Onwards, Upwards and Water Loading

Now we enter the section of flights that will take me half way around the world, across a dateline, through the seasons and into the heart of New Zealand. I hope you have been water loading.

Yesterday for lunch we had a Fridgatta. Basically layer thinly sliced, left over roast vegetables with onion, basil and cheese and anything else tasty that is loitering about in the fridge (hence the name fridgatta). Top with more grated cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Lunch. Then back to waterloading.

In the next 24 hours I face three flights,  one that will be about 12 hours long, 15 hours in the air altogether, and about 9 hours of layovers. Actually I prefer not to do an accurate count of the hours of travel.  However one of the most difficult things for me is wilst travelling is to stay well hydrated.  Public toilets are a necessary evil, but never pleasant. And if I start to hydrate while I am travelling … water is wasted.  It takes a couple of days to properly soak and moisten a body.

Imagine your body as a dried out pot plant. When you pour that first cup of water in it will often run through the potting mix, trickle out the bottom and gather in the saucer. Oh, you think, it is watered. But  it has not even begun to soak in. The water has run around the dry soil and straight back out.

That pot needs to be watered frequently with little bits of water, so that the little parched cells are softened and cajoled into absorbing water into the body of the mix, allowing the water to be soaked up by the roots of the plant.  This takes time. Waterloading.

Three days before I embark on a big flight I begin to water load. Very frequent small glasses of water. My objective is to top each cell right up to its limit, not my bladders limit – which after four sons and a daughter is not much of a limit at all!  And it takes time to train your body’s cells to start storing moisture after a barrage of wine and coffee. It is good to drink water while you are travelling but it is essential that you have soaked your body in water before you travel so that your travel water is not wasted.  And you know how nasty those airoplane toilets are.

The other thing I do, to avoid jet lag,  is I set my watch (yes I wear a watch – how old fashioned!) to the time at your destination at the beginning of my flight. This helps my mental clock.

The advantage of water loading  and time resetting is that you are able to pour out of your plane, shake your party dress out, step straight into heels and hit the evening running!

Our first big party is only a few hours after I arrive!

So tomorrow morning,  there will be no page, I will still be in the air, my plane buoyed up like a crowd surfer by all your wonderful wishes for safe travel. I will write again soon. Very soon, with our first New Zealand shots.

Have a lovely day.

celi