Do you get sick of flying and travel?

[Warks]

I did a lot of in-out domestic flights with short trips towards the end of last year and then enjoyed three weeks off from all that. Now it's all started again in earnest and I find that after a couple of trips with flights, hire cars hotels and all that I really am not that keen on it. Got a lot coming up in the next few weeks and probably months and I'm dreading it today. It may just be a passing thing as I usually look forward to it so maybe just "the blues".

Funnily enough I left my last job and went into my own business to reduce my time away from home and family but now, due to the demands of a client who pays very well, I'm away more than I have been in the last five years. My work should have been a lot more working at home but so far that hasn't happened and I've had to keep chasing this sort of client.

How does everyone keep going? Those drives to the airport, yet another flight, another hotel etc. I know I do nothing compared to some of the flyers here but I was wondering how you cope with it all over the years. Also how does the family cope?

 

[markis10]

I would not mind the travel so much if the expense claiming was not such a PITA, I get to pick the hotels so that helps when it comes to paying back the family with a week away for free at XMas on points.

I do hate the early starts, you never seem to get compensated for the personal time used, and I hate the solo trips that make for long nights after hours.

I also like the opportunity of discovering new places that I can take the family when I have more time, and the little things in some locations that you cannot get back home, like Margaret River Cookies and Cream Chocolate purchased in the swan valley on the way to PER airport when heading home, it never lasts more than a day, until we got KK in BNE they were also a good way to pay the travelling tax to the family.

 

[mw331]

I do occasionally get fed up of flying, especially when the flight is at unsociable hours e.g. 6 a.m. or is a 'red-eye' i.e.an overnight flight traversing several time zones in an easterly direction. Even travelling in first class does not completely irradicate the effects of jet lag on 'red-eye' flights.

The flying I do for pleasure/vacation is fine since I have more or less complete control over flight times, carriers and cabin class.

 

[SQ1]

How does everyone keep going? Those drives to the airport, yet another flight, another hotel etc. I know I do nothing compared to some of the flyers here but I was wondering how you cope with it all over the years. Also how does the family cope?

I do fly mainly for pleasure , so I can't get enough and always enjoys it very much.

I could imagine that I would have less pleasure, if flying every week, hotels etc.. certainly would put much pressure on family life.

It probably would loose it's shine pretty quick even flying J or F. :mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[codash1099]

Most of my flights are for pleasure, usually international and usually in J. With lounge access, I generally find them tolerable and in some cases quite enjoyable.

I travel domestically about 5 times a year with someone else paying, which limits me to Y with an occasional ODU. These are fly one day return the next deals which are quite wearing.

 

[spiggy_topes]

How does everyone keep going? Those drives to the airport, yet another flight, another hotel etc. I know I do nothing compared to some of the flyers here but I was wondering how you cope with it all over the years. Also how does the family cope?

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt - I know exactly how you feel! Around the end of last year I realised how tedious a lot of international travel had become and have told my overseas clients that they will get much better value for money if I stay in Australia and work from here, rather than travelling to their sites, with all the disruption, travel time and jet-lag that entails. I'm paticularly put off the US these days, it's just become so unpleasant travelling there.

So far it's working, and apart from the odd domestic trip I have nothing booked for the next few months. Sure, I'll probably lose my WP status, but so what?

 

[anat0l]

Not really, unless the schedule starts getting taxing on my body.

I had a work trip in WA that went:

• QF767 to PER
• Day trip in KGI the next day; first and last flights of the day
• Next day fly up to LER; spend night in a miner's donga
• Next day last flight back to PER
• Next day 8am meeting followed by the midday flight back to BNE

Needless to say after that I was stuffed.

My mad May run last year was quite taxing up until I arrived in SIN (and it showed! Witness courtesy of serfty)

It's almost sick sometimes what so much travel has done to me. I feel unusual if my MMB doesn't show any flights coming up. I sometimes feel I have travel withdrawal. Maybe I should become a Ryan Bingham or the like. (Note: don't take this paragraph too seriously)

Do I get sick of it? On the whole, not really. If it's for pleasure rather than business, it makes it much easier to handle. I have to admit I'm not insane or a superhuman, so I need to have a break in travel once in a while (read: need stopovers!). It also depends on where I'm travelling. But overall Lady Travel Bug has me tightly in her grasp and I find it oft very difficult to get away.

