Читать книгу My Trip Around the World in 18 days - Chris Psy.D. McKell - Страница 4

2. Time to Go!

Departure

I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday the fifteenth. With realizing I was losing a day and having only one day in Beijing, I made the decision to leave a day early (on Monday), as long as I could receive airline tickets for two flights (the other flights were e-tickets), which were being sent to me overnight from my travel agent. I sat in my home on Monday morning, the fourteenth, and was prepared to leave if my tickets were to arrive that day.

I received a package at around 11:00 a.m. After opening it, sure enough my airline tickets were inside! I then called my travel agent about leaving that day. She said she could make the change for a fee, which I agreed to. I then drove to the airport!

First Stop: Beijing–"A Marathon Flight”

My initial flight was to San Francisco, where I boarded an international flight to Hong Kong at 1:30 a.m. The flight over the Pacific Ocean was extremely long; fourteen grueling hours to Beijing. I brought along sleeping pills, because I don’t sleep very well on planes. After my flight left, I took a sleeping pill and was able to sleep for several hours in my slightly reclined seat. Because the flight was sold out, there were no empty seats were available to stretch out…

I was served a hot meal later. Having a hot meal also became a standard on my remaining flights, unlike flights in the U.S. that only offer the typical drink with a small bag of peanuts. Having a hot meal on the plane substituted with not needing another meal later during the day.

A television screen, directly in front of me, displayed the flight duration and the remaining flight time. I tried not to pay attention to it, because it made the flight seem longer. Fortunately, I was able to change channels to view other programs which helped pass the time.

During the long flight, I was thinking I could have arranged to stop over in Hawaii, since it is approximately halfway. I later thought, being in Hawaii would not only have cost more money, but it may have slowed my momentum for the traveling endurance I had ahead of me. Plus, Hawaii is a place to relax…

No Jetlag

When I finally arrived in Beijing, I had no jet lag! Apparently, traveling westward helps to minimize this effect. Because I had departed at 1:30 a.m. and being able to sleep, by the time I arrived in Beijing at 11:30 a.m. the next day, I felt fine. I recall, when I had previously traveled to Europe (traveling eastward), it took a few days for me to adjust to the time difference.