You can take a direct flight out of JFK, New York to New Delhi, India on Continental Airlines. It is a direct, nonstop flight that keeps you in the skies for around 17 hours. If you want to test your endurance and shave off a couple hours from your travel time you might consider it. However, living in a metal tube for 17 hours does not work for me. Of some concern and risk to such fliers is DVT- deep vein thrombosis - a serious condition where blood clots form in people who sit still for long periods of time. These blood clots, generally in the deep veins of the legs can break loose, travel through your bloodstream and lodge in your lungs, blocking blood flow (pulmonary embolism) and even causing death. Experts, therefore, advise airline passengers to get up from their seats and walk up and down the aisles periodically.
The second option is to take a flight with a layover in various cities depending on which airlines you book your tickets with. Mine is KLM with in transit for 5 hours in Schiphol, Amsterdam. So here is the breakdown:
Boston to Amsterdam = 7 hours, covering 3,451 miles
Layover in Amsterdam = 5 hours
Amsterdam to New Delhi = 9 hours, covering 4,000 miles
But wait, I’m still not home yet. Now, I will board a train from New Delhi to Ludhiana, Punjab which is a 5 hour ride covering 205 miles.
So for the total of 26 hours, I will travel 7,655 miles which is 18 times back and forth from Boston to New York.
Well, that is some endurance!!!
All packed up and ready to take off!!