I’m a couple of days late writing this, but I did say that it might not be as regular as my other writing. I have an excuse: I’ve been travelling. Moving around time zones plays havoc with writing and thinking about writing.

But the worst for me, and what exacerbates the discombobulation, is that I’m not a great sleeper on planes, and long-haul flights generally mean that I lose a whole night’s sleep as I sit (usually uncomfortably) in a metal tube transporting me over an ocean. I’ll nod off for a couple of minutes, maybe even fifteen, but I never get to sleep for a few hours. I’m so jealous of those who have that ability. On this flight, we were two in a 3-seat row. This makes quite a difference to the feeling of not being trapped. My companion on this flight who was a total stranger to me. He sat down, wolfed down his dinner in a couple of minutes as soon as it was served (whilst starting a movie on the in-flight screen), lay back, and then proceeded to sleep for pretty much the entire flight. He didn’t get past the first 30 minutes of the film before snoozing off. That’s a superpower that I don’t possess, but I’d like to have. Sadly, I do not, so I’m constrained to find entertainment and diversion for upwards of eight hours. It’s not an easy task when you have ADHD.

My strategy this time, as pretty much every time, is to load up on a good couple of podcasts —the more narrative, the better— and to read books/papers.

I recently found out about the Dimsdale website, which has links to archived episodes from BBC Radio (only BBC? I need to check), and one particular series stood out to me. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I knew the TV series and had read all five books in the series —“a trilogy in five parts”— and thoroughly enjoyed them. I’d heard snippets of the original radio series broadcast in 1978 but never the entire series. Thirty-three downloads later, I had enough to listen to for several hours. I listened to seven of them.

To fully benefit from the entertainment and not get distracted by the surroundings, I have a pair of AirPods Pro 2. They have decent noise cancellation technology and sound reasonable, so I tend to use them for podcasts and general listening. To listen to music, I have a pair of Focal Bathys over-ear headphones with decent noise cancellation technology, too, and they are an order of magnitude better for music than the AirPods.

Lastly, I tend to read a lot during a flight, even marking up a couple of papers on AI that I wanted to finish and take some notes from. The engagement of reading and writing a couple of notes prevents me from getting too bored and helps the time pass well. I finished two papers and have many notes I want to explore and turn into a couple of posts about the subject.

I’ve tried all the digital note-taking wonkery, but I’ve not had anything stick for reasons I can’t explain. To help me, I’ve gone back to pen and paper, which, for some reason, is just much better for me to get notes written about what I’m reading. I’ve started printing documents and articles for that express purpose. Mindful of the environmental impact, I print double-sided and in booklet form. I get four pages on one A4 sheet which cuts down on paper used. It’s a bit small, but not uncomfortable to read a long article, and it leaves just enough space to write some notes in the margins. My notes are short and direct, which works out great for me.

After over eight hours on the direct flight, I arrive at my destination and then try to get a full day’s work/reading/relaxing to set my internal clock to the new timezone. It’s the best way I’ve found to help me adjust quickly, but I’m not particularly productive for the first few hours.

10 November 2024 — French West Indies