Frequent Flyer Support Group Anonymous - well sort of!

[Cult of one]

Life on the road - By Me

“Welcome back sir. Just one night?” the front desk clerk enquired.
“Yep.” Oh.. “Thanks”… Just one night here, another night another city he thought.
Travel is overrated. Hard to enjoy it when your life is 1000km away.
Another room, towels folded, bed sheets ridiculously tight, tv too complicated with a welcome message and in house movies to be bothered with. $9 for Pringles… might as well go out.

“Oh hey mate, how was school today?”
“Yeah, good.”
“Do anything good”
“Nah”
“Hand in your bank book?”
“Yeah. Mum let me have a lunch order today. We ran out of bread”
“Is mum there?”
“Mum! it’s dad”
“Well your brother just vomited tell him I’ll call him back later”
“Dad she’ll call you….”
“Ok I heard that. Thanks mate, go and help your mum. Love you”…

The helpless feeling of being so far away is a constant companion on the road. You can control your day but how to help from so far away? A listening ear at the end of the phone late at night? Always unsatisfactory though you both put up the façade that it’s fine, tomorrow everything will be fine.
“I’m not asking you to fix anything, you just need to listen… call me in the morning I’ll be ok”.

Red wine in bed helps, for now, but the morning brings the fresh realisation that you are missing the life of your family. You hope they miss you but the way life overtakes the day to day you wonder…

“Hey everyone, I got the early flight!”
“We’re having dinner. Didn’t make any for you, sorry”
“That’s ok…. I had a sandwich at 3 o’clock…”

“Dad can you read my stories tonight?”
“What are we reading?”
“It’s a book on comets and meteors”
“Ok, where do we start?”
“Um… I got really angry with my friend today.”
“Oh yeah, why?”
“He pulled my shirt and tried to push me down. I didn’t let him though. Mum said to talk to you because she’s very busy”
“Mum does a great job when I’m away that’s for sure..”
“ I don’t think she likes you being away Dad..”

. Do you have a bug in my house.?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Finally on Friday afternoon I get told it is not SARS but a really nasty strain of Influenza A. I get a name again. I am still not flash but I get out Saturday and escape from the aliens!

You didn't mention whether you said g'day to Elvis while you were there!

I must admit to feeling a bit low when I started this thread. I knew someone would be along to make me feel so much better about my relatively uneventful travels! Thank you kindly!

 

[marki]

Influanza A is a killer it’s lucky your alive and not takenbyaliens.

 

[Reise]

My two cents

• time changes - stay up as long as you can and try to get close to forcing an alignment, but find that as I am getting older the jet lag tends to hang around for longer
  
• the currency changes - use credit cards, have since 1980 when I made my first major journey overseas and realised what a waste of effort travelers cheques were. The approach is essentially, if I haven't been there before then on arrival I look for a hole-in-the-wall (ATM) nd pull out a bit of ready cash to get me through day one/two until I can see what the cash vs card requirement looks like. Cash is managed to minimise what comes home and that goes into a ziplock bag for the next trip. Also avoid money changers (especially at airports) like the plague.
• the family dramas at home - can't do anything about them so try to let it roll off, but make a point of daily calls to the +1 for chats when she's not with me. The kids are already on their own so that tends to be less of an issue than some of the younger families but I was there with young teenagers and there is no easy fix - you will miss out on a lot;
  
• the cultural differences - always remember when you are not at home you are a guest in someone else's. The cultural differences, while at times disagreeable must be worked with and it is important to remember that we are not here, there or anywhere to change other cultures. We can show the benefit of alternative ways but ultimately the choice of adoption needs to reflect ownership of the idea if it is going to be successfully implemented;
  
• the side of the road on which to drive - never been an issue as it is always someone else doing it.
  
• the lack of support network - that's a pain, sometimes you just want to pass the buck but can't
  
• the relationships developed - leave yourself open to all comers for friendship, it can be inspiring but be prepared to that people always move on and some people can't do the long distance thing in terms of communications i.e. they are dependent on face-to-face so don't begrudge them that and some will fall by the wayside accordingly;
• alcohol - live and let live, if it helps you get though so be it, but just don't impinge on my space or expect sympathy if you end up feeling worse for wear. I will on an evening flight have a glass of wine with dinner or maybe a whisky but for longer international hauls it has the making of to much hassle. Solo drinking just doesn't float my boat.
  
• duty free - avoid anything except spirits, just not worth it. Try and pre-plan and pre-purchase so you can just pick-up on return to Oz find it can knock a good deal of time of the queuing in Duty Free and often there are extra bonus discounts to be had. Especially if I am staging though Oz on the way to somewhere else I will buy it, and then pack it in the case/hold for the next leg - hate having to carry stuff unnecessarily.
  
