Travel Suggestions

Tuesday, January 11, 2011


Ten Travel Tips
(From Your Seasoned Pro)
(please note these are mostly based around international travel - long flights - but most are still good suggestions for any length of flight)

1. Always get to the airport early enough to get bored while waiting for your flight. This ensures that you will never, ever miss it, and also guarantees some prime people-watching time.

2. Bring a bottle of soda/water/juice/whatever with you. It takes a while for them to start up the drink service. You'll get thirsty waiting for them.

3. That being said, use the bathroom before boarding. There's a pretty long time before that 'fasten seat-belts' sign goes off. Also, on international flights, use the bathroom before they start the food service. Otherwise you'll get stuck somewhere in the isle waiting to get back to your seat. Or you'll get trapped with your eaten tray of food waiting for them to come and pick up the trash. Either way, it's not fun.

4. Always carry your own pillow and blanket. You never know when you'll get stuck in an airport - or exactly how tired you'll be on a 7hour layover. Those airport benches of chairs can be pretty comfy when you're exhausted, but they tend to keep the airports pretty chilled.

5. Bring your own movies. I know, they have them on the plane, right? There are times when your favorite airline will fail you and there is nothing you want to watch on your flight (or there's nothing appropriate for kids - or nothing they really want to watch either). Be prepared with a movie or two on your iPod.This also helps on those long (and often unplanned) layovers. Also be prepared with a book, notepad, and pen. Stay entertained; it's a long flight.

6. Always take/ask for a glass water. Even if you want juice/wine/whatever with your meal - get a glass of water too. Being on an airplane dehydrates you so much (recycled air is no fun, thankyou!), so try and keep yourself hydrated!

7. Be nice to your flight attendants. A smile really goes a long way; so does a 'thank you.'

8. Also be nice to the TSA people - they're not their to make life miserable; they're there to make sure nothing creepy goes onto your airplane. When they send you back through the metal detector a second time, just do it.

9. Say hi to the person sitting next to you. Chances are they've got an interesting story to tell. They're also the person you'll be climbing over/getting up for the next few hours, why not know their name?

10. Breathe. Traveling is only stressful if you let it be stressful. If you get delayed, so what? You'll get there eventually - better to be on a safe airplane, or to be flying in safer travel conditions. Right?


What about you?
Did I leave any of your top travel tips off the list?
Please share,
I'm always looking for new suggestions!

2 comments:

  1. I really liked your travel tips! I will definitely be using many of them this Friday, on my first trek back to the US in 3 years. Finally taking a vacation between contracts in Korea. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've really noticed that about being thirsty on the plane. The only thing I don't do is talk to the person next to me. I'll smile and greet them, but I really just want to sleep! LOL

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