Global Travel Planning

Top Tips for Long Haul Flights [with the Ladies Who Travel]

• Tracy Collins • Episode 56

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Dreading your next long-haul flight? In this month’s “Ladies Who Travel” episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast, Tracy is joined by Melissa and Shelly, who collectively have logged thousands of hours in the air. Listen as they share their practical tips and hard-won wisdom to help make marathon journeys not just bearable—but genuinely enjoyable!

The conversation kicks off by addressing a common dilemma: Is it better to endure one ultra-long flight or break the journey into shorter segments? While conventional wisdom might suggest multiple flights, Tracy, Melissa, and Shelly make a compelling case for direct routes—like the 17-hour Perth-to-London flight—provided you can secure the right seat. Tracy openly admits, "I hate flying," making her strategies especially valuable for fellow nervous flyers.

Access to premium cabins emerges as a transformative factor in long-haul comfort. Beyond the expected luxuries, the hosts highlight practical considerations that can justify the extra cost—such as increased baggage allowances, potentially offsetting upgrade expenses for extended trips. For those on tighter budgets, they discuss strategic "point hacking," timing upgrade bids wisely, and identifying flights truly worth the premium investment.

In the segment on carry-on essentials, expect insights that go beyond the usual recommendations. Yes, noise-cancelling headphones make the list, but have you considered bringing an adapter to connect them to the plane’s entertainment system? Or organizing your items in small pouches to avoid rummaging through your bag mid-flight?

Perhaps the most valuable part is the deep dive into managing jet lag—a real challenge when crossing multiple time zones, especially to and from Australia. Tracy, Melissa, and Shelly acknowledge the difficulty and offer concrete strategies for minimizing recovery time. Their unanimous advice never to drive immediately after a long-haul flight could genuinely save lives.

Whether you're a frequent flyer or planning your first intercontinental adventure, this episode will transform potentially miserable travel hours into a manageable—and even enjoyable—part of your journey.

⭐️ Guests - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au) and Shelly Marie (SoloHerWay.com) 

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Speaker 1:

Hi, welcome to episode 56 of the Global Travel Plan podcast. So this is one of our regular chats with a Brit, an Aussie and a Yank. So that's me, melissa and Shelley, and today we're diving into the highs and lows of long haul travel. So, whether you're heading across continents or flying halfway around the world, we've got tips, hacks and real stories to help make those long flights a little more manageable. Hi and welcome to the Global Travel Planning Podcast. I'm your host, tracey Collins, who, with my expert guests, will take you on a weekly journey to destinations around the globe, providing travel inspiration, itinerary ideas, practical tips and more to help you plan your next travel adventure. So, as always, let's start the episode with a quick catch-up where we all are in the world and what we've been up to since we last spoke. So, shelley, where are you? Whereabouts are you?

Speaker 2:

Well, I just landed back in the United States and you're in Florida, is that right?

Speaker 1:

Yes, I'm in Florida right now visiting family, so I'm getting caught up, and it's been almost a year since I've been back, wow, yeah yeah, I'll say that I've just landed back in australia after nine months, so I'm actually in perth at the moment, uh, visiting my daughter and her partner. So that's really cool.

Speaker 3:

and, melissa, you're back to the queensland yeah, I'm at home in brisbane, so I've been doing a lot of exploring in the backyard. Recently, um shelly and I finally got to do our trip to Lady Elliot Island, which is fabulous. But, yeah, just doing the local stuff at the moment. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but there's loads to do and I'm really excited, actually, about being back in Queensland. I'll be there at the end of the month and we've already talked about loads of stuff to see and do in Brisbane. That's new, so I'm really looking forward to that. So that's going to be good, and I know I talked to Shelly about her Lady Elliot experience and I really want to do it. I'm like, yeah, that sounds amazing. And I know, shelly, you were in New Zealand, um, and yes, yeah, and then you flew to, you were in Thailand, and then we met. We got to actually have go out for dinner in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it was so cool that it just happened to work out that way. And then after I left there, I went to Korea and spent a little bit of time in Korea and yeah, now I'm here. So it was kind of like boom, boom, boom, you know, after I left Australia. But it was so cool meeting up with you because we got to chit chat about your travels, because you've been gone so long and you know, I got to just see everyone. So, yeah, it was.