 

[moa999]

This year am already at
SYD-CGK-SIN,KUL-BKK-SYD-MEL-SYD-MEL-SYD-MEL-SYD
with 6 hotel nights (first four flights over five days)
At least 6 more SYD-MEL-SYD and probably a BKK trip in the next month.

Do I get sick of it?
When you have two 5am alarms in a week and are working like a dog, sometimes.

When you use a cheap JQ Int flight on a w/end and have lunch in the First Lounge, no.

 

[mw331]

My mad May run last year was quite taxing up until I arrived in SIN (and it showed! Witness courtesy of serfty)

I have just had a look at your BA97 calendar and noticed that you took 31 flights between May 22nd and June 1st; an amazing amount of flying over such a short period of time in anyone's eyes. What was the purpose behind all those flights? Was it a 'status run'?

I am just curious.

 

[drewbles]

I embarked on a mad itinerary of 16 flights in 2 weeks in October last week, secretly hoping it would make me sick of flying, transit, lounges and other evils of travel.

The truth is, it just made me want to travel more. I seem to be one of the weird people who is happier on the road (I seem to pretty closely be a wannabe Ryan Bingham ).

I'm just a freak i'm sure. MEL-SYD-SFO-LAX-SEA-LAX-SFO-LAX-SEA-LAX-SFO-LAX-LAS-LAX-SFO-LAX-MEL. I loved every second of it and secretly wanted more.

*hides in the corner now*

 

[anat0l]

I have just had a look at your BA97 calendar and noticed that you took 31 flights between May 22nd and June 1st; an amazing amount of flying over such a short period of time in anyone's eyes. What was the purpose behind all those flights? Was it a 'status run'?

I am just curious.

I direct you to this trip report.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

How does everyone keep going? Those drives to the airport, yet another flight, another hotel etc.

I didn't.

After 16 years as a corporate warrior often flying somewhere once a fortnight I opted out 6 years ago and am much happier now with only several work trips per year.

I greatly enjoy travel for pleasure, but work travel to me lost it's allure after several years.

At first it was a blast, but it soon became humdrum and the penny dropped as well that a lot of my "private" time was going to my employer for little reward as much of the travel was before or after normal working hours.

I know some people actually "enjoy" commercial plane flights but for me they are just how I get to my travel destinations where the real fun occurs.

 

[mw331]

I direct you to this trip report.

Thanks, I will read it with interest.

 

[codash1099]

• Next day fly up to LER; spend night in a miner's donger

I think you mean "donga"

"In Australian English, sleeping quarters or a portable office building used particularly in the mining and construction industries. Originally a hut or part of a hut, now also a bedroom in an air-conditioned building. Possibly from Papua New Guinea, where donga means ‘house’."

"Donger" has an entirely different meaning - see Urban Dictionary: donger

 

[anat0l]

I think you mean "donga"

"In Australian English, sleeping quarters or a portable office building used particularly in the mining and construction industries. Originally a hut or part of a hut, now also a bedroom in an air-conditioned building. Possibly from Papua New Guinea, where donga means ‘house’."

"Donger" has an entirely different meaning - see Urban Dictionary: donger

Muchly noted and corrected hastily!

 

[JohnK]

How does everyone keep going? Those drives to the airport, yet another flight, another hotel etc. I know I do nothing compared to some of the flyers here but I was wondering how you cope with it all over the years. Also how does the family cope?

The novelty of commuting SYD-BNE weekly for 19 months has certainly worn off. Each trip is very taxing and it is not just the flight but includes preparation time and travel time either end.

If I am leaving SYD on the 8:00pm flight I will start packing and getting ready at 5:00-5:30pm and head out to the airport around 7:00pm. If I am lucky I will be in my apartment in BNE by 11:00pm and then I have to unpack and put things away.

