Getting there is half the fun…

Getting there is half the fun…

Whoever coined that phrase probably did so before the era of trans-Pacific air travel because flights over 10 hours are not much fun. The word torture comes to mind. 

Maybe it’s worse now that I’m older and need good sleep more. Or maybe it’s because all that background noise makes it next to useless to enjoy a movie or TV show when one’s increasing presbycusis [deafness for you non-medical types] makes it hard to hear one above the other. Then again, maybe ear buds and I are not meant for each other. The preceding problem is only compounded by buds that don’t seem to fit or stay in place well enough to give one the ultimate benefit of hearing all there  supposedly is to hear. Maybe headphones would be better - bulkier to carry though. 

Then again, one could simply forget all the entreatment systems the airlines devise to try and entertain you while you fly. Each airline seems to have a different system for you to get used to and maybe my age is against me there too. The worst part is the touch screen on the plane the flight kept freezing for long - and I mean LONG - had a 2 hour or so nap one time… if that isn’t enough to make you give up on the entertainment. Maybe 747s are getting bit old, even if it is a 400 - whatever the means - it did not hold that many passengers. Some airlines even want you to download the system or some part of it to your device before you board! Talk about downloading. It’s like the businesses no longer providing paper statements. Pass all the cost and bother on to the consumer is the increasing mantra. Come to think of it, the airlines are no better at that. They would like you to use your own ink and paper to print from home too. Or, if you re more technologically inclined, make electronic boarding passes on our device. You need devices everywhere these days it seems. Well, Maybe from here on in I will just take some books and a good selection of crosswords along to pass the time. 

Then again, hope springs eternal. After trying some classical music, TV shows, documentaries and movies in between naps and eating [well, 2 meals in 13 hours and a couple of rounds of snacks and drinks] I tried again. I chose TV shows > Power Stage > not knowing quite what that would be and stumbled upon Libera - a [South] London Boys Choir of 30. I don’t know if I was just so choked up at having located something I could enjoy or it really was the singing. Well, the last was good enough for me to go on iTunes subsequently and download some more of it. If you like good choral music, it’s out there. Even at 39,000 feet over the Pacific.