Speaker 1:

It was really good. And I'm going to ask one thing Can you share the photos of your nails that you had done in Korea? I think we need to show all our listeners, I believe, fabulous nails that you had done. Yeah, they are so, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2:

They are definitely. It was such a great experience. It was definitely this lady's. Such an artist she's. Yeah, yeah, if you go on my uh, instagram or tiktok or website, you'll see it. But yes, I will share the photos. But she, I mean, I was just amazed, she did everything by hand.

Speaker 1:

Wow. Well, they look amazing, so we need to share. They look fabulous, thank you. So the main thing we're going to talk about this episode is about is about surviving long haul flights. So just surviving flying when you're doing a lot of flights and I, before you came on, shelley, I was just saying to Melissa I think I added it up and I think we've done 17 flights. I've done 17 flights between no, I've done 17 flights and Doug's about the same in the last nine months, which is, which is crazy, it's a crazy amount of flying. Um, and I know you've been flying everywhere and, and you know, shelley, you fly everywhere and Melissa, we're always flying all the time. We're always thinking about stuff. So let's let's talk about how we plan when we're going to fly, cause that. So let's talk about how we plan when we're going to fly, because that's something that I kind of you know.

Speaker 1:

How far ahead do you start planning for a long haul journey? And I'm going to start with this one, because actually, when I was planning this trip, that I did. I actually wanted to avoid long haul, because I hate flying, which everybody always finds incredible, especially after 17 flights. So one thing that I've started doing and that's a luxury that I guess that we can afford in terms of time is take shorter flights and avoid those long flights, because I cannot bear them. And we have a lot of them from Australia Now, melissa, obviously based in Australia all the time. They're always they've long hauled going anywhere, going to Europe, going to the States, a long haul flight. So how do you kind of prepare, knowing that you're going to do a long haul?

Speaker 3:

flight. Um, if you're just talking about, like you know, once the flights booked, um, I'm a bit short term sort of preparing. You know, I might start thinking about it like the day before, um, but in terms of like before I book, because I'm a bit of a point hacker, I will sort of plan, like well and truly in advance and even before I've even thought of the flight, I'll be trying to make the most of every purchase I get. So I get lots of points so I can try and upgrade, which I know we'll talk about later yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1:

What about you, shelly, when you're taking I mean any of those long-haul flights, because I know you've just recently taken quite a few in terms of Europe, to Australia, and then you've flown to Florida, which took quite a few hours yeah, um, and so the long-haul flights, I I don't dislike them.

Speaker 2:

But, like you were saying, I totally get now from Australia because you know that's got to be a really, really hard one that one kind of like jet lag I know we'll talk about later that one kind of kicked me in the butt, to be honest, because it is such a long flight and it's not so much that I haven't taken that long of a flight. You know, long-haul flight before it's just the low. I don't know the time change, I don't know what it is, but, man, it was like intense. But as far as long-haul flights, I consider a long-haul flight. I don't know what you guys consider a long-haul flight, anything over like eight hours, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. So so you know, as far as that goes, um, if they have a layover, that's fine, but you know what I, I'm the type that like I'd rather just get it over with. So I mean, if they don't, if it's a direct, if I'm lucky enough to get a direct, I'll take the direct every time okay, would you do.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to ask this would you would either of you do the 17 hour flight from perth direct to london? I've done it, yeah, and in business? All right, okay, I think I would do it in business class um.

Speaker 2:

I go ahead. I'm sorry, melissa, no.

Speaker 3:

I was just gonna say I'm, I'm not, I'm not sure I would do it on economy, like I don't know. Um business was hard enough, um, but it was very, very doable in business, very doable, okay, what?

