Here we goooooo.
Have I ever mentioned that I’m both mildly claustrophobic and not-so-mildly anxious about flying? I am mildly claustrophobic and not-so-mildly anxious about flying (especially after this little incident).
So to say I approached the idea of a 15-hour flight to Hong Kong with some trepidation would be an understatement. I pictured low-grade panic, exhaustion, and a smattering of lower-back cramps, just for kicks.
And yet I have, as I write these words, just traveled for something like 35 hours straight – including a 15-hour flight to Hong Kong, a 6-hour flight to Jakarta, two 4-hour layovers, and a 5-hour flight to Sorong that finally deposited me on the boat where I will be living for the next week, and I feel…kind of…great?
Aside from the fact that I have two young children who have trained me in the practice of sleeping wherever and however the F I can, I give credit for this great feeling to the following.
This attractive thing. It is called a Trtl Pillow, and I found it on some Buzzfeed Best Travel Products list or another and bought them for my dad and myself, entirely expecting them to be a gimmick.
They are not.
They are actually transcendent, and enabled me to literally sleep (well!) through most of my flights (that is, when I wasn’t making my way through the very best season of Breaking Bad). Mark my words: I will never again travel without one of these. And you shouldn’t either.
Why is this picture sideways? I don’t know, but I have 30 more seconds of Wifi so we’re not worrying about it.
The airport showers in Hong Kong. Now, I grew up in NYC, where Laguardia Airport was my primary air travel hub. Trying to picture showering in Laguardia Airport is like trying to picture licking the bathroom floor in Laguardia Airport: I just really would not do that, on pain of death.
The showers in the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge in Hong Kong are a different kind of beast, and by that I mean that they are 10,000x nicer than my bathroom at home. They’re impeccably clean, and filled with Jurlique products, and there’s lovely Enya-esque music piped in, and I never wanted to leave. Let me say that again: I never wanted to leave my airport shower.
Weird.
First Aid Beauty hand cream. I’ve had a tube of this kicking around for ages from some press event or another, and have heard people raving about it, but never got around to using it until now. It is rich and wonderful and somehow made me emerge from my travel extravaganza looking, if not “great,” at least not Golum-ish.
And now I’m on a boat, headed out to Raja Ampat for seven days of total Internet blackout (although Olivia is helping out with my channels so I don’t go totally dark; thankyouOliviaIloveyou). I am with my father, who is serving up solid Instagram Gold, so please be sure to check my IG stories when I’m able to post them; you will not be sorry.
I’ll be posting alllllll the things once I’m back on dry land, but for now: Happy Friday! Or Thursday. I don’t know what day it is. Happy Whateverday!
