On 17 May 2006 I returned from a particularly gruelling trip to
Canada. I didn't know it at the time, but it was to be my last flight for over 5 years,
maybe for ever. It came at the end of a year with a particularly large amount of travel:
between 8 May 2005 and 17 May 2006 I made 7
journeys, 6 of them overseas, a total of 52 hops and 208,551 km. That's more than half the
distance to the moon, an average air speed of 23 km/h over the entire year, and just under
one flight a week.
By the end of the journey I was thoroughly fed up with travel, air travel in particular. I
wasn't to know it again, but that was the last time I was in a plane. I've been flying most
of my life—the last time I didn't fly for 5 years started in 1951, when I was 3 years
old—but air travel has changed. It used to be fun, people used to care about the
passengers and make them comfortable. Now it's mindless thugs finding gainful employment
annoying passengers as “security consultants” and flight conditions more
reminiscent of cattle transports. I don't miss it.
Here's a breakdown of the journeys:
| From |
|
To |
|
km |
| ADL |
|
SYD |
|
1160 |
| SYD |
|
LAX |
|
12100 |
| LAX |
|
DFW |
|
1920 |
| DFW |
|
ORD |
|
1290 |
| ORD |
|
YOW |
|
1050 |
| YUL |
|
LHR |
|
5210 |
| LHR |
|
OSL |
|
1170 |
| OSL |
|
BGO |
|
309 |
| BGO |
|
OSL |
|
309 |
| OSL |
|
LHR |
|
1170 |
| LHR |
|
SIN |
|
10900 |
| SIN |
|
DRW |
|
3330 |
| DRW |
|
ADL |
|
2620 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
42538 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
SIN |
|
5410 |
| SIN |
|
BKK |
|
1440 |
| BKK |
|
HEL |
|
7870 |
| HEL |
|
LHR |
|
1850 |
| LHR |
|
SIN |
|
10900 |
| SIN |
|
SYD |
|
6290 |
| SYD |
|
ADL |
|
1160 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
34920 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
SIN |
|
5410 |
| SIN |
|
FRA |
|
10300 |
| FRA |
|
ATH |
|
1800 |
| ATH |
|
FRA |
|
1800 |
| FRA |
|
ARN |
|
1220 |
| ARN |
|
FRA |
|
1220 |
| FRA |
|
SIN |
|
10300 |
| SIN |
|
SYD |
|
6290 |
| SYD |
|
ADL |
|
1160 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
39500 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
BNE |
|
1630 |
| BNE |
|
DUD |
|
5080 |
| DUD |
|
BNE |
|
5080 |
| BNE |
|
ADL |
|
1630 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
13420 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
MEL |
|
641 |
| MEL |
|
SIN |
|
6040 |
| SIN |
|
LHR |
|
10900 |
| LHR |
|
FCO |
|
1440 |
| FCO |
|
LHR |
|
1440 |
| LHR |
|
SIN |
|
10900 |
| SIN |
|
MEL |
|
6040 |
| MEL |
|
ADL |
|
641 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
38042 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
SYD |
|
1160 |
| SYD |
|
ADL |
|
1160 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
2320 |
|
|
|
|
| ADL |
|
SYD |
|
1160 |
| SYD |
|
SFO |
|
11900 |
| SFO |
|
SEA |
|
1090 |
| SEA |
|
ORD |
|
2750 |
| ORD |
|
YOW |
|
1050 |
| YOW |
|
ORD |
|
1050 |
| ORD |
|
LAX |
|
2800 |
| LAX |
|
MEL |
|
12700 |
| MEL |
|
ADL |
|
641 |
|
| Subtotal: |
|
|
|
35141 |
|
|
|
|
| Total: |
|
|
|
205881 |
