U.K. PARURESIS TRUST: Re: Long flight

Hello,

I cannot speak from great experience when it comes to flying as I have only flown twice during my time with AP, once long haul to Florida and once to Ibiza. But there are a few noteworthy things when I comes to flying, or at least in my own mind.

First off there is some really good information on the website which is definitely worth reading.(http://www.ukpt.org.uk/first_visit/first_visit_Coping_with_Flying.htm)

My big thing when it comes to using the toilet on a flight is normally the fact that you'll have a limited number of toilets, and sometimes people will see you go in and out, especially if there is a queue. My most recent experience which was on an 18-30 flight to Ibiza was pretty close to a living hell if it had of been a longer flight. 2-3 hours on a cramped plane (Boeing 757) with 2 toilets and quite a lot of people had been drinking before they got on the flight. I had a mild urgency during this flight, but I decided to at least go into the toilet a few times just as an experiment. If that was any more than 4 hours then there might have been a real issue.

Now on a flight to the USA there is always good news in comparison, you'll be flying on a much larger aircraft. Boeing 747, 767, 777, 787, all wide bodied planes which means normally the toilet to passenger situation is much more forgiving. You'll probably end up with something similar to 3 or 4 cubicles in a block which will normally make people entering and leaving cubicles utterly forgettable. Which I always find somewhat reassuring, not to mention the fact the people outside can hear nothing other than the whine from the engines.

You could also take into account that it being a long distance flight, there will probably be a 'sleep-cycle' in there somewhere where the lights are dimed and some people try to sleep, which can sometimes be the perfect time to go. You might also end up with a short stop at an airport in the USA as a connecting flight, Chicago is sometimes the place. Obviously that would never fix the issue but it would shorten constant time in the air.

I hope that this is in some way helpful.