Jun 17 2009
Living Well At 30,000 Feet
It’s been some time since I published our Top 7 In-Flight Airline Tips. This was my first attempt to share what has and still does work for me. While the flight hasn’t gotten any shorter since then, my personal enjoyment has improved using these additional travel-worn flying tips:
1. Water strategies.
Last year I suggested bringing an empty water bottle. Since then I published, Eco-Hawaii: Say No To Plastic Water Bottles. I recommend bringing stainless steel reusable water bottles that you fill first at the airport after clearing security, and then throughout your trip in Hawaii. There’s no need to buy bottled water here, as what you get out of the tap will likely be far better, and won’t contain any leached chemicals.
2. For Comfort: a pillow and blanket.
If these are important to you, I suggest you bring your own. Likely the airline won’t have them at all. If they do, there may not be enough for every passenger, your blanket could be germ-laden, or it may come with a $7 charge. You can opt for travel-specific products like this one from Magellan’s which I have, or just bring your own.
3. Hand sanitizer wipes and liquid.
I like to carry both. The individual or multi-pack of paper based wipes works great. They don’t have to be in the separate quart bag with liquids. It also gives dirt someplace to rub off on. The liquid alcohol gel on the other hand is far more environmentally and economically friendly for most uses.
4. Power adapters.
Even travel guru Arthur Frommer got stuck recently when he didn’t have one of these. Unless you have a super laptop/netbook battery, you’ll need this to finish your movie or work before the power goes dead.
5. Pens.
You’ll need at least one to complete the Hawaii state agricultural declaration form prior to arrival.
6. Food on board.
One of Beat of Hawaii’s most popular posts ever, Eating Well at 30,000 feet, detailed how we’ve learned to deal with food on airplanes; we bring our own.
7. Plastic Bags.
Look, I’m not the first one to say this, but these have saved me more times than I wish to recall. Of recent note, bagging your reading material will keep it undamaged by folding and from water or other hazards.
If you have any tips to add, please share them with us.
>Related Posts:
A couple more tips: As far as taking things on the plane, make sure any gizmos you might want to use in that protracted delay on or off the tarmac are charged, and/or you have fresh batteries. Nothing worse than to land and find out that your cell phone — that you need to call your ride — has died, along with the phone numbers stored in it. And take an extra book.
As far as the departure scenario, we have a two page check-out list of things we have to do before we leave the house, which we follow religiously, thus avoiding the “did you turn off the water heater?” moment in the plane. (The complement of that is the arrival scenario list. Being a bi-coastal family, we keep a list of chores or projects we need to do (turn on the water heater) and a shopping list for our destination, so we don’t wander around for days trying to figure out what is what.
If going to Lahaina, would you recommend flying into Kapalua over Kahului despite fewer, pricier flights? Pros+cons of each? Thank you.