Getting there is half the adventure:

My earliest memories of flying are all blissfully happy. The 1.5 hour trip from Melbourne to Sydney was a fun-filled adventure. Everything was free: activities book, colouring in pencils, headphones, in-flight movies and food. There was no stressing that I’d forgotten anything as obviously my parents packed my bag for me. I just had to sit back and enjoy everything the flight had to offer. My favourite game was seeing who could drink the most coke before needing to go to the toilet my little brother or me. Much to the very patient airhostesses delight my brother and I used to consume gallons of coke before one of us would eventually bolt to the bathroom. Oh yes sugar highs and colouring-in books the good old days.

Those days are gone. I’m old enough to book my own flights and too old for colouring in books. What used to be a fun filled adventure is now more of an ordeal. International flights can be anywhere from fun to hell. My flight to Hong Kong was somewhere in between.

Things were looking good- I had an aisle seat, I was sitting next to my boyfriend not a person with poor personal hygiene or anyone particularly large. I happily sat back and opened my in-flight magazine to select my movie of choice only to discover there was no movies-on-demand for this flight! Devastated I resigned myself to catching up on some beauty sleep.

I’m very jealous of people who can sleep sitting up. It is a skill I certainly do not possess. As such sleeping on a plane involves some very interesting positions not dissimilar to intermediate yoga. I think all up I maybe had four hours of restless, uncomfortable slumber. I awoke with my head resting at an uncomfortable angle on a very hard arm rest, my mouth wide open probably spilling drool, both legs shoved under the opposite arm rest intruding into my boyfriends space, my arm was dead and my neck already aching. Confused I looked around to see what woke me. To my left was a chirpy, Malaysian airhostess politely enquiring if I wanted the chicken or the omelette for breakfast. In my half conscience state I chose the omelette. Very bad choice! It was soggy, cold and a suspiciously fluorescent yellow colour. Disappointed and hungry I tried to head back to the land of sleep.

The trip from KL to Hong Kong was much nicer. Movies-on-demand was available. Hallelujah! I made myself comfortable and settled in to watch It’s Complicated. After devouring my croissant and mini fruit salad I adjourned to the bathroom for a little me time. I brushed out my hair, deodorized, moisturized my face and dabbed a little concealer under my eyes. Feeling ten times better I prepared to land in Hong Kong.

As we descended into Hong Kong like a little kid I gazed excitedly out the window. The city looks like something from the future. Cradled by forest-covered mountains are skyscrapers so high they break through the low cloud. It’s really quiet beautiful.

From the airport we went straight to the agency then straight to castings. Running on fruit salad and a lot of adrenalin we traipsed around the city: from Kowloon to Causeway Bay back to the agency to the apartment to dinner to dragon-i before finally collapsing into bed.

Hong Kong I’m already falling for you.

Top tips for flying:

1. Wear whatever you like to the airport but take comfortable clothes to wear on the plane. No one cares if you look like a bum when your mid flight. I usually wear boots onto the plane to save space in my suitcase-, which by the way was 8 kg over the limit oops!

2. Those goofy looking neck pillows are amazing. You might think you look silly wearing it but trust me your neck will thankyou for it.

3. Drink lots of water. You can’t take bottle onto the plane due to the 100ml liquid limits. Just ask the flight attends very politely. Don’t drink alcohol you’ll feel like awful.

4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. The controlled air pressure in planes dehydrates your skin. I recommend Clinique moisture surge it leaves skin feeling rejuvenated and plump.

5. Relax don’t complain you’re going on a fun adventure and remember getting there is half the fun.