• noise cancelling headphones - as someone else basically said, they're a must, never hit a plane without them,
  
• clothing - nothing I hate more than washing on the road, there are so many better things to do. So as my wardrobe ages especially in terms of underwear i.e. the socks get a hole or the elastic in the jocks starts to go, these get set to one side for future traveling disposal. When I set of for a long trip I use these up especially on the long flights, e.g. BNE-SIN with a long layover, go hit the showers and change into clean underwear etc. which will have been packed into the carry-on. The old stuff hits the bin and it's a very liberating feeling, then its SIN-FRA and divest the next set with replacements from the suitcase. The last set before you check into a place for more than say 3 days is back into premium clothing and cycling it for washing on the last day when you are already into disposables again as you ready to hit the road.
  
• the phone - first thing I do when arriving in a new country is buy a SIM at the airport, generally these are relatively well priced and the tourist deals are often more than adequate. You could spend a while getting a better deal together but time is money and I have better things to do with mine. Once you are set up anyone can reach me on one of the data connections like viber, FB messenger etc. The only time I use Global Roaming is when you occasionally have to swap SIMS to receive an SMS code from a bank or the like. If somewhere like Europe I do look to a SIM that will roam within the EU or the like. For regular flights I keep a SIM in each country, usually somewhere past halfway I make the SIM, cash, cards conversion so I arrive at the other end ready to roll.
• Got on a roll - now to lazy to go back an cut it down, hopefully someone will find something useful in all that.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

So as my wardrobe ages especially in terms of underwear i.e. the socks get a hole or the elastic in the jocks starts to go, these get set to one side for future traveling disposal. When I set of for a long trip I use these up especially on the long flights ....

Fortunately, Malcolm Fraser didn't subscribe to the same!

usually somewhere past halfway I make the SIM, cash, cards conversion so I arrive at the other end ready to roll.

Reminds me of another one, have a dual SIM phone. It makes life so much easier!

 

[tofidog]

First up, I think I am in that category where I fly way too much for my health, but I could not imagine stopping. I often yearn for the day I stop flying, but maybe it is like retirement from any profession – you think it will be great to relax and go fishing or whatever, but it actually can hit people very hard.

Now, to randomly address a couple of things touched on so far here:

Driving cars: I have become very adept at changing sides. I actually learnt to drive in Chile, so I have some background on driving on the wrong side of the road, but it was hard when I started to flit between the two. I have come up with a cunning s.o.p. to make it even easier – when I am in right-hand drive countries I use manual cars, when I am back in Australia or anywhere else with left-hand, I use automatics. It just works for me

Sleeping: I am a disaster at this. I seem to spend half my life in tiredness. I have given up any specific technique. (I never claimed to have any answers!)

Relationships: These are frayed. But I was difficult even before I flew so much

“The W in WP”: I have learnt, as have many others, that non-frequent flyers do not really like to hear about amazing amounts of miles flown, status, top lounge access, etc etc. No-one likes someone who brags. I have never bragged, but me talking too much about what is a passion for me could come across as that. If only they understood that when I say it is NOT glamourous, they would believe me and not think I was big-noting myself. In any case, I learnt when I was a police officer not to talk about ‘the job” with other people – seemed to make other men feel lesser and thus hostile. Same with being a P1 and travel.

Alcohol: this is a hard area for me, because I have been known to consume this stuff a lot when not flying too. I actually do indeed love the intoxicating effects of alcohol – and the mind changes it brings in me. I am not one of those idiots that gets drunk and behaves poorly. I use alcohol in a far more scientific, controlled, experienced manner. (usually!) I enjoy writing, and some of the best stuff I have ever written was done whilst drinking. It changes mind processes, and in the same way it makes people lose inhibitions and do silly things, it also loosens the mind and allows much more expression and freedom of emotion in writing. So I do drink a lot whilst flying – helps sleep in bad seats, but more importantly makes so many experiences so more beautiful. The time I was hammered, listening to the right music, watching that endless sunset over the Antarctic, was truly one of the most magical moments of my life

Of course I have also suffered the inevitable dehydration, hang-overs, etc that drinking causes.

Routine: Perhaps because of my love of alcohol, I have had to become extremely proficient in the ability to travel whilst drunk. I mean not lose passport, get to right gate, etc etc. I have developed a travel routine that is obscenely organized. I actually always travel in EXACTLY the same type of clothing every time. Each and every item I carry whilst travelling, from passport to charger, to chewing gum, to teddy bear, has its exact spot / pocket. When I get my passport out of my travel wallet, it keep my travel wallet in my left hand, open, until said passport is returned to me. Boarding passes go in different places according to the order I will use them in. I have done this so many times that everything is completely automatic. I think that this is good practice for any traveler, but in my case it is absolutely vital. It is this sort of technique that has saved me a few times when due to the evil influence of fellow travelers (in that darn bar in the Emirates A380’s ) I have truly overdone it, but awoken a day later in a hotel in some city, with everything perfect.