If I am leaving BNE on the 7:15pm flight I will leave work at 3:30pm get back to Spring Hill and do some final packing then off to the train station to get to airport by around 6:00pm. Most times I am home by around 10:00pm sometimes later and then have to be up before 6:00am on Saturday for an early game of golf.

I am tired and homesick and will push myself to keep going for as long as it is required to reduce bad credit card debt down to a manageable level. If it was not for the credit card debt I would not be doing it....

 

[dajop]

Personally, I always have and still do enjoy flying /travel for work.

I have always had some form of "absence" from my desk through most of my career, whether it be site visits by getting in a car and driving, visits to the plant from the front office by going for a walk down the back to look at the plant and talk to technicians, or for the last 8 years or so getting on a plane and going somewhere. Between June and October, we had a complete travel ban that required 6 levels of approval for exceptions - even for one hour flights - and I found the whole thing being stuck at my desk quite demotivating, and well rather ineffective (in Asia, particularly with some countries, conference calls are difficult - whether it be language, cultural or call quality challenges).

Now having said that I think it depends on the nature of the travel, if it was doing the same thing every week (ie commuting) I would not find that fun at all, and tire of it rapidly.

When I used to travel domestically, you never know what the day/month/week may I can remember one day it was MEL-WGA/WGA-SYD-TMW, for example, or over a week maybe start by flying up to Brisbane, then to Darwin, Broome and end up in Perth - those trips were always great (especially in winter!). Now based in SIN, I enjoy getting out to the "real Asia", i.e. where our business really takes place (as opposed to just our regional office in Singapore) - again the variety of places I visit and the people I meet make it really rewarding.

I am even "commuting" in some regards, with a partner still based in MEL I think I made 10 trips last year between Australia and Singapore, and even though some of them were almost back to back redeyes in whY (down overnight FRI back overnight MON), I still survived (indeed relished the opportunity to enjoy some wintry Melbourne weather, taking a break from the daily monotony of 24-31 and thunderstorms ...)

 

[Sunhill]

Never on both counts.

I remember my first ever flight to Perth (from Sydney). It was with Continental Airlines! About halfway through I'd had enough and wanted to get off. So when I did my first London flight I didn't know how I'd handle it. I suppose I was so excited it didn't get to me. Anyway since then I've been able enjoy and make the most of every flight. Actually the ones I don't like are the short ones back home, usually on a Sunday evening, as it means the normal weekly grind on a Monday the next day.

One week I remember went like this. Friday night was up in the Central Coast, Saturday I was down in Wollongong, then on the Sunday it was flight to BNE and back in the day. Then Wednesday was back up to BNE, slept overnight at the airport (not much point getting a hotel for 3 hours!), then back to SYD at 5:45am or something the next morning. Then Friday night flight to MEL, back Saturday morning, and a drive up to Newcastle from the airport!

As others have said, I got a buzz out of it and want to do it more! I'm expecting to do some mad crazy relay across Europe in October. Heathrow, Dublin, Glasgow, Zurich and London City are going to be definites. If luck goes against me it will in the space of 5 days instead of the 2 weeks I'm planning for!

 

[Worldtraveller8888]

What is it that they say... ?

What is one of the best things about travelling the world?

Coming home.

 

[BensAdventures]

I travel mainly for work and I've only really started to travel regularly internationally in the past 18 months, before that it was very regular domestic flights. I must say the international travel is still interesting for me, as many of the places I'm going, it's either the first or second time there, but domestic travel is a different manner. I would be very happy not to travel professionally to any Australian capital city again (Not happening though, back to PER next week).

The hardest thing I find when I'm traveling particularly internationally is the long work days. I was in the US for three weeks over two trips late last year and I'd find I'd work all day there, then Australia would be waking up and I'd start working my Australian day from 5pm (even worse in FL). Unfortunately just because you travel, work at home doesn't stop! Can someone find a way to fix this??