First Class Starts 🥂✈️

Time is up for planning now — it’s time to get going. In a rare move for me, I packed my bag the day before, which meant a quiet and relaxed morning at home. No last-minute rush to get organised, just some cuddle time with my boys before Tim kindly drove me to the airport.

Thanks to online check-in, bag drop was quick. In minutes, I was through security, my bag getting its usual rifling through at secondary screening. A quick scan of the passport and I was “out of Australia” and sipping on a well-earned glass of champagne in the Qantas First Class Lounge.

I’m not sure I’ll keep my Platinum status this year, but for now I still have one of my most valued perks: first class lounge access. I love the view of the east-west runway, even though the strong winds today make it unusable. Down below, my Jetstar 787 waits to take me to Phuket. But first — lunch.

While most lounges serve food buffet-style, here in the first lounge it’s à la carte dining. I skipped my usual club sandwich — it felt like a day to try something new. Something softer. I went with the mozzarella salad alongside the lamb shoulder from the winter menu. The lamb was cooked to perfection — warm, falling apart at the slightest touch of the fork. Absolutely delicious. The salad was fine on its own, but really just there to cut through the richness. It was this kind of comfort food I needed to start the trip.

To celebrate the beginning of a new adventure, I washed it all down with a glass of champagne. I moved to a window-facing lounge seat to finish the glass and mentally prepare for the Jetstar experience ahead.

Now, I’m starting to feel that flicker of excitement for the trip ahead. It took a while to get here — mentally and emotionally — but I’m ready. My mind still wants to do a hundred things at once though, so I decided to try a grounding activity to stay in the moment. These always feel a bit awkward to do in public, but I gave the 5-4-3-2-1 senses exercise a go.

**Getting grounded before getting airborne**

Five things I can see: Emirates A380, Jetstar 787-8, Fiji A330-300, Qantas A330-300 in Oneworld livery, and the Macedon Ranges in the background.

Four things I can feel: My head resting on the leather headrest, the cool champagne glass in my fingertips, my freshly moisturised hands gripping the silicone phone case, and my forehead muscles squinting from the glare of the window.

Three things I can hear: The low hum of the air conditioning, jet engines roaring into life, and a group of Gippslanders chatting behind me.

Two things I can smell: The citrusy Lux hand wash still lingering on my hands, and that unmistakable scent of a first-class lounge — a mix of wood, leather, and money.

One thing I can taste: The last trace of champagne still dancing on my tongue.

By the end of the activity, I noticed I wasn’t mentally rushing quite as much. Still excited to get going, but not furiously thinking through the whole trip in advance.

Stomach filled, mind slowed (at least a little), all that’s left is to check out the airport talent on Grindr and enjoy this moment of luxury — before heading down to slum it in Jetstar economy for the next eight hours.Baca lagi