Good news for ghastly long-flight cramps

Big changes are on the way in that strange newish world of cheapish international flying. Remember not so long ago when we checked timetables for long-distance trains?

Now the internet reveals airlines and routes offering best prices, whether our desired destination is Madrid, or Madras, or Melbourne.

Sometimes the price is really encouraging and the speed of getting there astonishing.

You'll probably know about the latest long-haul record.

It's an almost unbelievable 17 hours between Perth, Australia, and London, astonishingly non-stop.

To have thought only a year or two ago that such an achievement might be possible would have been to venture into fantasy. Yet economic travel that is incredibly fast is really here.

The big negative of flying

Breakfast in London, and a late-night coffee in Perth, on the other side of the world, that very day!

Not so far back, when we were checking a handful of timetables for the best train journeys across Europe, we'd be looking for sleepers. Get a comfortable berth and arrive at your destination refreshed and ready for explorations.

That's been the big negative of flying. Good price, yes - very often - great speed, but, dear God, never refreshed when we get there.

We're stuck into one seat, perhaps a huge fatty on either side, and that's where you are jammed in for hours and hours. A recent flight from Cape Town to home took 19 and a half hours, via Istanbul for a brief stop.

Nearly 20 hours stuck in the one seat. Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventure book, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com