Long Haul Life

[jercdevil]

Ambien

 

[FreightGod]

Aye, long haul ain't that big of a deal.

I started long haul 20 years ago on the DC-8s with a European base and no internet for information on how to do laundry.

Bring some shirts and socks/underwear. (duh)
In cheap countries like China or India, let the hotel do the cleaning for a few pennies.

The same job in Western Europe may cost $30 to $40 bucks..That is where the bath-tub comes in.
The long 2 week trips are usually with the non-sched freight outfits and nobody gives a darn if yer shirt is wrinkled or not at 2 AM on the freight ramp.
Go back to back and stay 4 weeks on the road: No big deal, turn the underwear inside out or spend the few bucks to have it cleaned. (Better put a smiley after this one, )

The pax carrying long-haul folks barely stay out more than a few days so laundry ain't a factor in that camp.
(Air Atlanta excepted, as well as Tower Air..RIP)

Bring cash to avoid having your card swiped the wrong way in Islamabad or Hong Kong...There is a few crooks out there waiting for a clean shaven newbie to flash his plastic.

Also, use some common sense out there:

We had a station manager in Bombay some years ago who got tangled up in a smuggling ring:
We all did "soft" smuggling, gold, gems, booze and so on, nothing heavy.
Anyway, this station manager was into a bit more than that.
One fine day he got a phone call with a tip-off that the cops were on the way to arrest him.
Being a native Indian he knew what an Indian jail would be like for the rest of his life.

To avoid being caught he took the elevator up to the 5th floor of the hotel we stayed, the climbed the final stairs to the roof top.
Without hesitating he jumped off the roof so as to kill himself rather than being caught and doing time in the local jail.
He survived the jump, crawled back to the elevator and back up on the roof, then jumped again.
This time he made it.

Kind of sad, but true story.

Crazy stories from the Midde East as well:
Don;t push the limits over there, go easy and enjoy the ride, otherwise laundry will be the last of your worries.

 

[metrodriver]

I bring a couple of shampoo bottles filled with detergent and a bar of soap will do wonders on the tough stains. Bring some clothes pins and pin the wet stuff to the ac unit after a few hours after most water leaked out. Your clothes will be dry by the time you wake up.

Thank the unions for the fact that there is still catering

getting sick can be problematic, better to see if you still can go and end up in a more civilized place to get care.

Skype, calling cards cell phone. all of them. $20.- for internet access for a 1 minute phone call does not make sense. $0.99 is a lot cheaper with a cell phone. Also in an emergency you get a cell phone call immediately, not many hours later when you decide to turn on a computer and call home.

 

[wildbill]

You guys really know how to open the eyes of those of us who don't do long haul freight. All of you have learned to be very creative. Very informative posts.

 

[Narco-leftseat]

skype with webcam really helps with kids.
Wife can show you thinngs you've been missin'

 

[belchfire]

Eat 'till you're tired, sleep 'till you're hungry....

...

and do laundry when you can.

The sink or tub work, laundry is cheap outside the hotel in Hong Kong (don't use the valet service anywhere unless you want to pay $8/pr of socks) and many places have a laundramat within walking distance. Some hotels even have one.

 

[TurboS7]

I use text messaging it works pretty good. Usually I will tell my wife that the Bangkok girls are prettier than the Romanian girls, but the Swedes have them all beat. That makes her feel good. The best thing about long haul is getting home again. I do the laundry the same as the rest of you guys. I often wonder what the maids think when they come in the room with all those clothes hanging around.We do non-sked people our contract says max 14 days but if you take a day off you can stretch it to 28. Crewing loves to keep you out as long as possible, i never figured out why??

 

[McNugget]

Wow, I thought you guys only went out for 7 days at a time.