Travel Day: Fun, farce or both?

28th June-30th June (2am)

Firstly I just want to say thank you all for the lovely messages and comments, I really appreciate it. Then just a disclaimer that I’m not sure how coherent this or any of these posts will be as I’m running on limited energy as well as patience for my own fast typing which often comes with spelling/grammar mistakes, and also somewhat struggling with inserting photos.

Anyway, I'm currently writing this as I wait to take off on my plane from Singapore to Bali, after a very up and down 30ish hours of travelling, and a good few more to go. I'm actually meant to be in Bali right now, with my transit flight from 6:30am becoming a flight at 9.30pm instead. Lots of emotions experienced today - mostly smothered in disbelief that I'm even doing any of this at all - so l'll do my best to convey them accurately as I walk you through my travel to Bali.

Alarms set for 4am, I did my usual get up, throw on my clothes and get in the car before I can realise I’m tired, having double and triple checked for all my essential items. I’m lucky enough to have two parents who wanted to accompany me to Heathrow, and then not board a flight themselves? I could see the pain in their eyes, they must really love me - please bear in mind they’re going on holiday themselves in just short of 2 weeks. Onwards to Heathrow we went, nerves building. I’m trying various tactics for any anxiety around this whole trip but what has worked best is so far is that I’m just having a go. Having a go, one step at a time. 

Having checked in online it was all smooth sailing in Terminal 2, waving goodbye to my suitcase, around which there has been much discourse - is it too big? We shall see. It’s not huge but if it’s bigger than the luggage everyone else on the project has, I’m going to look a bit silly. Still, I managed to pack as smartly as possible and it fits all I need to bring comfortably. With my new lovely new Cabin Max rucksack (as recommended by my Mum) accompanying me on the plane, I said an almost- tearful goodbye to M&D and off through security I went. 

A very weird experience to do on my own, with none of the usual witty commentary from the family, and I ended up being checked which almost never happens. A bit shaken up but fine in actuality I went to get myself some hash browns from Leon (absolutely gorgeous fast food that we’re lucky enough to have at our local services, if you’ve not had it before) and sat for a bit. Once my gate has been announced I headed straight there, with a bit of hanging around for minor delays meaning I felt less and less confident about my 55 minute transit in Singapore.

Nonetheless, with nothing I could do about it for the moment, I boarded and tried to settle in for the long haul, immediately satisfied with the fantastic extra leg room I had in a front row aisle seat of economy, even though this meant I had do some manoeuvring with the screen and tray. Feeling progressively less nervous, my headphones (and the familiarity of Taylor Swift’s discography) were a great comfort for take off and the remainder of the flight. 

Overall, in terms of facilities and service, extremely impressed by Singapore Airlines. Lovely planes, lovely staff, lovely selection of entertainment. Even well-functioning WiFi, which I felt made all the difference for such a long time in the air, it was nice being in contact with the ground. Despite the variety of choice I ended up only watching one film - You’re Cordially Invited with Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, and although it was my favourite time of rubbish comedy it did fall a bit flat, though fine enough for the plane. Food wears great, which is a rarity for me to say! Maybe I’ve just grown a bit to cope better with it but with my track history of travel sickness (I did take tablets in advance to be safe) I was not confident I’d enjoy the meals, but having pre-booked the Indian vegetarian option I got to enjoy two different very tasty curries. 

A smooth flight on the whole, with bearable turbulence, and I felt the hours pass quickly enough, mostly spent trying to doze off, though not entirely successfully. I would go as far to say that this was my most comfortable long haul flight to date, which I’m very grateful for as I didn’t really need any extra edge for my first solo flight, and such a long one at that. Even so, as I watched the journey progress via flight map I could see that my transit was looking less and less realistic, though discussion with attendants on board reassured me that the ground staff would try to get those of us transiting to our gate in time. 

However, an email mid-flight informed me I’d been transferred to a flight late into the evening, which was really not ideal, and I felt my carefully laid out plan of action crumbling around me. I knew there were 6 flights throughout the day, but despite attempts once having landed in Singapore, I was stuck with the final flight of the day, 12 hours later. I will admit to then having a minor moment of meltdown in which I was also grateful to have contact with home so M&D could face the brunt of my panic, mostly out of frustration, but now with hindsight the organisation of the rescheduling was handled very well by the airline. 

The airline organised me a taxi to a rather fancy airport in the centre of Singapore, where I was to have free meals for the day and rest up in the room before getting another taxi back in the evening. Filling myself with breakfast buffet upon arrival, I then tried to get some sleep for a few hours, before eating some more at lunch and then deciding to try make the most of a couple of hours in the centre of the city. I didn’t want to wander far with no sun protection so just strolled across the street to what looked like a very pretty park.

Just as hot and sweaty as I remember it being back in 2017 when we were last here for about 24 hours, I had a lovely walk around Fort Canning Park where I could appreciate the beauty of Singapore as what felt like a dystopian-style hybrid between extremely modern and high-tech and lusciously green. Many people were out picnicking, enjoying the beauty of the park, and the wildlife that inhabited it - including both roosters and butterflies. Sweltering I headed back to my room to chill for a bit before taxiing back to the airport, this time to Terminal 2, where they have a truly spectacular digital waterfall display within the overall impressive building layout. 

With some pizza to fill me up I headed to my gate where security was, before boarding and up into the sky I was again. More gorgeous curry for the meal onboard - for plane food standards they’ve absolutely nailed it, and a much shorter journey this time, though they still had screens which surprised me. Very speedily I was back on the ground, for the final part of the journey. After a worry that I’d have problems at baggage collection, my bag arrived and with relief I went to meet my transfer to the hotel. Quite a long drive. it at this point I was just glad to have made it here, and even in the dark the sights look incredible already. Off to bed now once at the hotel to start fresh tomorrow. 

Though still annoyed to have missed my first day settling in to the project and meeting everyone, I know I won’t have missed much and can get fully stuck in to the briefing tomorrow after some sleep, knowing I’ve had being able to enjoy a little side-quest in a country I was only meant to be in for an hour. I’m also now realising how much of a waffler I am and this is incredibly long so apologies, though depending how much time I have to write, it might be better to be more in depth now if I’m going to become less so, later on. Thanks again for reading 🫶