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
The Kitchen's Garden 
55 responses to “Onwards, Upwards and Water Loading”
Be prepared for some wild weather. There was a deadly tornado in Auckland nd it has been very windy in Wellington. More so than is normal. And if, you know Wellington, for soemone who lived there for 20 years to say it has been windy, then it HAS been windy and wet.
laughter.. everyone walks with a list in welly, used to walking into the wind.. ah well, we shall have to eat our fish and chips inside then!! c
Brilliant advice cinders, thanks !! And for the recipe for leftover veggies! Safe, good travels…..can’t wait to get to Kiwi land!! Now about that water loading again…are you sure wine won’t work?? :))
As a good friend once told me, “Travel is wonderful.It takes you away from your every day stress at home. BUT it puts other stresses in their place.” So take your pick of which stress is preferable. And then Enjoy!
Have a great trip and let it be a pleasant one… look forward to the post from NZ,, and coffee and wine are counter productive to hydration, so lay off them and hit them hard when you land… have a good one…
I never thought of hydrating in those terms. Great analogy!
Don’t you feel like a sweet angel so high in the sky for so long? A well hydrated angel. That is very good advice and wish I had known all that for previous flights…I can just see you pouring out of the plane…in dress and heels….ah the wee piggies at home would not recognize you!
I hope you wear flight socks.
Love your potted plant analogy, C – perfect! I have to remind Hubby (nag? Who said nag?) about water-loading before we travel…
Safe journeys – all of them!
And I’m chuckling at your “bladder” comment. I’ve only had two and….
Can’t wait for the photos from New Zealand. Blessings for safe travel…
What a great tip on hydrating and how to properly do it. I need to go hydrate myself and some newly potted plants right now. Hope you have smooth sailing to NZ.
I hydrate with beer. Some people claim I dehydrate, but I feel so good, I don’t care! HF
I had no idea – watering the body can ahead! good tips!
Careful running in those heels! A pic of you in your glad rags ready to party would be swell. Have a great flight Celi!
Safe Travels – cannot wait to see pics from New Zealand (on my travel bucket list)! Enjoy! Have a Great One:)
I’m going to have to remember the Fridgatta! What a tasty idea. I agree with the water loading. Hydrating makes all the difference! When I worked for a Naturopath doctor the standard was 50% of your body weight in ounces every day. Seems to work and “keep those cells topped”. Have a wonderful time and safe flights. 🙂
As always, you make my mouth water!