Aaaaarrrggghhhh - flying!!! Had enough/over it! [Cuddles for Juddles!]

[Bundy Bear]

If you just change that "office" for "****sville" then that is exactly it I will seek new energy, and it has helped me by making this forlorn cry out into the AFF system! Shame on you for teasing me with a home-cooked dinner....



I loved that new (but now gone) thread title - would have originally named it that if I had thought of it :/



No, "travel for leisure" is fun.





That made me laugh nervously because it made me consider a half-truth - my family is possibly happier having grumpy me catch that plane!

I now like the new-new thread title, I actually ask why it got changed back to what it was; but I think what we have now is a good compromise.

Actually there is a point.

Many people get weary of work related travel far quicker than you seem to have.

I find it rather interesting to find out what people's limits may be.

For most of us there is a breaking point, some break earlier than others, its like the holding the cup of water.

 

[JohnK]

For most of us there is a breaking point, some break earlier than others, its like the holding the cup of water.

I'm not sure if my travel is classed as business or leisure. I guess commuting is business related. Don't ever get sick of it. Sure it gets tiring but travel day like today is exciting.

I remember when work sent me on overseas trips in 2003-2005. Loved it. Nice hotels and food all paid. Wish I had someone pay for my travel now and I'd enjoy it even more.

 

[TonyHancock]

There are many here who travel a lot more than I do so I feel a bit of a fraud for posting in this thread.

I think different people find different ways to cope. I get a release by writing up my travels as an ongoing diary, trying to find humour in it. (Not always to everyone's taste of course!!)

The hardest part of almost constant business related travel is the lost connections and missed events on the home front. I have missed so much over the last few years that people just assume I won't be attending birthday parties etc. It is difficult to maintain close friendships - so of course it helps to be a DYKWIA sociopath.

A site like AFF, and Facebook Groups like FFA can become a bit of a substitute, following the travels of others. I have never met drron but I feel like I know him and man alive he always brings a smile to my face - if only through remembering *THOSE* golfing shorts. Travel forums are a rich source of material for character traits in my trip reports too. :shock:

Ultimately the travel is my choice though, at some stage I won't be traveling as much as I do, and I expect that change will come sooner rather than later - it is an unsustainable way of life for me as I grow older disgracefully.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

No, "travel for leisure" is fun.

.


Fully agree. Changing my career to give up being a "Plane Warrior" was one of my better decisions in life.


Don't get me wrong. When I was young it was a real buzz. Being a Ansett Diamond etc had its perks. But after 16 years, most of the buzz had gone out of it. And all that time lost out of my private life due to travel meant that I was missing out on many of the best things in life.

So I changed companies and careers, and dropped down to only 3 or 4 work trips per year and was never away for more than 3 nights. That allowed me to drive my 3 daughters to secondary school and get fully involved in it. Those morning chats each day were full of conversations and oddities. Like "Track Suit Lady" whom we saw walking to the train station each day wearing an endless variety of tracksuits and baseball caps , but never anything else.

The youngest daughter became an elite rower and taking her most days to training was great fun and a great interest. My Plane Warrior career would not have allowed that.

School plays etc. Yes. Previously no.

I even became a Scout Leader for 7 years. In part as my 3 girls all joined, but in part as it was great fun too, and very rewarding to put back into your community. Again my previous Plane Warrior career would have denied me this.


Now I rarely fly for work ( I now have my own company), and so each flight is now something that I enjoy and look forward to as it is PART of a holiday or leisure adventure.

 

[cambriamarsh]

Actually there is a point.

Many people get weary of work related travel far quicker than you seem to have.

I find it rather interesting to find out what people's limits may be.

I travelled NZ AU and Au Dom 3 to 4 times a month for about 18 months and found it really started to pall. Then it stopped and became much more random and generally less frequent and I found myself missing it!

I've come to the view that a trip a month for 4 or so days is a good balance, much more for any length of time becomes a chore. What do others think?

 

[drron]

Flying is not the problem for me.That is fun and for the most part leisure.
Although I absolutely love being able to continue working I do get a little down with how little time I have been spending at home.So today is basically the first day of a 3 month staycation.
Well there will be a week for a trip to Kangaroo Island and also another week to go to Sydney and catch up with family and friends but no work until the end of December.

And Tony Hancock the feeling is mutual.Your TRs often bring more than a smile to my face.I also find myself thinking-a rare event but it does happen-what would Tony Hancock do?:shock:
So when looking for a new computer bag for my travels what better buy than a good English brand despatch case!I am sure Mr.Hancock would approve.

 

[drron]

Sorry juddles it is now officially time to SCREAM!
[video=youtube_share;YCoQwZ9BQ9Q]https://youtu.be/YCoQwZ9BQ9Q[/video]

 

[Boca68]

If only to hear juddles scream again........ choice!!

[video=youtube;ji65WI5QLZI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji65WI5QLZI[/video]


with apologies to Sir David Campese.

 

[Matt_01]

That made me laugh nervously because it made me consider a half-truth - my family is possibly happier having grumpy me catch that plane!

I like both comments and have my own personal interpretation on them. From above, I sometimes think after a rant about having to catch another flight and after dropping me off at the airport I am sure MrsM just hopes I return in a better mood.

I find that to be the best part of travel. Not having to deal with the annoyances called "family" 95% of the time.