Speaker 2:

about you, uh, shelly um, I, that's one thing that I've I've done when I first first first started. Uh, I did the economy thing and I just was a train wreck for several days after now. If that's the only way you can get there, I say, go for it. You know you could recover later. But now, minimum, I try like Comfort Plus. I try because it's so long. It's so long. If you can't do business or you can't get bumped up, at least do the Comfort Plus, where you could stretch out your legs a little bit more, legs a little bit more. Um, but yeah, I'd rather take the 17 hour and get it done than to take maybe a 10 hour, have a four hour layover, then get back on a plane. Then you know, it's just to me, it just drags it on too long yeah, I think that.

Speaker 1:

I think that I agree, because we've done quite often the the Brisbane to Dubai route, which is like 13 and a half hours. Then you get off the plane, you're already tired and then you've got another seven hours or whatever it is, and I think they're harder in some ways. But I have to say I like this last trip. The most we've done is a five-hour out. No, there's 17-hour flight. Oh yeah, we've done it. We've really hopped around, which has been really nice, and we've done a lot with points, which kind of brings me back to the whole kind of you know, do you splurge on upgrades? If you do, how do you do it? And I know I've used points before to go business class and, oh my goodness, it was amazing. We actually did an upgrade this time and we went business class. Um, it was, it was an overnight, was a red eye flight, and it was worth it.

Speaker 1:

We did an upgrade this time and we went business class. It was an overnight, it was a red-eye flight and it was worth it. We did an overnight one with Qatar oh no, it was actually Malaysia Airways from Colombo to Kuala Lumpur and it was absolutely worth it. It was, I don't know. I think we spent maybe $250 Australian dollars each. We did the upgrade but honestly and it was only a five-hour flight, but it was 100% worth it and it was only a five-hour flight, but it was 100% worth it. So how do you do? Do you splurge, do you use points or you know what's the minimum kind of thing? You'll go okay, it's a two-hour flight, I'm not going to bother. Thirty-an-hour flight, I'm going to go for that upgrade.

Speaker 3:

For me, like anything that's long haul and like we just sort of said we're saying anything from eight hours. I will always look at my options, whether or not I book the business class straight up with points or, if I can't, then putting the upgrade in. If I've got enough points, I'll always try for the upgrade or book the points. I just think it's something and I know I'm the youngest out of us three, but it's something. As you get older it's really hard on your body. It's really hard on your body and you know, know, I am small, I don't have long legs or anything like that, so I can only imagine what it must be for other people. It's, it's hard, it's hard. So, yeah, I'll always go for an upgrade if I can oh, I absolutely agree.

Speaker 1:

As you get older, just comfort becomes so important and I know, shelley, you, you, you look at using points as well and looking to upgrade when you can.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so I use points, but I usually will upgrade anyways, just like I said, to at least like the premium comfort, the comfort class, whatever the airlines may call it, due to the fact that I do long-term travel and I do travel with that medium suitcase and the carry-on and I check it. So sometimes when you book those upgrades, they allot you more luggage weight. So for me that offsets the cost, so it's kind of a win-win because I get my luggage on there and I'm not having to pay hundreds of dollars for my luggage and at the same token I have a much more comfortable seat, a little bit more legroom, because I'm a little bit taller. And so, yeah, that's what I mostly do. I very rarely unless it's short-term flights under the eight hours, very rarely take economy anymore for long-haul flights and then, if I'm lucky enough, I'll get bumped up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you shared a picture the other day and I was like that doesn't look like economy, shelley, and you said you'd been bumped up. I was like, hmm, looks very nice. But I think the point you made about luggage is totally valid and the time that I actually did a bid for a flight from Singapore back to Brisbane, I'd actually been shopping in Singapore, got the upgrade and went straight back and did some more shopping and marks and expenses because I knew I could take extra luggage on. It was brilliant. I was like, okay, I'll buy more food and take it back. So that's what I did. So anyway, let's talk about is this like, if we're talking about what we take on, so we've got a long haul flight, so over the eight hours, are there particular things that you pack in your bag when you take on? So I mean, I assume you've got some checked-in luggage, but if you're taking on that personal hand luggage with you, what do you take on that? You're always back, like I always have my headphones.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I was going to say in the last few years, I'll always have, like, my noise-cancelling headphones, and the other thing I also do now is have the adapter so that I can use my noise-cancelling headphones in the airline's entertainment system. So, yeah, so I always make sure I have that. And the other thing I always have in relation to entertainment is I have my iPhone full of downloads. I have been.

