An Honest China Eastern Review & Mapping Out the Oregon Coast
Greetings Travellers!
With Katy taking the scenic route on Lupine Racing's race across the UK & Ireland, I’ve offered to share some musings.
If you’re anything like me and grew up during the peak dial-up era, you’re no stranger to the pinnacle of digital entertainment back then: desktop screensavers. Mesmerized by lime green loops and shimmery switchbacks of Windows 3D Pipes, it was easy to fall into the void.
I swear if you stared long enough, they held the secrets of the universe. I’d imagine pipe people stuck inside this infinite maze. I’d imagine crawling with them, folding over myself, trying to take every conceivable path because I didn’t want to miss out.
Turns out this feeling would only amplify in my adulthood, especially when it comes to travel, and I’m not the only one. John Koenig, the author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, even went so far as to coin a name for this feeling, Onism. He describes it as:
“It’s as if you’re standing in front of the departures screen in an airport, flickering over with so many exotic place names, each representing one more path you could explore or one more thing you’ll never get to see before you die - and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.”
And just like navigating that endless maze, our travel bucket lists can feel overwhelming when we want to take every path possible.
Which leads me to ask you, dear reader…
Faced with the beautiful, privileged frustration of onism, what places and experiences on your travel bucket list truly refuse to leave your mind?
Drop your thoughts in the comments section or join the conversation over on our community’s Facebook thread.
May your departure screen never stop flickering,
Akasha - Community Content Strategist
Jack's Honest Airline Reviews: China Eastern
Will - Navigator
Will is on a mission to eat the best burger ever. Using his base in London, he's exploring every historical nook and far-flung cranny to find it. When he isn't, you'll usually spot him exploring a new world in a book or video game. Sometimes he also falls ungracefully from climbing walls. Very occasionally he writes (when he isn't daydreaming about burgers...).
We've all been there: You're browsing every search engine for the best value long-haul flights to Asia and Australasia, and no matter where you look, Chinese airlines keep catching your eye. Why wouldn't they? They’re often hundreds cheaper than other carriers…
But the swell of excitement might be tinged with hesitancy, from turning your back on your favourite tried-and-tested airline or uncertainty over the quality you're paying for.
I had been on the lookout for flights to Hong Kong for a while, and when I saw them drop to £275 return with China Eastern, it's safe to say my eye was well and truly caught. Four flights later, I'm ready to give you the deep dive on every nook, cranny, and noodle I could get my hands on.
Prefer to watch your reviews? Navigator Lauren also recently flew with China Eastern, and you can see how it went for her here!
General Facilities
As you may have seen in the video, Navigator Lauren was comfortable with the amount of legroom, and my travelling companions felt the same way. However, at about 5ft 11in (ca. 180 cm), I'm a bit taller than the others. Certainly no giant, but I definitely felt cramped at times, having to contort my body a bit like a diver doing a pike off the diving board, although with much less style.
Sadly, because I was unable to get comfortable, sleep mostly eluded me on the outbound journey and amounted to around 4 hours on the return leg, made up of 30-minute bursts. Take this all with a pinch of salt, as I'm not a great sleeper on planes, but I expected more after a taxing return layover.
All the typical things you’d expect are included: functioning entertainment screen, USB port, pillow and blanket.
The blanket could have been a bit larger and thicker, but it did the job.
On the Boeing 787, there were dimmable windows instead of pull-down shutters. It always feels like a luxury not to be blinded as soon as that initial beam of light comes through.
The chair was fine. A fairly comfortable, reclining, fabric seat, with adjustable headrest and sides, so you don't accidentally end up nose-to-nose with a stranger.
No leg rest, amenity kits, complimentary Wi-Fi or hot towels.
We were provided earphones, which I tried but then quickly ditched in favour of my own £10 wired set for much better quality and noise reduction (they're not even noise-cancelling, that's just how poor the China Eastern earphones were).
The bathrooms were functional, as expected, but they could have done with more frequent cleaning, especially the bins. These were often overflowing, so you had to force your hand towel in, touching everyone else’s germ-covered towels in the process.
Food
Filling portion sizes.
A bit repetitive and bland. I’d recommend packing some fun snacks.
I'm a big fan of Chinese cuisine — my trip included devouring all the xiaolongbao that's ever existed in the Greater Bay Area. But I did temper my expectations, as anyone should for plane food.
And I was right to. Ultimately, it was fine, but nothing to write home about (so I'll write to you instead). A typical meal included some version of chicken or pork with noodles or rice and some vegetables. Plus a chocolate bar or shortbread biscuit, a warm bread roll with butter, a yoghurt, and a pasta side salad (the prawn mayo pasta was especially polarising among my travel group).
I did opt for a fish meal once. I’m not sure what state of delirium/drowsiness I was in, as typically my worry of getting food poisoning would trump any desire for a plane version of creamy salmon pasta. Thankfully, there was no subsequent sickness akin to scenes from Airplane!, and the taste wasn’t actually half bad.