Family: I have to travel because my home base is where we want our kids to be in school, which is not where I have to work. So obviously the away-time carries a price. I try to be home for birthdays, the usual sort of stuff. And when I get to take the family on a trip, they love the lounge access and the special treatment they get because of my status. But they wish, and I wish, that it was not this way.

Everything good in Life has a price. Maybe one day I will realize that maybe that price was too high?

All this written in the SYD Flounge, glass of champagne in one hand, whilst my wife is back at home, getting the kids off to school, before another day of housework

Why would anyone feel lesser than a policeman? That seems very odd; feeling lesser than a P1 now that I get

 

[juddles]

Why would anyone feel lesser than a policeman? That seems very odd; feeling lesser than a P1 now that I get

Now the one thing that I suspect has never existed is a P1 policeman

 

[tofidog]

Now the one thing that I suspect has never existed is a P1 policeman

 

[drron]

I

Now the one thing that I suspect has never existed is a P1 policeman

can think of a former QLD commissioner that could have afforded it but unfortunately for him it wasn't around then.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Hmmm, Uncle Terry? Those brown bags converted pretty well I hear!

 

[PumaPilot]

Hi All

I've been lucky in my life, I spent a long time working on North Sea oil rig working up to 6 weeks at a time at sea. then later on in that job I worked 3 weeks on 3 weeks off followed by 4 weeks on 6 weeks off for the last 2 years. This was all before I could phone home every night and the internet so a call home was a luxury. My wife and.

I communicated by letter, it was fast and regular.

Over the last 10+ years I've been commuting all over Australia but mostly In the top end of NT and WA as an offshore helicopter pilot. The family are used to me working 2/2 and technology has been a big help in our lives, FaceTime, emails, txt messages etc. I have close friends in the same boat, so we all look out for each other and when I'm home, we try and meet up with friends I work with for social gatherings.

My one weekness is a good pillow, I must admit that I do take a good pillow with me while I'm away and leave it in my accommodation while away.

I trusting wife and good kids makes life easy

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Hi All

working up to 6 weeks at a time at sea. then later on in that job I worked 3 weeks on 3 weeks off followed by 4 weeks on 6 weeks off for the last 2 years. This was all before I could phone home every night and the internet so a call home was a luxury. My wife and I communicated by letter, it was fast and regular.

I hear you. Communications are both expensive and difficult where I work and there is absolutely no postal service!

Email and strangely enough, AFF, is easiest for me. FaceTime, WhatsApp and Viber etc are impossible. The odd phone call for emergencies is OK.

 

[amaroo]

I love this song, and think it may be understood by those who miss so much time with their loved ones.

When I was a winged warrior - always thought this one summed things up nicely.

 

[2infinity]

As for alcohol affecting sleep, I think there are two sides to that. It is probably true that you have better quality rest/sleep if no alcohol is ingested. But that is measuring simply the difference between quality of sleep. Another measure could be between having 4 hrs of cough, alcohol induced sleep, and having NO sleep whatsoever!

Studies have shown that being tired is the equivalent of being drunk, the more tired the more drunk (equivalent). So my theory is, you may as well be drunk anyway. Drinking brings lower inhibitions and potentially some social interaction that wouldn't happen otherwise. Humans are social beings, so this is a good thing too right?

Hmmm. I'm beginning to think that alcohol plays quite a role in a FFer's life.

I am by no means a frequent flyer. Would love to travel more, but you know the usual stuff gets in the way.....work and lack of money. But for me, I enjoy having a few in the lounge pre-flight and a few more in-flight. You enjoy the passage of time (or don't notice it as much). So yes, for me at least, alcohol is just part of the journey and the journey is half the experience.

 

[Matt_01]

Life on the road - By Me

“Oh hey mate, how was school today?”
“Yeah, good.”
“Do anything good”
“Nah”
“Hand in your bank book?”
“Yeah. Mum let me have a lunch order today. We ran out of bread”
“Is mum there?”
“Mum! it’s dad”
“Well your brother just vomited tell him I’ll call him back later”
“Dad she’ll call you….”
“Ok I heard that. Thanks mate, go and help your mum. Love you”…

Reading the conversation I am wondering if this is a school subject - maybe "how to talk to your traveling parent" my situation:

Line 1 - replace "mate" with "princess".
Line 8 - assume normally a yell or a loud call to Mum.
Line 9 - assume normally a yell or a loud reply from Mum (no sibling in our case) but mum is obviously doing something in another room.

At least I am not the only one.