WindowSeat123

Just curious, I read an article the other day interviewing a frequent flyer saying he flew so often that he felt the passenger cabin of a plane was almost like "home". I don't know if you have that feeling, but that article made me wonder about another thing, is there such a thing as flying "too much"?

I guess the nature of your job dictates how much flying you do. I know some trade in those jobs requiring frequent flying so they can have more family time etc. But I also know just as many (if not more) who are willing to put up with the hassle, fatigue and family-away time of frequent flying for the sake of supporting their families or just because the satisfaction (monetary or otherwise) they got from their jobs overall outweigh the downside of frequent flying.

Still, that doesn't answer the question of how much frequent flying is "too much". There is likely no objective answer, so, just for you, how much flying would you consider to be excessive?

CitizenWorld

When you become bored of doing it whether it's a job requirement or not. When your hobby ceases to be fun then it's probably overdone.

BearX220

When it starts to screw up your sleep patterns, or when you have persistent physical pain from the seats. When you can't manage your nutrition / diet plan because you're eating too much airport / inflight food. When you're home just to do laundry and take in the junk mail, and keep an open suitcase in your bedroom because you're always on the verge of another departure. When it takes a toll on personal relationships (though many use frequent flying as convenient means of escape from same).

A well-adjusted person will start to hate the slog at some point, which is a good sign. If you want to be on a plane all the time, what are you trying to escape?

Tchiowa

I used to keep a database on my computer to track FF miles, etc. I ran a query once to see where I stayed the most. I based it on where I was a midnight, local time. "On a plane" was third on my list. My home in the US was fourth.

BigOrangeTerp

I guess I'm either not well-adjusted or haven't been doing this long enough the only thing that's been getting to me is how long we're at the same site for. I like to shake things up a bit, and when most of your sites are small towns, it's easy to see and eat everything in a couple weeks, let alone a couple months.

WindowSeat123

Good point and I agree. Still, while there were times when I certainly don't look forward to a long tiring 12 hour flight to attend yet another conference, I haven't hate the slog that much just yet. Maybe I haven't flown enough to hate it as much as I should, or maybe I'm just maladjusted individual.

brendog

I don't actually enjoy flying, but I do enjoy traveling. Having flown 100+ flights every year since 2000 or so, I still haven't reached my limit. I certainly have not experienced any physical issues, although I am extremely fastidious about my diet and exercise on the road, which isn't particularly hard, thanks to 15+ years of experience on the road.

On the other hand, if I'm in the same place, including home, for longer than a couple of weeks, I get incredibly stir crazy. Were I not married, I would likely not have a home base and would travel nearly 100% of the time.

Tchiowa

^

BigOrangeTerp

Words right outta my mouth. If I were flying F or J every time I'd probably enjoy it, but as it stands it's anything from an uneventful part of my travels to a PITA.

My dream job would be hosting a hybrid of No Reservations, Top Gear, and Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. I'd travel to places like Munich and Aberdeen, South Dakota. I'd eat at Michelin restaurants and gas station boudin places. I'd drive Ferraris and Yugos. I'd talk to celebrities and people that'd make Hollyweird look normal.

The world is so full of interesting people, places, and things. Who could resist seeing as much of it as possible?

Q54701

so I was hoping there would be more discussion about whether flying is potentially shortening my life... for example, increased risk for DVT etc. ... talking purely the flying. nutrition is my problem to deal with off the plane

Seat 2A

Back in my younger daze, I purchased an Unlimited Mileage Fare ticket on Eastern Airlines and proceeded to fly just over 105000 miles in a three week period. At the end of it all I was all ready to do another three weeks and another 105000. These days I would likely have had my fill at about 75000.

Still, last year I logged 273000 air miles. It was a lot but it didn't feel like too much. Then again, had I been stuck back in Business Class (or worse) on the long distance transcon and international flights, I might have felt a lot differently.

chicagocat

From a health perspective, it's quite a lot of time to be sedentary, breathe (sub) pressurized oxygen, use public bathrooms and eat processed foods. I wonder if anyone has ever correlated the amount of miles flown with life expectancy...

Kagehitokiri

if you could take your family with you sometimes, and its in comfort, id think individual health would be the remaining factor, not everyone has same health factors

Tchiowa

Depends. Do you use a Knee Defender?

WindowSeat123

There are some potential health issues related to frequent flying (on commercial jetliners anyway). Air crew (pilots and fa) faced more than twice the risk of developing skin cancer and die 42% more often from it than the general population: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5760232.html

I know the vast majority of frequent flyers, even those who fly alot, don't fly nearly as often as air crew, so the chances for frequent flyers may be lower than air crew. Still, I suppose there could be a chance of increased risk for developing health issues for FFs too. Hopefully not from something as serious as cancer, but other aliments is still possible from frequent flying. So a pause for thought there.