international flights

Learn from my mistakes - Paris part 2

Migraines and air travel don’t mix.On the day of our big flight I was attempting to keep a bad migraine at bay with headache tablets. I even stocked up with some more at the chemist in the departure lounge. But still it was there, throbbing away.

We boarded our Qantas plane from Sydney to Bangkok the plane was completely full and so we found ourselves seated in the middle row next to an older German woman who was part of a large tour group. So we all sat waiting for takeoff. And sat, and sat. Finally an announcement was made informing us that part of the electrical system (”not the part that flies the plane”) that powers the galleys was broken and they were trying to fix it. So we sat and waited. Another announcement tol us that they were now going to truck in some dry ice from Mascot (other side of the airport). So we sat and waited, with Loll becoming more and more restless and my migraine getting worse. Finally we were informed that the problem had been fixed and we were cleared to takeoff. By this time over an hour had elapsed since our listed departure time and Loll was bored and hungry and annoying. The cabin crew had neglected to handout any kids’ packs and as we couldn’t put the tray table down, there was nothing for him to be occupied with.The plane was a new 747-400 and had individual seat-back TV screen with movies, TV shows and games. Loll was in heaven with his very own TV and controller! Once the entertainment started he sat quietly and happily watching Disney channel. The only problem was that he wanted to play the games but wasn’t able to grasp the rules or work the controls and he became frustrated. We quietly suggested that he not play them!

Here is a pic of Loll waiting at the depature gate:

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