If you know me a bit, you will know my love to travel, and will jump at any opportunity to “ajala” granted I have money (LOL). It’s true. Although I haven’t done much travel in years because of school/work, but I am slowly trying to get back into struting my (tiny) long legs around the place. But through my few experiences with travel, both near and far, I have learned some tricks to traveling that has made my experiences more comfortable and has made me enjoyed taking trips.
This post is dedicated to the process of packing for your flight, I have tricks to for the different trips I take; the car trip versus plane trips, versus the short trips to the long trips. Ultimately, the goal is to be as comfortable as possible, and as pain-free as imaginable.
Because you can almost anticipate a cold atmosphere during the duration of your flight, the first thing that you need to pack is a blanket/throw … planes can get cold and it is almost unavoidable sometimes. Second thing that needs to go into your carryon bag are socks! I don’t care where your destination is, as long as you are travelling by air, you will need socks during your flight. And this is where I suggest a comfortable socks like a double layered socks like this . I swear by that socks, to the point where I have plenty back-ups and gift them out during winter. Peep that sale!! I have never bought them that low so you know I will be stocking up real quick.
Third thing to pack are medicines, your narcs are your bff literally. God forbids you go into some kind of pain crisis inflight, YOU do not want to end up in a strange place due to emergency landing for a situation you could have controlled to some extent. I was on a long flight to Dubai recently and had what I think was food poisoning that ended up triggering a small pain crisis. I was in such excruciating pain where there was not enough rooms to begin with… needless to say I threw all care in the world out the window and was rolling (literally) on the floor of the back of the plane in so much pain .. next to the damn lavatory. Yes y’all, I forgot about being a fine girl and did not realise when I yanked my hair off and walked barefoot on that dirty floors – I am not one to walk barefoot inside my own house to begin with, so imagine the horror. Don’t be like me, who forgot her socks is all I’m saying. But throughout that whole experience, the one thing I was thankful for beside the amazing Emirates crew was the fact that I had my medicines! It would/could have been worse, and would have landed me in a strange country on the count of medical emergency, because the air crew told me they would descend as it seemed like the pain was not getting better and my BP kept rising. My medicine gave me some control, I was able to control the pain eventually. That is another story for another day… I may do a #tbt post on that, I have video of me in Dubai Airport hospital, getting a medical clearance lol.
So far, you need a blanket, the ones on the plane aren’t always warm enough and you may find yourself requesting for 3-4 blankets, you do not want to be that one person on board hoarding the blankets, so bring one that’ll keep you warm from home. Bring your (double layered) socks, your narcs. Another thing to consider packing is a pillow, especially if you are taking a long road trip where you may/may not be driving and have to be in one position for long durations at a time. I love driving and always have, so I quickly learned to have pillows on board when I’m driving or taking the bus, and in the case where I’m flying I make my sweaters and extra layer of clothes I have (which you should have packed along your blanket btw) and use them as support pillows.
I also pack heating pad, yes I have no shame. In this day of technology where planes comes with outlets, yes that is the BEST thing that has happened to the planes these days. For those long flights, and in a plane that has outlets, you will be glad you packed a heating pad. And if you don’t end up in the plane that does, then you can use your pad while waiting to board in the terminals or bring the heating bottles. Although, if in need of heat compression inflight, the crew have ways to heat up water bottles for your use. Emirates crew came through big time during my incident on their airline.
The last thing I pack are snacks/food and water bottle/tumbler, yes I know you are not allowed to bring liquids on board so you bring an empty tumbler/bottle so when you get on board you can fill it up! Or at the water fountains in the airport, either way the goal is to stay hydrated. I sometimes don’t have bottles with me so I wait till I board (if I’m able to, otherwise I buy expensive water at the Hudson stores, sigh) where I can ask for water soon as I board before take off and throughout the duration of flight, as needed of course. Same goes with snacks/food. I am that passenger who asks for extra peanuts and whatever, so thanks to all the air hostess who have been kind and generous to me in the past.
I hope you find this helpful in some ways. If you have pack some things that you have found to be helpful during your trips and was not mentioned above, do feel free to comment below. HAPPY TRIP’N 😀
P.S, please bear with me as I navigate a schedule that works better for posting. And a happy new month!