Traveling

As much as I am loving our life here in Malaysia, I hate the travel back and forth to the states. There is really no easy way to do it. You are going to be in an airplane (or airport) a VERY LONG TIME!
I just came back from Dallas a week ago and this is what my schedule looked like: Arrive at DFW airport March 31, 7 a.m. for an 11 a.m. flight to Los Angeles. Arrive LA 4 hours later and have a 2 hour lay-over until flight to Tokyo (10 hours). Get off airplane, let them clean and refuel, those of us going on to Singapore get BACK on same airplane 1 hour later for another 8 hours to Singapore. Arrive Singapore 2 a.m. April 2nd.
Makes me tired just writing it!
I have been on flights that have a lot of empty seats, but the flight from DFW to LA, and LA to Tokyo this time were completely full. (I was able to spread out a little on the flight on to Singapore, since about half the people got off in Tokyo.) People traveling LOVE to find out they are seated next to me, because I am so little they know they can spread out and have more room. For instance, I was seated on the left side of the airplane on my flight from Dallas to LA and there were two seats. Mine was by the window. In walks a HUGE man and he has the aisle seat next to me. He immediately asks if he can put the armrest up between us and I agree. (It is a little silly to say no, since I am flopping around in my area.) He was at least 6'4" and probably weighed 400 lbs., so I imagine he was delighted to see I was his seat mate! A very nice man and we chatted quite a lot (especially about the 3 screaming children directly across the aisle from us).
Then I get on the plane in LA to begin the NEXT 10 hours of my journey, and I am in the middle of a 3-seat row, 1 man on either side of me. The stewardess comes around before we even take off and asks if you want anything to drink. Guy to the left of me gets a glass of wine, then promptly spills it all over him and down between our two seats. (He is VERY apologetic and cleans it up immediately--I assure him that after my 2 days of travel, it won't really matter if I smell like wine when I get off the plane.)
The saving factor on these long flights is they feed you, feed you, feed you. In fact, I am never hungry when they start feeding again, but what else are you going to do? And you can watch movies, listen to music, or play video games, which makes the time go faster.
I could easily handle the flights, but the worse thing is the jet-lag you experience when you arrive. Since Malaysia is 13 hours ahead of Dallas, your body wants to "wake up" when it is night here, and "sleep" when it is day here. For about 3-4 days after making the trip, I am just not in any kind of a rhythm and your brain feels very muddled. We have found it is best to try and MAKE yourself stay awake during the daylight hours instead of napping, then just deal with waking up in the night until your body reaches COMPLETE exhaustion and you sleep straight through again.
So having said all that, come visit us ANYTIME and experience this phenomenon for yourself!