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Flying to Europe?

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EHM-1671 Ben:
Hi everyone, I will have the pleasure of spending a few weeks in France this September and have a question for the frequent flyers among us who may have made the voyage from Australia/New Zealand to Europe: Honestly, how bad is the 30-something hours of travelling? Everyone says it's horrible but I couldn't imagine much better... ;D

EHM-2029 Sotiris:
Well,
speaking as a 200'000+ miles per year traveller (funnily enough, I'm in Hong Kong for the next couple of days), I can tell you that it's down to the people you travel with and reason you travel for.

For example, if you're with good friends or family and have a generally relaxed attitude the 30+ hrs will sail by.
Looking forward to reaching your destination also helps so expect the return leg to be slightly harder.
I've had 24 hour jounreys I relished (with the right people to the right place) and 3 hour ones that left me a wreck.

At the end of the day it's all in the mind.
One tip from my side. Try and fly Airbus instead of Boeing. Not that jumbos are bad but their seat layout may leave you wedged with two fat people on either side.
A330/A340's on the other hand, you're never more than a person away from the aisle. And in long-hauls where one needs to stretch and walk a little, not disturbing or being disturbed is important.

Finally make sure you prepare your goodie bag:
1 - Shades
2 - Inflatable pillow
3 - Thick socks (unless you fly SIA)
4 - Books, iPod and the like

With the above I can't see why you shouldn't enjoy this to the fullest!

EHM-1001 Robert:
Sounds interesting !

I remember when I flew home from Korea. It was some 14 hours only on board a 747-400 economy class... The engine noise did not let me sleep a minute, and there is really few space there ! It is almost impossible for 3 people in a row to have a nice meal, especially when it is hot dish. If you depart in the morning, the sun will continously follow your way on the left side like it would not want to set at all, and makes too much shine for the tired eyes.

If you are lucky, and the plane is not full, you may allowed to have a different lonely seat, or even get a full row and prepare a bed there. It was also nice that we had 2 movies and 3 meals on that distance.

The time just flies away up there, but I guess twice this distance can be boring even with a good company ;D

EHM-1883 Matt:
This is indeed a busy year for me too. I am going abroad with my school 3 times to France, Belgium and Germany (Plus two family visits to Croatia and France!), but all the school ones are done by coach. Now, they say that each journey will take a day to complete in the couch, and the longest I've ever been in a coach is 2 hours, so my question is,

Is it the same as a long flight or worse due to windy roads etc.:%

EHM-2029 Sotiris:
Far worse on the coach actually.
- You can't get up and stretch your legs
- You can't visit the toilet at will
- You can't read and peek outside 'cause you get dizzy
- The shakes and bounces of the road is far worse than mild turbulence

So arm yourself with patience and courage mate

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