Not my kinda vacation?

Today is the third day I am back from a week journey to the States.

Actually, I’m not writing this to tell you about the travel or to the places I’ve been in the US, but it’s about how lousy it has been after returning home. And how I hope by doing this (writing as a therapy) can help alleviate the ache that’s been lingering in my head for the past three days.

Okay, a part of it is about the journey – about how unpleasant it has been, being crumpled into a small 2x2x5 space in 8 different air flights 3/4-way across the globe for almost 4 days (to and from the US). And for being stranded for 3 hours at an airport, when initially we were told that the stopover in Hong Kong was just for a change of seating.

And btw, it’s not that this is the first time I’ve been on a long haul journey in an airplane, but this time I guess it really got on to me due to several reasons. 

One is due to the length of the journey – two days in 8 different flights with 8 stopovers and each stopovers took at least 2 hrs and the most 5 hrs. Only the first stopover in Singapore did I really get to rest and sleep for 2 hrs in a hotel room in Geylang, but after that I was just closing my eyes, while both ears and mind suffered in silence due to the noise made by other hotel guests outside our room.

Second is due to a disturbance in the physiological aspects of the body or what they call it jet-lag – i.e. the temporary disruption of bodily rhythms caused by high-speed travel across several time zones typically in a jet aircraft. Since this is considered a medical condition (diagnosis), I wish not but to agree with it, and what I am suffering now is due to the jets (or lag of it).

Wikipedia has it that the condition may last many days, and recovery rates of 1 day per eastward time zone or 1 day per 1.5 westward time zones are mentioned as fair guidelines.

Another reason may be due to the hot and humid weather in Florida, where I was in most part of the travel, outdoors. The heat must have got on me, as I usually get a headache after being under the hot sun even for a short time.

Finally, and this is the most disturbing part, was due to my not being able to get a full resting sleep in a reclining seating position, or in my case in any seating position (reclined or otherwise). Furthermore, the only difference in the reclining seats in most of the flights I was in this time is only about 2 inches from the original seating position (upright), which is not much of a help (or any difference in the size of space we get when the person who sits in front reclines their seats too).

Quoting kennysia.com (from his 2006 archive), Kenny wrote: Trust me, it's NOT the most comfortable position to sleep in. I woke up 2 hours later with a grumpy mood and a royal pain in the neck. 

Really, that was how I felt too.

Actually, the only sleeping position I can really get a shut-eye sleep is the full reclining position (or almost). And in this example (United Airways), as was in almost all the flights I have been on, sleep was non-existent.

Okay, I know what you guys are going to say now…get a business class seat-lah…!

Ha..ha.. wishful thinking. It’s always easier said than done.

Actually, I envy others who can easily fall asleep in any body angle (sit or stand), especially in a seating position. I envy the Japanese most of all. They can even get a short nap on a short distance travel on a train, and they do it almost discreetly. You won’t even notice they are at it if they are wearing sunglasses.

On our way back on the UA flight from Chicago to Hong Kong, I said this to my wife, who was my travelling companion —“Getting crumpled in a 2x2x5 sort of boxed seating in a 2 day flight across the globe is not my kind of vacation…”

I wish to further the statement, but when she retorted with a wry look at me, I declined.

Hey, guess what, after an hour or so writing this stuff, I’m getting better now. Although I can still feel the ache there, but I’ll be on my way for lunch now… 

Thank you for reading this.

Ciao!