What a 10-year-old boy said about long haul flight
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So far, our family longest long haul flight was a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia when we visited my family. Normally, our itinerary was like this: we flew from Dallas to Tokyo, Japan for 13 to 14 hours. After 1 hour and 45 minutes layover, we continued to Jakarta, Indonesia for another 8 hours.
The route back from Jakarta to Dallas was the same. It was just a bit faster. 10 minutes faster from Jakarta to Tokyo, and 1 hour 15 minutes faster from Tokyo to Dallas with 3 hours and 15 minutes layover in Japan.
Sometimes we flew to Hong Kong that was 2 to 3 hours longer but shorter from Hong Kong to Jakarta. Other times we flew to Los Angeles or San Francisco first before we had a lay over either in Tokyo or Taipei.
Long, right? Not to mention we flew economy class and we had to pass Business/First Class when we entered or left the plane. Torture! Our son said it’s not fair because they got to sit on a much wider seat and very spacious between seats. And they could lie down – flat – when they wanted to sleep. I said, it’s fair because they paid more than double to sit there.
Next is my Q & A with our 10-year-old about his experience flying a long haul flight. It was not the first time for him, but it was the first time that I think he could really experience and talk about it from his heart.
What a 10-year-old boy said about long haul flight
Me: What do you think about the long haul flight?
Joey: It was a good way to get some sleep.
Me: What did you like best about the long haul flight?
Joey: Sleeping.
Me: What else did you like about it?
Joey: Watching lots of movies. We have an individual tv screen on each seat. So, everyone got to watch their own movies.
Our son watched movies and played games a lot at this trip. I had to remind him to get some sleep that he ended up took it for long.
Looking back, I would say we were fortunate with his habit in the plane. The first time he flew was when he was 7 months old. He cried a few seconds when we were midway to Los Angeles from Dallas. After that, he never cried again. At all. Even two months after that when we flew to Indonesia.
When he was a toddler, he preferred to read, played with his toys, or slept. He didn’t want to watch movies or play games. It’s the same when he got a bit older. Read, played with his toys, or slept. He started watching movies and playing games at this last trip.
Me: What did you don’t like about it?
Joey: The food. It’s blah to most of it. (note: our son is a very picky eater)
Me: What did you bring to keep you from boredom?
Joey: Food, books, neck pillow.
Yeah. We brought lots of saltine crackers and fish crackers with us. One time when we were in Jakarta, Indonesia, he liked to eat this sweet bread. So I brought enough for him to eat between Jakarta and the U.S. Well, once we took off from the airport, he didn’t want to eat those bread anymore. Fortunately he still ate the dinner roll that came with the food.
Me: What do you think about the aircrew?
Joey: Quite good.
Me: What do you think about the lavatory?
Joey: It will be better if it’s much bigger. There’s not enough space.
Me: What did you do during layover?
Joey: Sleep.
Me: What do you think about jet lag?
Joey: Confusing.
Me: Last question. Do you want to do another long haul flight in the future?
Joey: Maybe… Just to Indonesia… I might want to go to UK though. (of course, to see his favorite youtuber!)
Updated on January 21, 2020.
So funny and cute… Thank you for the inspiration… I will start documenting what my kids say in every trip coz they are so clever and funny:)
It will be a memorable one for all of you!
This is such a cute post. I am a teacher of 4 and 5 year olds and always think i could write a book about all the things they say. And i totally agree, long plane journeys are the best for sleeping!
Thank you! It must be fun and amazing to hear what your student said though you wish you wouldn’t hear some of them. 😉
What an interesting perspective from a kids point of view. I love the simplicity of his language. Sleep, sleep and more sleep! Seems like the long flight wasn’t too difficult for him. Cheers!
Not at this age. Not sure if he gets older. Haha…
Sleeping is still my favorite part of long flights! Sounds like he handled it like a champ.
Another traveler who can sleep during long flights. Woo-hoo!
First of all, kudos for being able to take a kid on such a long flight. I love his answers about sleeping and being able to watch tv to his little heart’s content. I wish I could sleep like that on a flight, but I’m one of those people who can’t fall asleep on a plane!
I think I didn’t have a choice since all of my family live in Indonesia. I even took him by myself 2 or 3 times when he was between 2-5 years old. Eeekk!!
The flying time was pretty brutal for your trip. I am done after a 14 hours trip. It is just hard on the body. I envy your son since he was able to sleep. I cannot sleep on planes and that makes things very difficult for me. Overall, I think you son handled the situation well (and with a good mood). Bravo for him!
The individual tv with movies he could pick and games he could play really helped him a lot. And, yes… Asia is really far from the U.S. It’s no wonder not too many American traveling to Asia because of the distance.
He’s not wrong. Long flights are fantastic for sleeping and watching films. And I bet you’re glad he did some sleeping! I disagree about the food though. Love airplane food.
Do you love airplane food? Well, I hope he will change his mind about it in the future. At least he will eat more. I personally think it depends on the airlines.
Ha! I agree the food on flight is extremely plain and boring. It’s good that he can fall asleep though!
I think I never finished the food they served. Sometimes I only ate the roll. I think his body rhythmic still called for sleeping. 🙂
I love hearing about traveling from a kids perspective.
When you travel with kids, they’re the important party, right?
Haha this post made me laugh! Funny to know how children really think of traveling.
Brigitte
Haha… I think because I talked about traveling with him a lot and I want him to be a traveler, too.
Long Haul flights is an interesting topic; some love it, some hate it. I was exciting insight from a child’s point of view. Lovely post
Thank you!
What a wonderful post. Movies, sleep, books. I love the simple yet so honest answers from children. Yesterday, as we were sitting on a plane awaiting push back from the gate, we were behind a mother and her two boys — clearly in the midst of a long journey but also clearly at this point veteran travelers, even at their young age (probably 5 or 6). One boy remarked, “can we please stay overnight in London this time mom?” Answer “Maybe on the way back.” After about ten minutes and as folks on the rather warm plane were getting a bit agitated about the wait, the other boy proclaimed, loudly, “are we THERE yet?” Laughter echoed up and down the aisles.
Yes, children just say whatever they have in their mind. Aren’t you glad to have that kind of kids in the plane? One time from Taipei to LA, this little girl who sat behind me kept kicking my chair but the parents didn’t say anything until I turned around and warned the girl and the parents.
A young man of few words, but valid none the less.
I have been told I have the attention span of a 10 year, but I think he did a better job than I.
Thanks for sharing. Keep traveling blogging. Adventure is better when shared with friends!
Thank you so! I agree with you, traveling is better when shared with friends!
It’s always interesting seeing the world through the eyes of a child!
I had to laugh, because I’d also have said that I like about long-haul flights that I can sleep… The difference is just that I’m often away on business, mostly on exhausting flights of up to 3-4 hours, which is not long enough to catch some proper sleep. That’s why I like those flights of 10-12 hours, especially those on business where the company pays for the business class tickets, because I can really catch up with some sleep…
I think everyone has their ‘favorite’ place to sleep. 🙂
I love hearing what kids actually think of travel!!! I think they use a lot LESS adjectives than we do, that is for sure!
I agree with you. They say whatever they have in their mind.
They help us know what or how to do better for the next trips.