But after a few meals, the food did get repetitive and a bit dull.
Except for one dish…
In a veritable sea of chicken noodles and egg fried rice, there was one lifeboat of deliciousness to rescue me: a tender braised beef in a thick, rich sauce. Ask my fellow Navigators at Jack’s, and they will tell you how I talked their ears off about this dish. The slow-cooked beef fell apart delightfully as I ate. The sauce, a gorgeous accompaniment. I swear the steward said it was a balsamic sauce, but I can’t find anything online to confirm this. To be fair, there’s a slight chance I actually was delirious from the lack of sleep and hallucinated it, as my wife and friends didn’t get it. But I do have the picture to remember it by, and trust me, the photo does not do it justice.
PSA for those with a dietary requirement: ensure you specify your food choice when booking. When Navigator Lauren flew, she hoped to be offered a veggie option from the dining cart, but was sadly left having to decide between the meat options. However, a friend I travelled with requested vegetarian food when booking. Not only did he get the veggie meal, but he was served first, before the carts came through with everyone else's meals.
Unfortunately, the vegetarian food wasn't very diverse — rice and boiled vegetables quickly became tiresome, and it seems the menu was also identical to the vegan option, as he was not given a dairy dessert or butter for his bread. However, these were provided when he asked a steward.
Pro tip: Open your cup of OJ slowly. That foil lid is tight, and you will douse yourself if you yank too hard (sadly speaking from experience).
Entertainment
Do you love watching Marvel, Transformers, or the Minions movies? If so, you are about to have the best movie marathon of your life! If not, then I hope you're ready to watch the flight path for the next 8+ hours.
Maybe that's a bit of a stretch — there were a few other films in English, but I could probably count them all on two hands.
There were also some films and TV shows in Mandarin, as well as a few simple games too — enough to keep you distracted for 5 minutes until you get bored and decide to watch a film instead. That is, unless you were taught Mahjong by locals in Hong Kong and then got so hooked that you ended up playing it for hours on your return flight…
Mapping Out the Oregon Coast
Olivia - Assistant Editor of the Detour
A San Diego native, Olivia left home three years ago to live on the road. Since then, she's had homebases everywhere from Quebec to England to New Orleans, but she always ends up back on the West Coast. When she's not hiking through the desert or the woods, she can usually be found exploring her current city and scoping out the best bars and coffee shops.
Howdy folks!
I’ve got a little request for you today, especially all the Portlanders, Seattleites, and other various PNW-ers that read The Detour.
Later this month, I’m hitting the Oregon Coast!
For those who don’t know, the Oregon Coast comprises the entire 362 miles (583 km) of the state’s coastline, stretching from the Washington border to the California border. Unlike most states that happen to have a coastline, the “Oregon Coast” has been elevated to more of a regional status, similar to how you’d say “the Amalfi Coast” or “the Côte d'Azur.”
Armed with a century-long history of tourism (ancient by West Coast USA standards), some unusually protective environmental laws, and a laundry list of stunning viewpoints, the Oregon Coast has grown into a popular road trip route and weekend getaway destination.
And that’s where our intrepid readers come in! I’m a bit of a road trip aficionado, but the Oregon Coast is totally new territory for me. I’ve got my accommodations booked (I found some lucky sales on peak summer hotels and snagged ‘em without hesitation!) but between check-in and check-out, my schedule is wide open.
I’ll be doing the entire coast, from Astoria to Brookings, and I only have four nights and five days to do it before I have to shoot back up I-5. I’m already pretty familiar with the Gorge, and I have Mt. Hood and Crater Lake-related plans on the backburner, so I’ll just be taking the standard coastal route without any major detours.
I’ve got a couple of highlights in mind (Cannon Beach, Tillamook, Boardman Corridor) but I could badly use any and all recommendations! Any cute beach towns that you think are a must? Any hiking trails that aren’t on the usual guide lists, but totally blew your mind? Most importantly where are the best views?
And if you’ve never been to the Oregon Coast but always wanted to visit, what do YOU want to learn about it? What kind of tips should I try to bring home?
Leave it all in the comments 
Pick of the Clicks
All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
- Good news for those oddballs who hike mountains at 3am: A new overnight bus from Tokyo will have you on Mount Fuji long before even the macaques have woken up.
- Thanks to researchers in Uganda, you can now repel mosquitos AND attract cats, all with one cheap and easy solution!
- An American woman rowed a boat from California to Hawaii by herself in just 43 days, shattering both the men’s and women’s world records.
- A class action lawsuit against United for regularly selling window seats that don’t have windows is officially going forward. Yes, that’s a real thing United has been doing.
- And finally, suburban Tasmanians are being terrorized by a 2,000-pound blob with flippers, and they couldn’t be happier. Meet Neil the Seal, the beloved icon who periodically flops into town to assert his dominance over the local traffic cones.