Month: October 2014

Long flights and reflections of ten weeks of travelling 20,000km on the ground through the continents of Asia and Europe.

Long Flights.
These are the pits. It takes me two years or so to forget what it’s like doing the long stint from Frankfurt to Dubai to Perth. Starting so early from Frankfurt, after only 4 hours sleep, was not a good start. I get restless legs and so selected the aisle so I could stretch out. Nothing much worked. I hated it. Next time, no coffee at all during the day. No nice wine with any meals on any flights. Maybe that will work. Another option is a stopover in Dubai for a day or so. Catching the flight that arrives in Perth at Midday is a good idea, but I struggled with needing naps at odd times for several days. I just gave in and had a nap. It was quite pleasant really….

Travelling.
Loved it. Completely. Perhaps not all of it all the time, but on the whole, geez, what an experience. No regrets, and I’d do it again. Maybe a bit differently and go to different places, and take longer, but overall, what a hell of an achievement.

20,000km on the ground, or thereabouts. 11,000km driving in the east. About 6,000km on the trains of Russia, and about 3,000km driving Wilhelm in Europe. From the far east to the English Channel. Way north to St Petersburg, from the equator at Kuala Lumpur. A very long way indeed.

And we did it.

All the planning paid off.
The stresses of the unknown and applying for visas
The confusions of working with others instead of planning it all ourselves.
All well behind us, all valuable experiences for next time……