The flight

When everything is set and done there’s nothing left but leaving. But leaving everything behind is not always a pleasant thing to do. And also for the ones you leave behind, even though they know you’re coming back it seems as it is going to be forever. Which it isn’t.

You have to make sure that you’ve had a decent meal the night before and enough sleep so you can start this journey fresh. If you can, then it would be wise to have a warm breakfast. This will give you enough energy and you will last longer against the stress of traveling.

And believe me, you will need it because first you’ll be spending an hour and a half on the TGV. Wich is pretty fast. Threehundred kilometers an hour approximately. After that you’ll need to get to the check-in counter and through customs, this takes not so long if your luggage is not too heavy or doesn’t contain a bomb.

Now those not having had a decent breakfast will be getting hungry at this point and you might spend a lot of money on sandwiches that cost you a fortune because you’re still an hour or two away from your first meal on the plane!

The flight itself goes fast forward. We’re flying against the sun so it’s rapidly going dark. This night is swiftly folllowed up by day after four hours more. You have a range of movies and games to choose from the menu and I’ve just finished watching the film Largo Winch,… what a watered down plot from the story in the comic book.

After a visit to the toilet you must try to sleep a bit, because it will be morning when you land in Tokyo. Ofcourse this only applies when your flight leaves Paris around noon. Ofcourse, if you’re like me, you don’t get to sleep. It just won’t happen even if you have earplugs and an eye mask.

If you plan on taking a sleeping pill, then don’t eat! Because your meal has to be digested and your system is shut down by that pill, so if you do eat  you will get sick from food that is laying on your stomach. So eat well before or after you have slept. Then as you wake up, you’ll be starving for food, without the possibility to eat right up until you reach your hotel and have stuffed away your luggage, which is still a half a day away, hehehe,…

So I was smart not to sleep, this will only upset your internal biorithm but that is less of an inconvenience I think.

Meals on the plane are ok, you have a choise between meat, fish or veggy. You make this choice when you book your ticket. Attention!: the noodles soup contains chicken bouillon, so those are not veggy unfortunately. You’ll be getting a second meal (breakfast) but this won’t be elaborate so don’t get your hopes up.

Keep the water from your meals even if you don’t drink it imediatly, because it’s good to hydrate your body with fluids.

Don’t get bored, talk to your neighbour or watch a movie. Also take short pauzes in wich you stroll around in the pathway; this will ease your muscle-aches and prevent your blood from clogging. In an extreme case this could lead to a trombosis, even wéll after the flight.