Speaker 3:

I remember one trip I did with a bunch of people and the entertainment system was not working and I was the only one who had shows downloaded on my phone. Everyone else was just like oh, this is so boring, and I was shocked. These were all other travel bloggers as well, and I was shocked that nobody came prepared. Like I always come prepared, you never know when those entertainment systems aren't working. So I have like like shows from netflix. I'll have podcasts um music, because I'm like I never know what mood I'm going to be in. So I have a range of things and sometimes I never use them, but it's always good to come prepared well, I I downloaded the entire three series of white lotus for my flight to perth and I'm I've watched.

Speaker 1:

I't know. It's about an hour an episode, so I think I watched five episodes. It was brilliant. Flight was really quick because I was totally engrossed in it. So I look at something that I know will interest me, especially if you're not going to be on an airline that you know there's not necessarily going to be the entertainment or, as you say, it might not work, so 100% cover.

Speaker 1:

One thing that I do do and I learned this actually from the amount of travel I used to do for my job previously is I always put um things like a little notepad and a pen and my book in in a small little bag within my bag so I can lift that out, um, without having to scrabble around, because I think there's nothing worse than trying to find all your pieces in a bag. So I put them in small, little, tiny little, just little bags and do that and I find that really easy, um, same as like a little toothbrush or whatever. If I have those things, then I can take those without having to take lots of different like just found trying to find things. I actually didn't do this on a flight from london and morocco and I lost my um pencil from my my ipad. Yeah, I've just had to buy a new one, so I think that works really well. So that's a tip that that I always do. Um one time I didn't lost something, so that's a good idea.

Speaker 1:

What about you, shelly? What do you always take? Tell me it's going to be skincare store, are you?

Speaker 3:

it's not going to be skincare. I could tell you what Shelley types.

Speaker 2:

It's going to be skincare. Well, melissa saw me on her trip. I do bring, like either the Evian or the mist water. I always have that in my purse because it makes your skin the plane dries out your skin so much so I miss myself just like a plant, like throughout the flight I'll go to the bathroom and miss myself. Plus, it makes you feel a little bit good Always, always, always a toothbrush and tooth kit. You know the airlines way back in the day they used to for long haul flights, they used to provide that stuff. They don't do it anymore.

Speaker 2:

Um, so I either purchase a little one or I snag one out of the hotel room before I leave and I just shove it in my purse. And then that way, because I don't know, I just have to those long flights, you have to brush your teeth. And then the other thing that I bring is, like you were saying in the last episode, you can't go wrong with a sarong. So I have a standard like sarong that I actually tie to my leather bag and that's what I carry on and I just tie it on there, super lightweight. But I can't tell you how many airlines normally on long term, long haul, they'll have a blanket, but sometimes they don't, or they run out or whatever, and it is flipping cold, so I will just untie it from my bag and then I have a blanket. So those are kind of my essentials. And then I agree with all of you noise-canceling headphones. Those are like right up there with my skincare.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, and make sure you've got some. I guess, though, you can't use it, you're taking a battery to charge your phone or your ipad. These days they're getting a bit strict with the, with the um the batteries on on some of the flights. I know um I can't think what flight it was. Yeah, we couldn't, actually weren't, allowed to charge anything on the, so make sure you charge. That's a big make sure you charge everything before you get on the plane, like if you're going have your ipad and your phone to watch stuff.

