While there are many home truths about how to survive jetlag, Martine has her own way of coping with time zones.

'Every airline's worked out their best ways to beat jet lag, but my way is to just listen to what my body is telling me.'

'The number one rule is getting acclimatised to where I'm headed.' Martine sets her watch for the destination time the second she wakes up, day or night. 'Then I'll consciously try to think from that point as if I'm already in that real time.'

Second on her list is hydration: 'The more hours you're up there – especially on long-haul flights – the more hours you need to compensate for with lots of water. It can get pretty dry up there. I drink litres of plain water, and never, ever fizzy drinks – the more gas you put into your body the more that has to come out!

'Your breasts also get pretty sore on long flights, though there's not much we can do about it. We're also assured by doctors that there's no more long-term effect on your boobs than the pull of gravity you get on the ground.'

Is it true flight attendants enjoy a life of free travel and good times?

'We often get to come home as passengers, which is fun because it means we get to know lot of cities. And you get really close to your fellow flight attendants because you see them do really mad things – one girl I fly with has three serious boyfriends in three different countries, and none knows the others exist.

'But this caper isn't as much fun when you've got your period coming on – it makes the whole thing a bit of an ordeal really, having to be nice to all these prats in backwards baseball caps on a flight to Australia drinking a dozen or so whiskies.'

— Clay Lucas 25.08.00

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