#15 - What a 17 hour flight looks like
I am back in Sydney for the next three weeks. Sydney in summer is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The beaches are stunning, there are plenty of national parks for hiking and the days are long and hot.
The only downfall for me is the long commute from Chicago. A 9am Uber from Evanston was followed by a two hour flight to Dallas before catching the non-stop flight from Dallas to Sydney, the world’s fourth longest non-stop commercial flight.
As an Australian, I am used to taking long flights to go anywhere in the world. Typical flights range from 6 hours to Bali to 24 hours to go somewhere in Europe. However, many people have wondered what it is like to sit in a plane for 17 hours and can’t imagine what the experience is like.
This is what my flight from Dallas to Sydney looked like:
Hour 0 – 0.5
The plane takes off from Dallas-Fort Worth International airport at 8pm on Sunday 17 December. I like to read when taking off in a plane and so I finish a chapter of Ray Dalio’s Principles.
Hour 0.5 – 1
The special meal that I ordered is brought out very soon after take-off. I eat dinner while listening to the “True Girt” audiobook. My aim is to stay awake until it is 10pm in Sydney, in order to better adjust my body clock, and so I have a couple of coffees.
Hour 1 – 3
I watch “A Trip to Spain” on my laptop. The movie is the third in the series of a satirical travel/food adventure staring fictionalised versions of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
our 3 – 4
I write my blog post from last week (on skiing).
Hour 4 – 7
I spend the next three hours editing photos fropm my travels to the Middle East. I finish editing my photos from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.
Hour 7 – 13
Given that it is now 10pm in Sydney (3am Dallas time), I try and get some sleep so that my body clock adjusts to my new time zone. One of the advantages of the Dallas to Sydney flight is that the flight is weight restricted, meaning that ~100-150 seats are left empty on every flight in order for the flight to make it to Sydney. As such, I am lucky to have the entire middle row of 4 seats to myself so that I can stretch out, lie down and sleep. However, my hips still hurt from skiing and travel and I sleep intermittently.
Hour 13 – 15.5
After waking up, I decide to watch a movie and spend the next 2.5 hours watching Wonder Woman.
Hour 15.5 - 16
Breakfast is served as Wonder Woman finishes. I listen to “True Girt” again.
Hour 16 – 16.5
As the plane begins to descend into Sydney, I write this blog post. I listen to a playlist of my most listened songs for 2017 on Spotify.
Hour 16.5 – 17
An announcement from the plane asks cabin crew to prepare for landing and for passengers to put away their laptops and large electronic devices. I spend the rest of the descent listening to music. As the plane is about to land, I put on the classic Australia song “I still call Australia home” for a bit of shameless nostalgia.
Total time spent:
- Sleeping – 6 hours
- Editing photos – 3 hours
- Watching movies – 4.5 hours
- Blog writing – 1.5 hours
- Eating – 1 hour
- Take-off/landing – 1 hour