Thailand, Phuket

Back to the old travel journaling, with high hope that in my older ages I’ll be able to squint blindly at my computer screen and reminisce about my salad days. Our outward journey was well-planned, I think: an evening flight so that the first 7 hours pass in a haze of hazy sleep-attempts, half-watched films and never-quite-satisfying plane food. Then, the second haul (a second 6 hour flight) will hopefully be a little brighter, having had the chance to stretch our legs on the stop-over. This might me optimistic though, as all I’ve heard from frequent dual-fliers (I’ve avoided it like the plague up to this point) is that it’s hell, and to be prepared to get close to breaking point with whoever you’re travelling with. We’re flying Etihad, so I’ll give a solid review on my thoughts of the treatment of us economy-cretins on a two-floor (wtf) posh-focused flight. There’s also an incineratingly annoying child sitting behind me hitting and kicking my seat repeatedly, so we might have a murder on our hands before the flight touches down. I’ll keep you updated (ugh, children).

See ya on the other side, peeps!

A review on Etihad: I must say Etihad really did themselves proud: we’d got a raw deal on the seats on the second flight (back row, usually minimal recline) and I had been beyond anxious about it. We’d tried everything to change the seats, but it was a full flight and there was not even an upgrade option available (not that we could -or wanted to- pay for it tbh) and I have to say my fear was beyond unfounded: nay, in fact, it was an insult to the good standard of Etihad. Even in the smaller, slightly run-down singe-storey airplane the Etihad economy seat reclined more than any seat I’ve ever been on, and the seat actually seat slides out too - I’ve flown BA and Virgin Atlantic and although Etihad’s second plane wasn’t as fancy-looking, it certainly beat them all in terms of comfort. Would highly recommend! Also, Sam and I had brought our own reusable cups so as to minimise our plastic/whatever single-use cups on the flight, and the cabin crew LOVED them - on both flights. Three of them took pictures of the cups because they liked them so much and were determined to invest in something similar. This, of course, made me very happy (for environmentally and vanity-wise)Read more