I don't really have much in the way to offer in terms of international travel advice. I do, however, have a lot of general travel experience taking the train everyday. Looking back, my original math was that i spent 2 hours a day commuting, making that 10 hours a week or 40 hours a month. Well with the changes in timetables and little delays that have crept up (additional shuttle stops), somehow that time has significantly increased. It now takes me a solid 1.5 hours each way, and more often than not an extra 30 minutes in the morning because I almost never make the express train that gets me to work early. So worst case that 3.5 hours a day spent commuting, thats 17.5 hours/week and I refuse to convert that any further.
17.5 hours is a lot of time. But when you think about it (and a quick trip to kayak.com confirmed it) I could fly to India in 17.5 hours. So, every week I fly to India... or a lot of other places, but I think India has a kind of dramatic tone to it. So Steph, while I know you are worried about the flight, it won't be bad. After all, I do it all the time.
...the earplugs are a good idea though. Best of luck, I'll be reading.
