It’s wonderful to watch birds fly, they look graceful and it looks like an enjoyable thing to do. However, there is nothing graceful about our human ways of flying.

It’s not the planes. I’ve marvelled at flying displays at air shows. The RAAF Roulettes do a fantastic routine. I used to love to see the F111’s and Hornets do a flypast the Adelaide Grand Prix track.

However, the whole process of taking a commercial flight is not very enjoyable at all. First there are airports, they are not a lot of fun. Figuring out how to do digital check in if you don’t normally use a mobile phone. Managing all your carry on luggage, handbag, flight bag, coat and laptop through the X rays and then having to stop and pack it all back up again so you don’t lose anything before boarding.

Boarding a plane is a nightmare too, I can never understand why the staff don’t make people board in seat order rather than it just being a free for all. Then you wouldn’t have people trying to get past each other while others are trying to put bags in the luggage racks. Of course by the time you arrive at your destination those bags will be several metres away from where you put them. I always take one small enough to put under the seat.

Then comes the fun part where the person in front of you decides to take a nap and puts their seat back. Never mind if you had a cup of tea balanced on your tray table. The worst flight experience I ever had was on a flight from Adelaide to Melbourne. It was the last time David and I flew together. I was stuck in the middle seat between him and another man. I mean literally stuck. I could not move because David, who was a big guy, was overflowing into my seat and as I’m not small either I could barely move my arms. Luckily it is not a long flight.

Then when you arrive at your destination everyone bolts for the door as if they are participating in “The Amazing Race”.

There is one thing that makes taking a flight bearable for me and that is getting the window seat. Naomi prefers the aisle as she says you can’t see anything most of the time anyway and she doesn’t like being trapped by two other people. That’s true but I do love to see the view when we’re taking off or descending. I used to fly from Hobart airport to visit friends and family in Adelaide or Melbourne. The route would take you right across Tasmania and then Bass Strait. If the weather was good and there were no clouds I’d be able to look down and see the countryside below like a map. That’s the part of a flight that I like best.