Travel Tips From An Over-Preparer

Hi, friends!

There's going to be a higher-than-average amount of travel happening for a lot of us soon. I'm looking at three trips involving airports and one requiring a two-hour drive through some sickeningly twisty mountain roads to get there and back. (There will also be at least two hours of driving between our house and the airport every time we fly, which adds to the fun.)

My motto for travel is borrowed from the Boy Scouts but with my own Type A twist: "Be prepared or else your heart might explode." The extra effort required to be over-prepared is completely worth it, in my opinion. A frequent subject of my nightmares is being late to things or forgetting something I was supposed to do. The one time in my life that I missed a flight (thanks to absolutely ridiculous Los Angeles traffic at 4:30 AM) was a horrifying experience that I never want to repeat. Since I'm starting to prepare for the first adventure of the summer - a business trip to Georgia - I thought I'd compile a list of all the things that go through my mind when I pull a suitcase out of the closet.

Most of these nuggets of wisdom will be airplane-focused, but some of this stuff applies to car travel, too. :)

Packing

• Utilize checklists! That's the easiest way to make sure you don't forget anything. Start your list a few days before you travel and take note of the things you're using on a daily basis.
• Try to think about all of the possible scenarios where you may need something you might not immediately think to include on your packing list. I get random headaches sometimes, so I keep a small bottle of ibuprofen in my purse. If one of my nails gets ripped or becomes jagged, I'll need nail clippers to fix it so that I don't go bonkers trying to make it smooth with my teeth or other nails. You may also find yourself wanting things like a puke bag, a bandaid, a portable charger for your phone, some lotion, or a hair tie.
• When packing things to entertain yourself, be sure that you have at least one option that doesn't require a power source. A book, a deck of cards, some crossword puzzles, or a notebook to write in are all good options. You can also find travel versions of some board games, if you'll have a traveling companion who's game (heh) to participate.
• Definitely pack headphones and/or ear plugs. You never know who or what may be near you and you'll be stuck there for a good chunk of time. I once sat next to a lady on a cross-country flight who was loudly chewing her gum and if I hadn't had headphones and music to block out that awfulness, I might've lost my mind.
• Consider using a backpack as your carry-on. It'll likely fit under the seat in front of you so you won't have to deal with the overhead storage bins at all. Get to your seat, slide the backpack under, and get things in and out throughout the flight with minimal effort. As an added bonus, wearing a backpack is generally easier than rolling a small suitcase alongside you.
• Keep things that you know you'll want to use (phone charger, headphones, sleep mask, etc.) in parts of your carry-on bag that are easy to access. I usually store my laptop in the laptop sleeve of my backpack, my headphones in the weird tiny pouch on the left shoulder strap, and my phone charger and MP3 player in the smallest zippered section of the backpack.
• There are some things you can't really pack until right before you close your suitcase, like your toothbrush and deodorant and whatnot. To make sure you don't leave those behind, put them somewhere you don't usually keep them to remind yourself about the unusual circumstances. (I'll put my toothbrush case right in front of my sink so that it's impossible to miss.) You could also have a right-before-you-leave checklist for these sorts of things.
• You probably already know this one, but bring an empty bottle with you and fill it with water from a drinking fountain after you're through the security line. Make sure it's a bottle that won't leak if it ends up on its side!

