At the end of many years observation as Cabin Crew, in my office at 30,000 feet up, some things could still surprise. Forget Hollywood stars and business travelers, the following groups are the ones I found most fascinating. If you find yourself on a long flight look around and you will be guaranteed to see at least some of these traveling types. You may even be one.
These are my top 10 surprising long haul Frequent Flyers.
1. People who ask where the toilets are at the end of a 12 hour sector.
Is this really the first time you have been? Everyone knows on a flight you can never have too much water. Give yourself a decent chance of not feeling like a dried apricot when you land. Recycled aircraft air is bone dry, around 11 % humidity, so moisture is literally sucked out of you. This is not urgent on a SYD-MEL sector, but you are guaranteed a non- alcoholic hangover if you donʼt drink several litres of water between Australia and Europe. Apart from lipstick and a medicinal coffee or two, it is the secret of all hosties* being able to still speak by the end of the flight. And the secret to not wearing a path to the lavs and wearing out your neighbours patience? Add juice or hydration sachets. It doesnʼt go through your system as quickly as plain water.
2. People who go to the loo barefoot.
Are you insane? While I can vouch that the loos are regularly wiped down from the mirror to the floors (the glamour!), it only takes one passenger to miss a spit into the sink to make it seem like someone has gone through a metabolic change there. Just think of it like this: would you go into the MCG loo barefoot at halftime? Well the traffic is about the same only the bathrooms in sporting fixtures donʼt rock and jump from side to side and up and down while you aim. I have seen footprints on the toilet seat, vomit and other human waste up the walls. The mile high clubbers seem benign in comparison. Enough said about bathrooms.