It is the getting there that is the adventure. Somebody famous once said that. I forget whom. It might have been Julius Caesar, Paul Theroux, Woody Allen or even Madonna.
I thought about that last week on my journey to London and then, again, on my return home. It was one of those lightning trips that journalists make. Perhaps the most memorable of this genre was my one-day trip to Sydney.
Qantas, Australia's national airline, had just introduced a first-class seat on their Sydney/Far East flight and so invited travel journalists from around the world to a dazzling dinner - and to view the seat.
Some of us flew across the world to get there. I was one of the luckier ones. I only had to fly halfway around the world.
We arrived in the afternoon, were introduced to the new seats, (stunning indeed), enjoyed a splendid dinner and then were scheduled to fly home the next morning at 10. I actually cheated and spent one whole day in Sydney - a highly lekker city - and then caught the flight back at 10am the following day. It's amazing what you can do in one day when you're on the run
A while back, VisitBritain invited me on a short trip to have tea with Prince Phillip at Buckingham Palace and also to check out how affordable London (and the rest of the UK) is even with our low rand rate.
Most fortuitously I found myself flying with Virgin Atlantic.
Now Sir Richard Branson started his new airline on June 22, exactly 25 years ago. So, in effect, the month of June is a celebratory one for the airline, which is how I found myself on a birthday plane.
Here's a funny thing. Many moons ago, long before Virgin Atlantic began flying from Heathrow to South Africa, Sir Richard decided to visit Johannesburg to check out whether such a route was feasible.
At the time, only one journalist was invited to interview him and, somehow, it happened to be me.
I'd heard a lot about Sir Richard, the handsome self-made young millionaire, who started a music business selling records out of the boot of his car (and made millions).
That, of course, grew into the Virgin brand which expanded at an astonishing rate. You have no idea how remarkable this is because at school, he had learning problems due to dyslexia.
A few years later, he started his airline, Virgin Atlantic.
I was cynical. I'd done my homework on the man and he just seemed too good to be true. Everything he'd touched had turned to gold. That said, in the two-and-a-half-hour interview, I discovered that Sir Richard was not only brilliant, but also funny, quirky and definitely different.
He was also unassuming, kind and refreshingly unpretentious. He still is.
For instance, in 1982 he produced a record called Baa Baa Black Sheep with sheep actually baaing along to a drum beat. OK, so it wasn't The Beatles, but it got to 42 on the charts.
So determined was he to keep his airline afloat, that he sold the Virgin label to EMI for $1-billion (about R13-billion). He cried when he signed that particular deal but it kept Virgin Atlantic in the air.
Today, Sir Richard, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1999, is one of the wealthiest people in the world - the English Sunday Times said his empire was worth over £3bn -pretty cool for a boychik who battled at school.
In keeping with its owner, Virgin Airlines does things differently to other airlines.
The Clubhouse lounge at Heathrow is an experience in itself. Where else, for instance, will you find swinging white whicker basket chairs facing the wall-to-wall windows with a view of aircraft taking off?
When I boarded the plane, I was immediately offered a Red Hot Royale by a steward with a sparkle in her eye. "It's our 25th birthday drink," she said, "and it's very healthy. You'll feel wonderfully relaxed."
And so it was I wished Virgin Atlantic happy birthday with a Bombay Sapphire, lemonade and cranberry juice with a squeeze of lime. It was so relaxing that I immediately ordered another.
Virgin's Upper Class is, I think, one of the best in the business. The menu is superb, there's no other word. And this is extremely unusual for airline food in any class.
Called the Freedom Menu, you can order when you want and what you want. The smoked salmon went down well as did the fish bobotie and the cheese selection offered the finest Stiltons and Camenberts.
The beds are flat, the duvets and the pillows are large. I would have slept all the way but one of the films on the comprehensive programme list was Australia, so I watched that sipping French champagne.
I'd asked to be woken for breakfast, so arrived in London feeling suitably nourished. Just as well, it was raining and cold.
Amazingly, later that day, the rain vanished, the clouds parted and the sun shone. What a treat.
About my adventures at Buckingham Palace and London, I'll write about next week, because this column is devoted to "the journey".
Virgin Atlantic's Clubhouse lounge at Heathrow for Upper Class passengers is certainly not your everyday business-class lounge. It has several different sections including an outstanding hair salon, Bumble and Bumble, where men can have their nostril hairs trimmed, their hair cut and women can have the Full Monty (it takes an hour for a cut and blow-dry). Then there's the Cowshed, the beauty emporium where you are heavenly pampered, given a massage, a manicure or pedicure.
The diningroom is so excellent that passengers have been known to miss their flights. There is an a la carte menu with dishes such as grilled Sussex goat's cheese and a deli area that offers a buffet to die for, doll. For starters I enjoyed five different kinds of fish including anchovies, smoked salmon, crisp-fried whitebait and a delicate trout.
I skipped a serious main course but indulged in a steamed Belgian chocolate pudding with ice-cream, just to get a little energy to get me onto the plane, you understand.
The staff are wonderfully attentive in a laid-back kind of way. Which is, perhaps, the Virgin ethos.
Our flight back to South Africa was fullish which meant the staff were on their toes all the time. But, across the way to me, I noticed an elderly white-haired granny who looked a little bewildered.
She might have been visiting her grandchildren in South Africa for the first time, I surmised. Later the steward confirmed this.
All I know is that the crew were so kind to her. They gently showed her where the cloakroom was and kept it available when she indicated she wanted to use it (she walked with difficulty), tactfully suggesting the gentleman who'd been about to enter, perhaps use the one at the rear of business class. A small thing, but so thoughtful.
They discussed the films with her and she picked a romance, she liked romances, she confided. Then the stewardess asked her if she'd like to change into her snazzy Virgin track suit and she was very excited.
While she was changing in the cloakroom, they made up her flat bed with the fluffy duvet and large pillow.
Once, during the night, I woke for a few minutes and observed her foot poking out from under the duvet.
Just then, one of the crew walked past and gently covered it with the duvet. A small thing to do, but so thoughtful.
And perhaps that is why Virgin Atlantic has that extra edge, it really does go the extra distance.
- For more information about excellent affordable flights to London and the rest of the world check out www.virginatlantic.com
- Sir Richard Branson is on track for travelling into space. Virgin Galactic he calls it. Now that's a flight I'm looking forward to.