Packing specific kinds of items

• If you're bringing any necklaces with you, put them through a bendy straw to keep them from turning into a tangled blob of chain in your suitcase. (Unclasp it, send one side through the straw, and re-clasp it once the inside part pops out again.)
• Easter eggs or those roundish prize containers that you get for quarters make good containers for other jewelry or small items.
• Put any extra pairs of shoes you're bringing inside a grocery bag to keep them from dirtying the other stuff in your suitcase.
• All containers that hold some sort of liquid or gel should be put in a sealed bag in case they explode when changing elevation. If you want to be extra safe or skip the bag, you can unscrew the top, put some plastic wrap over the opening, and put the top back on it. It's like a MacGyvered version of the seal that a lot of bottles come with to keep them from leaking during shipping. (Fun story: My sister brought some aerosol hairspray in her suitcase when we flew to Mexico a long time ago. The cap got dislodged somehow and the nozzle definitely got pressed down at some point because her suitcase smelled like hairspray when we landed. Thankfully, it was Aussie hairspray so it smelled great. Still not an ideal situation.)
• This is a personal preference, but I never pack makeup in a checked suitcase. I've seen far too many suitcases get flung around to trust that everything will remain unbroken. Nearly all of my makeup is quite inexpensive to begin with, but I'd really rather not have to replace anything. If I keep all of my makeup with me in my backpack, I can make sure that it doesn't get dropped or whacked or anything.
• For pressed powder makeup (setting powder, blush, etc.), I like to put a cotton round between the powder and the lid for extra safety. I don't want to open up the compact and have stuff poof in my face in the event that it decided to become a loose powder during transit.
• Anything you're bringing with you that you would consider semi-fragile or precious cargo (makeup, a laptop, etc.) should go in your carry-on, if possible. I've never had my checked luggage get lost or come back to me looking like it lost a fight with a rhino, but just in case that happens someday, I make sure that the things in my suitcase are all things that could be replaced without an unreasonable amount of hassle.

At the airport / the day of travel

• Aim to arrive at the airport with a decent cushion of time. Sometimes, security will move quickly and it won't take long to get your baggage checked. Other times, there may be an entire military troop ahead of you in line, which is something that happened to me on one of my first flights as a solo traveler. I walked into SeaTac and saw a whole bunch of dudes in fatigues waiting in the Southwest baggage line. (Travel always found some way to be extra stressful when I was 19.) It's better to have time to kill while sitting near your gate than to be frantically checking the time and wondering if you'll make it.
• Even though most (or maybe all?) airlines let you use a digital boarding pass on your phone these days, I feel better having a printed one anyway. I don't have to worry about unnecessary phone battery usage or fumbling through the airline's less-than-great app and I can use my phone for other purposes while I'm waiting to have my pass scanned.
• Don't wear sockless shoes to the airport. I know flip flops are super convenient, but that means you'll be barefoot in the security line. Who knows what other bare feet or gross shoes or pets have been on that floor? Nope. Wear comfortable shoes that aren't complicated to get on and off, but please wear socks. Or at least lie and tell me that you wear socks.
• Keep your bag of liquids in a part of your carry-on that's really easy to access. You can rearrange your stuff for optimal plane convenience once you're past security, but it's helpful to be able to quickly fling the bag onto the conveyor belt if you're trying to hurry to your gate.
• Planes are pretty gross. It might give you peace of mind to use some baby wipes on the tray table and arm rests when you first board or at least have some hand sanitizer ready. (And in case anyone reading this needs to hear it, a tray table is not a changing table or a foot rest!!)
• Keep your beverage consumption to a minimum unless you're okay with using airplane bathrooms. Don't dehydrate yourself, obviously, but don't be one of those weirdos who's on their third Starbucks drink while you're waiting to board.
• Bring some (non-smelly!) snacks/food to enjoy. It's a little something to look forward to after a stressful experience, which airports usually deliver. I love to bring resealable bags of mini sour straws, but I also bring either a spoon or some chopsticks so that I can eat them without getting sticky stuff on my fingers.
• Ginger ale is great if you're a nervous flyer or have motion sickness issues. Planes don't seem to give me motion sickness, thank goodness, but the drive to YW camp basically requires Dramamine and/or ginger ale.
• Be nice to the airport employees, TSA people, and flight attendants! They're just humans and it's probably not their fault when inconvenient things happen.

That's all the advice I can think of for now! Hopefully something in this post will be helpful to you and improve your future travel experiences. If you have any tips to share, please do so that I can benefit from your awesomeness and maybe not be quite as stressed while I'm flying across the country six times in the next two months.

Love,

Lizzie