Do you have this toilet thingy only before trips or during them as well? People are weird about traveling and their bathroom habits. I have this feeling too, I must say, but only just before leaving for a plane/train whatever. During trips, I'm usually fine (though I have friends who are extremely icked by foreign bathrooms and can spend the entire trip struggling quite a bit). The truth is there is so much being communicated through our guts. Seems a shame we mostly just chalk it down to "upset stomach" and don't look further.
Oh, so this is only when flying? Not when taking a train or going by car? Interesting. I do think we're not supposed to be up there (or traversing water). There's something genuinely weird for our bodies about this unnatural act, so I think that might explain. Might be at least a part of it as well.
Do you get noise-cancelling earplugs or headphones or something? Do those help?
Noise cancelling headphones made flying so much more tolerable, yes!
It is usually just immediately prior to the trips. The night before, the morning before. Paradoxically, the next "big" trip I want to go on, I want to have little bits of exposure - nothing more than a 8-10 hour flight at any given port, and to spend genuine time at each location. It'll be a big "round the worlder", but won't be for many years.
Likely to be
Home -> Singapore (few days) -> Japan -> Somewhere in Europe -> Italy -> Belgium -> Portugual / Spain -> UK, then some sort of meandering route back home to Australia. A big ol' All at once, once in a lifetime sort of jaunt. Meticulously planned and organised - not to "hit" the tourist things, but to "break it up".
That sounds frankly fantastic. The trip of a lifetime, for sure. I hope you document it on Hive when it happens :)
If Hive is still around, sure :) Otherwise, it will still get documented, somehow. Easier to do it as you go, than to have a task that will occupy the rest of my life after the fact.