I used to have a fear of flying, and I hate being contained in situations that I cannot get out of. However, I now have a small child to be strong for, and a necessity to visit family abroad, so I used Positive Mental Attitude.
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| Heathrow - Miserable March weather |
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| Sydney Layers off - Flip Flops on |
I chose to wear some my yoga gear in layers (no bra) and a pair of Sketchers for the plane, tied my hair back and no make up. I packed my flip flops, sunglasses and money in my hand luggage, ready for the heat when I arrived at our destination. Good call.
Travelling to the other side of the world, knowing it will take over 24 hours on average, is no mean fete for even hard core travellers.
My survival kit for the journey was...
1) A good book
2) Eye Mask
3) A neck pillow
4) Some flight socks
5) A small selection cleansing products
Next time I will include a dummy (soother) for that baby on the plane that cried all the way from Heathrow to Manilla (aaaggghhh)
My mum was my adult travelling partner (we did have a giggle), and for mothers day a week or so before we traveled I got her the 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' Travel set. I found it on an ethical gift site, and its by Mount Purious, from Newcastle Upon Tyne. The organic skin care set included, Hemp and Argon Oil, for skin and hair, and a lovely Rosewater spritzer, to re hydrate your skin.
The flight socks are essential for me as I am prone to swelling on long flights, and although they are expensive, you can keep re-using them. Occasionally I would get out of my seat and do some stretches, and whilst seated I would rotate my ankles to help keep the circulation going. I would wear the socks provided too, as a lot of the times we were in the air it was actually quite cold.
As expected on a long haul, we were issued with the proverbial bag of socks, ear phones, toothbrush and paste and an eye mask, but the eye masks are a bit flimsy, so its worth investing in a better one.
Link to Ethical Superstore and Mount Purious range
There were hundreds of films to chose from on your touch screen device in front of you, but personally I can only take so much (although I managed to watch 4 in a row on the 15 hour trip back to Heathrow from Manilla), so a book is a different way to keep your mind occupied. I thoroughly recommend watching 'Founder', the story of the McDonalds foundation, its eye opening, and doesn't have a happy ending. Before we left for our travels we charged all of our devices up so we could entertain ourselves on the long trip. In hind sight we needn't have taken Mias DVD player, as there were plenty of children's films on board, and there was also the facility to charge your devices by USB, there were also charging points in the airport, but I wouldn't rely on them to be working.
Refreshments were a plenty on the plane, I declined alcohol, knowing it will make me giddy, and I wanted to remain clear headed, also I'm a bit of a guzzler, and one would not be enough. My mum said the wine was rank anyway. I declined most of the food, especially on the way home. It was diabolical (sorry Philippine Air Lines). My tip is to take as many snacks as you can (especially fruit) and eat a large meal before leaving. The menu became a big joke for me and my mum, if you don't laugh you cry. At least Mia didn't moan, she just didn't eat it, which for me was a proud mummy moment with the realisation I had brought my child up to know what good food is. One of the memorable meals (which we didn't have was their idea of a Western breakfast... Roast Beef and Gravy, with mushrooms, scrambled egg and has browns - it makes me want to vomit just thinking about it).
We travelled over the Easter Holidays, as we knew the weather wouldnt be too hot (especially for a seven year old), and she had over 2 weeks off school, so we didn't have to take any extra days off.
The great thing about going to Australia at Easter, is that the Spring Equinox had not long happened here, and therefore the Autumn Equinox there. This meant the day and night times were both pretty equal so there wasn't that dramatic change to our exposure of day light, like for example if we went at Christmas, which is around Winter Solstice here, Australia would have approximately 8 hours extra sunlight than us a day, that's quite a difference).
My survival kit for the journey was...