Speaker 2:

Make sure you charge it, just in case you can't, because they seem to be getting strict with that well, I'll tell you, tracy, I just went through um inchan airport, uh, and I have never been now they've implemented this rule recently and I've taken several, several flights since but this was the first time that they actually asked me a check-in to show them my power bank. So I was like okay. So I took it out of my bag, I handed it to her and she took a piece of electrical tape, black electrical tape, and taped it over like the plug, like the plugins inserts, I don't know what you call it, and I was like, okay, that's interesting. So then, you know, she handed it back to me and some airlines will require you to put it in a little plastic zip, some airlines don't. But that was the first time I had seen where they actually had black electrical tape to tape over so you can use it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that seems to definitely, over the last few months, become a bit more of a. They're really concerned. So, yeah, just make sure you've got stuff, stuff, charged up before you before you go on. I was trying to think what else I always take. I tried to take a book, but half the time I don't read it. But it's just have it if I need it. And Doug always has a drink, so he will always buy a bottle of water before I get on the plane. That's something I always do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's. And one thing I want to piggyback off of that, off of Doug here, is I always make sure that I buy like at least a liter of water and maybe some one with electrolytes in it so you stay hydrated. But the pet peeve I have is now these airlines have two checkpoints sometimes. So you think you have cleared the checkpoint, it's okay to purchase, and then they pop up another checkpoint and then you're stuck with the liter of water that you have to chuck and then you got to buy new water. That happened to me twice lately I know.

Speaker 1:

So when I went the last time I went through dubai, they after, when you got because there's a few checkpoints there before you get on the plane, but the very last one there was a water fountain so you could refill a water bottle. So that's the other thing that obviously, rather than having to buy a bottle of water, is that doug goes travels with his water bottle is then, if you can't refill it, if there's actual um water stations, which I think that's that's also something I'm seeing a bit more that they're trying to encourage you to do that. So that's pretty good. Yes, now, what do you wear on a long haul flight? Now, if you're in business class, you get the pajamas which I still have, my pajamas from Qantas, thank you very much for my, my uh, which Douglas takes the mickey out of, but I like wear them. So, obviously, whether you're changing the pajamas is up to you.

Speaker 1:

But generally, what do you wear on a long haul flight? Well, I tend to wear the most comfortable trousers I can find and underwire bra no, thank you very much, not very comfortable. So just a not underwire bra and comfortable top. I don't care, I don't care necessarily how I look, I just want to be comfortable. But what about you know, do you go for comforts and I can know what shelly's gonna stay on this one kyle or both? See, I'm just comfort. What about you, shelly? Because I know what you're gonna say.

Speaker 2:

Oh, well, we had this conversation a little while ago because I did a little like snippet video, uh, about that, because I don't know. My frame of thought is, if you dress nicer casual, comfort yes, but nicer casual, you know, for me, sometimes I get a little bit more perks. Sometimes it's a different level, different vibe when you go through immigration, it's when you arrive at the hotel you sometimes will get perks or you sometimes will get a different vibe from them. So I'm not saying dress up, but I always make sure I'm very put together, can you?

Speaker 1:

tell Shelly is the glamorous one out of all of us. I am going to say that. I am going to say that, do you?

Speaker 3:

agree, melissa, I do, and I'm the least glamorous out of the three of us. If you could see our video right now, you would see what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1:

So, what about you, melissa, when you go on a flight.

Speaker 3:

What do you Absolutely comfort? I tend to wear the same thing every time, like a pair of leggings, um yeah, a t-shirt and a jumper, and normally I'll have shoes that I can easily take on and off, like I'm totally for.

Speaker 1:

Um, yeah, comfort yeah, no, that's me right. I'm going to do a quick, a quick fire one. This time. You can't think about it. You're just going to give me the answer straight away window aisle or middle, which one window aisle, window, window which? Why window melissa?