Slightly different spin, I am so used to solo travel, I love and loath travelling with my family. I enjoy the time we spend together traveling but do not deal/cope flying with them well.

As they only fly a few times a year the concept of packing light is foreign not known by MrsM and MissM. Lounges - airline and hotel, a must and they want maximum lounge time. Also the general ginning around, packing and repacking just drives me insane. I could go on but will stop.

I found a solution that works for us, I book them on F or J redemption, give MrsM paper copies of all bookings (she has the apps but will not trust them) and I let them I know I will meet them at the destination. May sound harsh but it works.

 

[RooFlyer]

For goodness sake, no-one post the LATAM safety video :shock:

 

[leadman]

I know how many feel! First six months this year; 155,001 miles 97 flights and now in the States, jetlagged, typing this at 1:21am in the morning, getting three hours sleep a night and stuffed up the dates for the wife's birthday! Projecting it might be my first 250,000 mile year the body is starting to break into a cold sweat...... and not one day of it is a holiday!!!!!!

 

[drron]

For goodness sake, no-one post the LATAM safety video :shock:

Some days I would take that as a challenge!

 

[juddles]

For goodness sake, no-one post the LATAM safety video :shock:

Not sure which one you mean but am boarding in 30min on a LATAM %$&*@@!!!*&!!
flight.......

 

[Rugby]

I sat next to 'Mr Two Red Wines' tonight in J MEL-SYD and he's definitely had enough I was in 2D, he in 2F and he did not want to engage with any humans beyond the essentials. After take off FA starts the service "Hello Mr Rugby, hello Mr 2F, would you like a drink?
Mr 2F: "Two red wines"
FA: "Tonight we have a WA Cab Sauv"
Mr 2F: Ignores FA
FA: "Would you like some nuts/pretzels?"
Mr 2F: Ignores FA
Rugby: "Sure, thanks"
FA pours 2 glasses of red and gives one to 2F and one to me, and then gives us both pretzels. FA is about to roll the trolley off to row 3.
Rugby: "What other snacks do you have tonight?"
FA: "Oh, I thought you were with 2F, and the wines were for both of you. We've got cheese plate and etc etc.."
Mr 2F: "Two red wines"
FA: "Ah, I see"
So Mr 2F gets a second glass of red to double park with his first. I have soup and get red topped up. Mr 2F doesn't utter another word all flight, tea, coffee - just blanks the FAs.
So my theory is that he asks for 2 glasses up front because he is so sick of people that it will save him a human interaction asking for a second glass later!

 

[juddles]

.... my theory is that he asks for 2 glasses up front because he is so sick of people that it will save him a human interaction asking for a second glass later....

I so get that.

But maybe that's why my wife is not unhappy when I leave....

 

[juddles]

On the SCL to BOG flight (daytime) I slept through most in some obscene yoga position. Woke an hour before landing feeling hungry. Rang the bell, a hostie appeared, and a few minutes later they brought a pair of horrible airline sandwiches. Took a small bite but the body revolted to that way too familiar taste. God knows what they put in them to keep them "fresh" ??? I placed the white linen napkin over the rest and bid them whisk it away......

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Boca68]

On the SCL to BOG flight (daytime) I slept through most in some obscene yoga position. Woke an hour before landing feeling hungry. Rang the bell, a hostie appeared, and a few minutes later they brought a pair of horrible airline sandwiches. Took a small bite but the body revolted to that way too familiar taste. God knows what they put in them to keep them "fresh" ??? I placed the white linen napkin over the rest and bid them whisk it away......

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! The dreaded LATAM sandwich!!

Jamon or pavo? Either way , its dreadful. Should have asked for the cheese and crackers, much safer.

 

[juddles]

OMG! The dreaded LATAM sandwich!!

Jamon or pavo? Either way , its dreadful. Should have asked for the cheese and crackers, much safer.

But what do they do? How can a hungry human being be physically REVOLTED by a food offerring? Must be some sort of long-life, genetically-altered fat they use.

 

[Mattg]

On the SCL to BOG flight (daytime) I slept through most in some obscene yoga position.

Were you in Y or J?

Whenever I fly J, there always seems to be that one passenger that sleeps the entire flight without even bothering to recline the seat - even when the seat will convert into a flat bed. I guess these kinds of passengers would fit into the "over it" category.

 

[MikeG]

Back when I was flying back and forth from Auckland every week (one week at home in Sydney, one week "at home" at the Novatel Tainui in Hamilton, I used to fly Qantas and I got sick of the slightly chubby male steward pressing his groin against my shoulder while closing the overhead, toilet lights not working, aircraft food in general (didn't help I was flying economy)... I ended up trying to vary my flights, taking Aerolíneas Argentinas, and other airlines - I welcomed the applause as the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight took off, obviously its a south American thing... There were even tiny airlines flying directly to Hamilton from Sydney which I tried to change the drudgery. I was BA Gold at the time, but this made little or no difference. I got bumped up to Business once, but Qantas fed me economy food. WTF?

Not sure why I persist with Qantas. I complained to them after my hundred and something flights that year, and they gave me "Qantas Credit" which I would only use on Qantas goods and services. Pretty lame really. This was >15 years ago though, so I suspect things may have changed...

I appreciate the vent. My advice (for what its worth) is try and make it interesting again. Use different airlines... occasionally avoid the lounge and join the rest of humanity... I find lounges mind numbingly boring, as most travelers keep to themselves, and its not all that social.