When I first bought my ticket from Istanbul to Buenos Aires, I didn’t know how long it would take. Judging from the times in the different time zones, I guessed it would only take about 12 hours.
I didn’t realize that flying on Day 1’s 7pm and reaching on Day 2’s 7pm probably doesn’t mean 12 hours.
So at the airport at Istanbul, I tried counting how much time I would be travelling. To my horror, the total time, including transit, would take 31 hours.
In this post, I recount what happened at different time milestones.
Hour 0 [Istanbul 17:00]
Reach airport. Airport shuttle bus takes less time than taking the public transport.
Hour 1 [Istanbul 19:20]
Board plane. Sit next to two ajuma (Korean middle aged ladies). Ajuma II said “Annyeong hasseyo” to me.
Find loads of goodies to watch. There’s even Mad Men season 5, all add into favorites list.
Seafood meal is nice. Ajuma does not eat but kept talking and talking.
Hour 5 [UAE 00:12]
Watch Mad Men S5E5. Ajuma stole my seat belt and couldn’t figure out how to wear it. She seems to be annoyed at me even though she’s the one who took my seat belt.
[UAE 00:32] Plane lands. Frank SInatra song “It’s Nice to Go Travelling” blasts from speakers.
Finally reach Dubai! But I have 7 hours to go before I board my plane to Buenos Aires.
Hour 6 [UAE 01:00]
Walk around airport, trying to find bench to sleep. No luck. The facilities here are not as good as Changi Airport.
Hour 7 [UAE 02:12]
Retrieve laptop to type things. Laptop difficult to balance on knees so I keep the laptop again.
Hour 8 [UAE 03:05]
Sit at Costa Coffee with a hot chocolate. Try to connect to Dubai Airport Wi-Fi but fail miserably.
[UAE 03:55] Play a bit of Candy Crush. Still cannot pass that stage I’ve been stuck at for 2 months.
Hour 9 [UAE 04:40]
Use the free shower in the airport. Since I have no towel, I use my pashmina instead. Realize I look like a hobo with my luggage in the trolley.
Hour 10 [UAE 5:30]
Take train to correct terminal. Find a bench near boarding gate which I can lay down horizontally. Set alarm and start snoozing with airplane blanket.
Hour 11 [UAE 06:30]
Finally able to board the plane. Hurray! Breakfast is served really soon. Sadly, it’s only omelette with unknown seafood.
Hour 14 [Buenos Aires 02:44]
Finished “Far Away Places” from Mad Men season 5.
Hour 15 [BA 03:32]
Finished “Lady Lazarus” from Mad Men.
Alternate between napping, Mad Men, tiny food.
Hour 21 [BA 09:17]
Watch Hitchcock after season 5 of Mad Men.
Hour 25 [BA 13:28]
Watch Parks & Recreation.
Hour 26 [BA 14:50]
Land in Rio airport. Play a bit of Bejewelled before leaving plane.
Hour 27 [BA 15:00++]
Weather outside of airport looks very warm. Registers onto free Wi-Fi in Rio airport and desperately use my iPhone.
Hour 28 [BA 16:26]
Back on the plane. A socked foot appears at one arm rest away from mine. Korean ajuma behind has her foot stretched.
Hour 29 [BA 17:00++]
After “lunch”, I find a snug corner and put on my eyemask to sleep.
Hour 30 [BA 18:00++]
ZZZZzzzzz.
Hour 31 [BA 19:30]
Wake up when plane lands with a jolt. Plane finally in Buenos Aires. A lot of people are too eager to go out of the plane even though the door isn’t open.
Immigration officer only gives me 30 days in Argentina. Oh well…
Hour 32 [BA 20:15]
Bought A$90 shuttle bus ticket to the hostel. Weather isn’t as cold as I thought.
After thoughts…
Even though it took me a long time to get to my destination, I don’t feel that the time is wasted. The biggest reason is that I had the chance to watch season 5 of Mad Men, that alone is priceless.
This day last week…
I was in Turkey. At Pamukkale, I visited the cotton candy castle.
YQtravelling 
That’s awesome!
I think I was slightly traumatized by the whole event. X_X
Great write up of your travel time!
:D I thought that I might as well record what happened every hour so I do not forget the torture.