2) Eye Mask
3) A neck pillow
4) Some flight socks
5) A small selection cleansing products
Next time I will include a dummy (soother) for that baby on the plane that cried all the way from Heathrow to Manilla (aaaggghhh)
My mum was my adult travelling partner (we did have a giggle), and for mothers day a week or so before we traveled I got her the 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' Travel set. I found it on an ethical gift site, and its by Mount Purious, from Newcastle Upon Tyne. The organic skin care set included, Hemp and Argon Oil, for skin and hair, and a lovely Rosewater spritzer, to re hydrate your skin.
The flight socks are essential for me as I am prone to swelling on long flights, and although they are expensive, you can keep re-using them. Occasionally I would get out of my seat and do some stretches, and whilst seated I would rotate my ankles to help keep the circulation going. I would wear the socks provided too, as a lot of the times we were in the air it was actually quite cold.
As expected on a long haul, we were issued with the proverbial bag of socks, ear phones, toothbrush and paste and an eye mask, but the eye masks are a bit flimsy, so its worth investing in a better one.
Link to Ethical Superstore and Mount Purious range
There were hundreds of films to chose from on your touch screen device in front of you, but personally I can only take so much (although I managed to watch 4 in a row on the 15 hour trip back to Heathrow from Manilla), so a book is a different way to keep your mind occupied. I thoroughly recommend watching 'Founder', the story of the McDonalds foundation, its eye opening, and doesn't have a happy ending. Before we left for our travels we charged all of our devices up so we could entertain ourselves on the long trip. In hind sight we needn't have taken Mias DVD player, as there were plenty of children's films on board, and there was also the facility to charge your devices by USB, there were also charging points in the airport, but I wouldn't rely on them to be working.
Refreshments were a plenty on the plane, I declined alcohol, knowing it will make me giddy, and I wanted to remain clear headed, also I'm a bit of a guzzler, and one would not be enough. My mum said the wine was rank anyway. I declined most of the food, especially on the way home. It was diabolical (sorry Philippine Air Lines). My tip is to take as many snacks as you can (especially fruit) and eat a large meal before leaving. The menu became a big joke for me and my mum, if you don't laugh you cry. At least Mia didn't moan, she just didn't eat it, which for me was a proud mummy moment with the realisation I had brought my child up to know what good food is. One of the memorable meals (which we didn't have was their idea of a Western breakfast... Roast Beef and Gravy, with mushrooms, scrambled egg and has browns - it makes me want to vomit just thinking about it).
We travelled over the Easter Holidays, as we knew the weather wouldnt be too hot (especially for a seven year old), and she had over 2 weeks off school, so we didn't have to take any extra days off.
The great thing about going to Australia at Easter, is that the Spring Equinox had not long happened here, and therefore the Autumn Equinox there. This meant the day and night times were both pretty equal so there wasn't that dramatic change to our exposure of day light, like for example if we went at Christmas, which is around Winter Solstice here, Australia would have approximately 8 hours extra sunlight than us a day, that's quite a difference).
Although when we left Heathrow, it was cold and miserable, due to our newly extended winters (climate change) and we arrived to baking hot weather (they too had unseasonably ho weather), on return, the atmosphere in the UK had warmed up, in fact there was a heat wave here, so we didn't have to climatise too much either.
Jet lag hmmmm, well it certainly didn't affect my 7 year old, but it did me and mum, although it wasn't too bad. Strangely, me and Mia would wake most mornings in Australia 7.00 on the dot. During the night me and my mum might wake once or twice, but personally I didnt find it too difficult to get back to sleep. When we arrived back in the UK, I just had a couple of days where I felt a bit out of sorts, but the journey back was incredibly long. We did a 15 hour flight, and was awake for all of it, so I was lacking in sleep anyway.
Maybe Mia wasn't affected because she got many hours sleep on the journeys as she had the comfort of Mummies and Nannies laps to lie across.
Travelling half way across the world, is a journey that many would consider unachievable, but believe me it was totally worth it.
Maybe Mia wasn't affected because she got many hours sleep on the journeys as she had the comfort of Mummies and Nannies laps to lie across.
Travelling half way across the world, is a journey that many would consider unachievable, but believe me it was totally worth it.
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| The luxury of being small on a plane |
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