Speaker 3:

I like the window because I like putting my head against it to try and sleep yeah, I, I like aisle, I like aisle.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you've got long legs, so I'm guessing the aisle might be better for you, for your legs, though, shelley. So I like window because I like to see out. I hate it. I hate it when it's night and I hate it when they make you close the blind, because I like to see where I am, even if I'm in the clouds. I want to see the clouds. I feel happy all the time. Nobody wants to sit in the middle seat when we fly, because I always have to have the window on, so he kind of was a bit sulky about that, aren't you?

Speaker 3:

I reckon I should charge less for the middle seat, because then maybe more people would sit there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's true. That is absolutely true. So now, do you take snacks with you on the flight? Do you take anything in particular, or do you just depend on what they give you during the flight?

Speaker 3:

I just whatever they give me. I always take water with me but might have some Mentos, but no.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you should take sweets for takeoff, not the chew on. What about?

Speaker 2:

you, shelley, I always have snacks. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I get teased by my friends because, even like going anyplace, I have snacks. When we went on our trip, melissa, I had snacks. You did, I did. Yeah, yeah, I always carry at least two protein bars and then usually a small bag of nuts and then, of course, water, because I have gotten stuck like it, like if a plane's late, a layover, or I get in like 1, like 1am someplace, and like there's nothing open and no food. So, yeah, sometimes it's not necessary for the plane per se, especially if you're in business or something like that, because they tend to feed you the whole time. But, um, but no, I always have snacks so let's talk about jet lag now.

Speaker 1:

I've avoided jet lag this particular trip because I've come back so slowly and I, I hate, I really struggle with jet lag. I really struggle going. Coming back to australia is from from in europe is particularly. I found that direction far more difficult than kind of going, uh, west towards europe. Now, um, shelly, you've just literally skipped a whole back. You've gone back in time international dateline. Um, so you went over from, from southeast asia over to the states. So now, how are you dealing with that jet lag? Are you experiencing any jet lag?

Speaker 2:

you know, I, I am, I am, usually the first couple days are the hardest, um, but I will tell you the Australia one you are right, tracy, that Australia one really kicks your butt For some reason, that one's like the hardest one.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, I, yes, usually the first couple days are like really the hardest days are like really the hardest, and what I tend to do is make sure I'm super hydrated before the flight, during the flight, after the flight, because I know it sounds minor but it's good for fatigue. You know your mental clarity, all that. And then I also, then I also, you know, try not to book myself for anything like the day after and maybe even two days after, if I know it's long, because then that way it gives my body, like Melissa was saying. You know, especially if you're, you know, getting a little bit older or you're traveling multiple, multiple flights, you know your body needs time to recover because you're not going to enjoy doing what you're doing, if you're miserable. And then I try to stay up, so, like when I arrived here, I arrived here at almost 1am in the morning and so I had to like make myself go to sleep, which I wasn't tired. But you know, you just try to adjust, but that's yeah that's the hard part.

Speaker 1:

I think that's a good tip, I think getting if you can. And I remember in the 80s because I was a nanny, you know, and I worked for a family and the guy was constantly flying around the world and I remember saying to him how do you deal with all the jet lag and how do you? And he said the. The thing I do is go directly into the time of the zone that I'm arriving to. So if that means going to the gym to keep myself awake until 10 o'clock and then I'll go to bed, that's what I'll do. So that's for eating, for sleeping, for doing a lot, just keeping yourself into exactly what you'd expect, even if you don't feel like it.

Speaker 1:

And I know I find it easier to say got europe and I'll just my mom usually we stay at my mom's and she just like keeps us awake, keeps talking to us, and you know we're probably to the keep awake, you know. But I think it's harder when we get back to australia and we're back in our apartment and we're like we really struggle. Um, I've had a friend who's recently been taking melatonin and she said that that's helped. Yeah, that's helped her. So that's not something I've tried before. How do you cope with jet lag, melissa?

