My Perfect Trip Home
March 7th, 2008, 4 Comments »
Over the last few years, I’ve done a fair bit of international flying. For sundry reasons, I’m hoping to curtail it. Among them is the fact that flights from Europe and Africa all the way to Vancouver can be pretty heinous, and I often suffer from some serious jet lag. What are the worst bits?
- Long layovers in Heathrow, a special kind of hell on Earth.
- Changing terminals in Heathrow, or changing airports across London.
- When they take you in a bus from the tarmac to the terminal. I’m not sure why this bugs me so much, but it does.
- Absurdly long lines at passport control.
I could go on. However, I’m pretty pleased with the flights I’ve got coming back to Vancouver this time. Check it out:
- On Sunday, a driver takes me to the Marrakesh airport in the afternoon, a trip of about two hours.
- I fly to Heathrow. Yes, it’s Heathrow, but I immediately leave the airport to stay over night at a nearby airport hotel.
- The next day, my flight leaves at the extraordinarily civil hour of 12:00pm.
- The flight to Vancouver is direct. No stops! I get in at 3:00pm, drag myself around for a few hours, watch a hockey game and go to bed.
- Thanks to the conference I’m speaking at, I’m staying at the Wall Centre in Vancouver for a few nights when I arrive. I find that hotels are excellent for overcoming the jet lag.
I suppose the perfect trip would avoid Heathrow and include first class, but this is as good as it gets on the cheap. No layovers, eight hours of sleep between flights and very reasonable arrival and departure times. Now, if I can secure an exit row, life will be sweet.