The Travel Diaries: The Flight

14th July, 2015.

It was 2am and the dream of travelling to Europe was becoming my reality. I was sitting at the terminal, waiting for my flight number to be announced on the intercom. My nerves had skyrocketed the moment I walked into the airport. Needless to say, I was terrified. Then the flight number was called and I was on my way to boarding the plane.

You're probably wondering if I am afraid of planes, I'm not, I swear! But the fear of the unknown terrified me. Travelling across the world, by myself, nearly got the best of me. I was scared, but I was triumphant. I was doing something everyone seemed to disapprove. People thought I was crazy, they couldn't understand why I was doing it. I even had one person tell me I was going to get killed. But needless to say, I am here now and this is how my journey began.

Brisbane - Singapore - Dubai

Brisbane - Singapore

The journey to Singapore was the most uncomfortable. At the time I left, Brisbane was blanketed under a polar vortex. Because of this, turbulence on the way was a nightmare. You could feel every gust of wind against the plane, making it quite a bumpy flight.

I flew with Emirates on one of their Boeing-777's. Although their wasn't anything they could do to reduce the turbulence, the flight attendants were really helpful. If I had a question, they were very polite. I can't really say much about the food on this flight as I was too nervous to eat it. However from the menu options, it seemed like pretty decent food considering it was on a plane. From memory, the meal you could choose from were scrambled eggs or sausages. The trip from Singapore to Dubai was much better. On this flight, I wasn't as nervous as I was before and I had a far better experience.

Dubai - Paris

Dubai - Paris

After landing in Dubai, I waiting for a couple of hours in the airport for my next flight. Now Dubai is beautiful, but it was ridiculously hot and humid. Just walking in the terminal you could feel the heat from the windows.

Before I knew it, my flight had been called. For this flight I flew on the Emirates A380 Airbus. Let me tell you, that plane was HUGE! The first floor was just economy and the second floor was dedicated to business and first class. For economy it was pretty high end. It was more spacious than the Boeing-777  with the seats being slightly bigger. The windows though felt a bit smaller. The food was similar to before with options being beef and mashed potato and the other option being chicken. The entertainment was also fantastic. They had nearly every new release music and movies available, as well as old classics. 

The only problem I had on this flight was how far the seats could recline. Don't get me wrong they are quite comfortable when you are trying to sleep, but their isn't much room for your dinner tray when the person in front of you reclines their chair. You literally have to have your tray sitting on your lap because that's how far the chairs recline. 

Landing - Paris 

Landing in Paris, I had never been more excited. Despite my nervousness departing, I felt confident that I could get my own way from the airport to the hostel (and I did!). Maybe it was the friendly staff on board the flight, or maybe it was the back-up plans I kept creating. From here, it was the start of my amazing journey around Europe.