Sunday, October 4, 2015

Home Again: Or Landing hours before you took off

We took off from Incheon in South Korea which is an island off the west coast of South Korea which is about 1/2 hour or more by train and subway into Seoul, South Korea.

We took off about 5pm S. Korea time and arrived about 12:30 pm Sunday the same day. So, as you are getting on the plane the sun is setting and it is getting dark. Then you arrive in San Francisco and it is lunch time before you left.

I remember sitting on the john on the plane and thinking about how I was going sideways about 400 to 500 miles per hour while it was about 50 below zero Fahrenheit outside the fuselage of the plane. I also was thinking about being 30,000 to 40,000 feet below of flying this fast above the ocean. This is a very amazing experience when you contemplate it.

So, presently when you travel by plane around the world it is likely the closest thing to being in a UFO traveling somewhere. And because of the speed of this travel you can travel literally anywhere on Earth from anywhere on earth within about 21 hours flight time.

Business Class on Singapore Airlines is really nice. For people over about 50 or 60 years old it makes a 12 hour flight (like flying to Japan or South Korea) more bearable because the business class seat includes a seat that turns into a short bed with about 300 channels of TV movies of very languages which is nice too.

I find it difficult in South Korea because I'm not familiar with the language and like Thailand I wouldn't try to drive a car in South Korea. The first obstacle is the street signs. the second obstacle is different traffic rules.

For me, going from here to Europe is only a problem driving a car there if I'm too jet lagged. That is the only real problem I find when I try to drive in Europe. I can read the street signs because we share the same writing even if I'm not pronouncing Ausfarht which is what all the exits in Germany are marked with. But, I have gotten into trouble in reverse roundabouts in England and Scotland if I'm too jet lagged.

So, thinking that you are going to be driving a car in South Korea or Japan right away isn't realistic even if you go get an International Driver's license at AAA before you go which is usually good for one year and with it you usually can then drive anywhere on earth legally.

However, that doesn't mean you are going to understand the driving rules or behaviors there by drivers that is going to keep you and your passengers alive.

In 1999, I realized I wasn't okay driving my mother and then 10 year old older daughter in Scotland around Edinburgh and Glascow because of Jet lag, I finally got smart and headed north to Sterling, Aviemore, Inverness and and points north so I could get over jet lag with a lot less traffic.

One trick to more easily get over jet lag and adjust to wherever you are is to sleep 15 hours when you get to the time zone you are going to be in for awhile.

When I did this in Paris, I was okay after 15 hours sleep and had a wonderful time for 10 days in 2009 with my family in Paris, Nice, Monaco etc. but I didn't try to drive for the first 6 or 7 days until I took the TGV (high speed train) from Paris to Nice in the Cote D'Azure and then we rented a Mercedes in Nice to drive and explore the area over to Monaco and all around.

It's actually less time to take the TGV from Paris to Nice by the way than to take a plane because of security, parking, checking luggage picking it up etc. So, it's actually so much less hassle to take a train and levitate on Mag-lev and fly on the ground at over 200 miles per hour. It reminds me more of taking off in a plane because of the speeds but you are staying on the tracks. So, that was my experience of the TGV. Also, you have to look far away out the windows because things close are moving too fast to look at. So, if you look out the windows you have to look far enough out not to get nauseated while you are traveling at these speeds.


  1. Ausfahrt - Wiktionary

    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ausfahrt
    Apr 05, 2015 · The term Ausfahrt is used for exits that are meant to be passed by vehicles, like a parking garage exit or a highway exit.











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