Speaker 3:

I think you guys have really covered it, like trying to adjust to the new time zone straightaway, whether that's staying awake or trying to go to sleep, yeah, and giving yourself a bit of space. I don't know. I don't tend to find I suffer jet lag when I go somewhere, and I'm not. I thought. I kind of thought that was because I was really excited about the new place, and then when I come home, I find it really really tough. But then everyone says it. So, like you said, it's obviously something to do with coming back to Australia and it messes with you and I find it can take me a good week, even two weeks sometimes, and I'm always really surprised, particularly like for Australians who land in Australia and have themselves going to work the next day. I think that's mental. Like you definitely need to like give yourself a couple of days if it's a long-haul flight anyway, so you have to have a few.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, and one other thing I will say as well to avoid doing if you're on a long haul flight is please, please, please, do not get off a long haul flight in london.

Speaker 1:

You throw and hire a car. Really don't do that anywhere, anywhere that you're driving, because I just it's, even if you've been in business class and you think you slept, you still won't know how to put my night's sleep and I just think that it's just a really dangerous thing to do if you feel like, oh, I'm just going to go. So we always tell you give yourself a day, give yourself some time and when I talk to people flying into London, give yourself that to just do a hop on a bus, get picked up at Heathrow, get taken to your hotel, chill into your hotel, chill out. Don't put stress on yourself to overfill your first day. And I know some people have said, oh well, I'm so excited, I want to do everything I said. To be honest, I feel sometimes like a zombie on that first day where I can't I couldn't tell you half the time I do.

Speaker 1:

sometimes you like, feel like you're floating you're so tired and you know, and people have said that people who work like night shift have said that's what it's like when you do a night shift and you get into your sleeping pattern. So I think it's important to give yourself that time to adjust. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, fill your first day with stuff and when you get home after the trip, don't go back to work, if you can the next day, especially when you're doing a long haul flight back to Australia which is, you know, we're talking 23 hours. It's a long, long flight. So I think those are all kind of important things to think about.

Speaker 2:

I was going to say Tracy, you're absolutely right about hiring a car, but like when I went to Australia, you know, I did not drive for like the first week. I just I mean, I had to go to the store or whatever. I took an Uber. I took because I just I was so wiped out I'm like there is no way I'm going to get behind the wheel of a car. So that is like really, really pertinent information.

Speaker 1:

For sure. Yeah, I think it's important.

Speaker 3:

I just had a little tip that someone shared as a family travel for any of our families that are listening that one thing that I got told um and I followed it when my I was traveling with my daughter when she was little is when you're on the airplane trying to get the kids in in the um time zone.

Speaker 3:

So, for example, when I was traveling with Myla, when she was like a tiny one, like I would even, like you know, pull out her pajamas and put her in her pajamas and, you know, get out a book and like, like you would at home, even if it was like three o'clock in the afternoon in Australia but kind of say, you know, we're going to sleep now, you know, on the airplane, because it's one thing for us when we get to a new destination to stay awake or go to sleep, but it's a bit much to expect the tiny kids to be able to do that. But I always found that it really worked pretty well with her that she was like oh, I'm going to sleep now because I'm in my pajamas and getting a book read to me.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, I was gonna. I was actually gonna ask you because you know, because you've traveled quite a lot around the world with Myla, how did she cope with that jet lag when she got older? Did it get more difficult?

Speaker 3:

she was always a really good sleeper on an airplane. So you know, I don't know whether I was just lucky, but you know, I think when they're little it's much easier for for them to be on a plane. One thing that I did and I guess this is a tip for long-haul flights I've always paid for a seat for Myla. I've never, ever flown long haul with her on my lap. I do not know how parents do that. That's crazy, I think. So I've always paid for her to have her own seat. And you know what the good thing is? They're so tiny, they take up so much little space, so you get a bit of extra space as well.

Speaker 1:

That's a good one. That's a good thing.

Speaker 3:

I know you might be like oh, but I can save money, but honestly I think it's crazy to think that you're going to have a kid on your lap for 17 hours, or whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

No, no, definitely not. I couldn't imagine that. I think the first time I took Dominique Longhaw, she was five and I took her to South Africa and she had her own seat.

