the feeling that if you inadvertently pressed the flush mechanism while still on board you may lose a vital part of your anatomy.
When you are within an hour or two of your ultimate destination, that feeling of anticipation returns. The excitement of entering a foreign country and becoming immersed in a different culture simply by virtue of exiting the plane makes you remember why you decided to do this in the first place. Travel is an exciting and stimulating activity and getting to the destination can be complementary to being at the destination in terms of the overall experience.
Author: Adrian Broadby
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Import duty tariff
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