Flying back and forth from Tasmania, Australia to New Jersey is quite a trip, a trip I do back and forth twice a year and almost always by myself. I usually have 3-4 separate flights, 2-3 layover’s and it takes 14 hours just to get from Sydney to California.  After my last trip I calculated that from leaving my door in Hobart to my door in New Jersey had taken a total of 31 hours.

People ask me how the heck I do it!

The way I look at it, at least for the 14-hour flight is, I get 14 hours to completely relax while other people wait on me! I just get to recline, though it is only about a centimeter or two and occupy myself with either picking a movie or TV show from the extensive in flight entertainment provided by the airline (I personally like Qantas) I can also read a book, play Sudoku, listen to music and really just do what ever I want (as long as I can do it from a seated position) I occupy myself for the first hour till I am brought dinner then shortly after I am served tea and coffee, followed by dessert.

The lights get low and then the Cadbury hot chocolate or peppermint tea is brought by (part of the reason I like Qantas) before I take a sleeping pill and doze off till breakfast. After breakfast there is only about two hours left in air, which always seems to go by really fast.

Most people however really dislike the airports, you know, the waiting in line, going through security part. To me, ehh, not so bad. I am a daydreamer, so when I am in a long line I daydream. I think of ideas of something I might want to write, or anything that makes me happy, like seeing my family again if I am headed back to America, or seeing my boyfriend again if I am going back to Tassie.  Before I know it I am up next.

Also to me, airports are like big shopping malls! Some airports have stores that are really only gift shops with cheesy souvenirs of t-shirts, key chains and coffee mugs, which to me are still fun to walk through. And then, some airports have stores that could bankrupt me with a single purchase, and even still are lots of fun to walk through!  And don’t forget duty free!!!

However, regardless of the airline and the airport I always try to have a very optimistic and positive attitude when I am flying, why? Because otherwise my trip would suck! I could very easily think “I am stuck in this little chair that hardly reclines, with a tiny tv, while people bring me shitty food.” I could also think “These lines are so long, lay-over’s suck the stores suck and I can’t afford to buy anything anyway.”

Instead I say to myself, “I get to relax and lay back with my own cute little TV while people serve me food.” I also say “I get entire 3 hours to stretch my legs and browse through shops.” It is all in the way you look at it.

On my most recent trip to the U.S, which was only four weeks ago now, I got very frustrated at one point because I accidentally walked through a one-way door. This meant I had to go all the way around the airport to get back in and then go through security all over again even though I had just done it seconds before. I lost my cool and got grumpy and angry. I said, “this is ridiculous!” to an older man at security, he looked at me and said, “the day is what you make it.” At the time it was not exactly what I wanted to hear but it was what I needed to hear. I took a deep breath and started thinking positively again; the rest of my trip went smoothly.

Remember:
Perception is reality and the grass does not have to be greener on the other side.

Janine

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Image by Darwin Bell