Speaker 3:

There's no way. It's like no, should, I don't know. Is there an age limit on okay? Yeah, well, at least most, I mean my daughter's um 14 now, so it's been a while, but at least it used to be two yeah, no, I couldn't imagine like even having a wriggling toddler trying to really really difficult, really difficult.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so let's, let's end the podcast. We've been talking for 30-odd minutes already, which is I mean we can talk forever, I know we can and talking about flying, because it's something we do all the time. I think it's really important. Now, have you got one tip that you would share for surviving long haul? And I'm going to start with saying, if you can avoid it, that's my tip. I enjoy doing this in australia though. Well, and we've got a long. We've got a few long hauls at the end of the year because we've got a south american and talk to carmen. So we've got. We've got long hauls coming up, which I've already started to talk, to talk about stressing and going oh my goodness, um, but I'll be with you. I don't like flying on my own as well, so if I can fly with five, with a friend, long haul that's mine. What about you, melissa? Have you got any particular tip?

Speaker 3:

oh, save up for those points and fly. Business class or, like um Shelly said, at least the middle one, premium economy is tends to what we call it here in Australia. But yeah, save up those points and don't fly economy yeah, that's a good one, and shelly um could I do two okay, so so one for long-haul flights.

Speaker 2:

I know this may sound a little bit frivolous, but like I'm a vegetarian, so I make sure that before, when I'm booking my flight, that my meals are pre-ordered before I go, because there's nothing worse than getting on a flight and then you have no food. That's going to cause more jet lag, that's going to cause this, that's going to cause a bunch of things. That's one thing. The airlines don't charge anymore for that. You might as well get what you want to get. And then the other thing I would say for a long haul flight is again, try to book it at least like a couple weeks or three weeks in advance. And again, I use my VPN because sometimes, if you are looking for flights on search engines, you can purchase the ticket in that country's currency, and that could save you a lot of money. If you like myself, I'm US and let's say I buy a ticket in, you know, asia, and let's say I buy a ticket in Asia, the currency exchange. So keep that in mind when you're searching your flights.

Speaker 1:

It's worth a look. Those are really good tips.

Speaker 1:

Well as always, it's really good to catch up with both of you. Next month we've got a great topic because we're going to be talking about kind of lost in translation. So we're going to be talking in language because there's been some really interesting TikToks been shared by Shelley which have gone down a storm with you. Know, we might all speak English, but Australian English, british English and American English very different and there are, as often, lots of things lost in translation. So we're going to be talking about that next month. Um, but it's been great chatting to you about um flights and about long haul travel.

Speaker 1:

I do want to do a big shout out from all of us to laura, who I think is probably one of our biggest fans, and, yes, thank you. Every week, laura's leaving us a message on speakpipe, which is wonderful, and we love listening to your tips and your thoughts as well, laura. So please continue to do that. It's very special and we look forward to that. So thanks very much and anybody else listening, if you want to leave us a message, get in touch with us via SpeakPipe, like Laura does. We'll get back to you and we'll give you a shout out on the podcast, because we we love to. We want to get to know you guys as well. What is it that you want from us? What information can we share from our experience and our tips? What do you want to know? That'd be great, so let us know.

Speaker 1:

But, um, great to catch up with you guys. I'm going to be seeing you soon, melissa. I'm not sure it's jelly when we're going to catch up, but we will make gonna. We'll make a date for the next podcast for the end of next month, but great chatting to you guys. So thanks very much, as always, for joining me this month.

Speaker 1:

And I'm just going to say you can find all the links to anything we talked about in the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom forward slash, episode 56. And there will be links to Melissa's website and Shelley's website, tiktok, all social media, so you can follow all of us on that. But that leaves me to say until next week's episode, happy global travel planning. Bye. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the global travel planning podcast. For more details and links to everything we discussed today, check out the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom. Remember if you, if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app, because your feedback helps us reach more travel enthusiasts, just like you. Anyway, that leaves me to say, as always, happy global travel planning, thank you.