Airport Survival
My sister and I have been flying by ourselves since I was 10 and she was 6. We flew alone back and forth between our parents homes after they divorced and continued to do this until I was 19 and then started to become an adult with jobs and responsibilities. I wasn’t flying as often with her. But, since we have been flying twice a year (if not more) for 9 years, we have a finely honed system on how to get through airports quickly, and how to stay relaxed and actually enjoy the plane flight. I have also done a few flights to the east coast, as well as to Haiti and back. I have many more plans to travel as I go through life and will happily be updating the blog as I travel with tips and tricks of how these will inevitably evolve.
While we were at the airport this time, we had a little snafu and so the photos I wanted to take while traveling were inhibited. Most of these photos were taken from Pinterest and are tagged as such, but at this point in time most people have been in an airport a couple of times so I am assuming those of you reading will have a basic understanding of what I am talking about without photos to help illustrate.
Before You Go:
- If you haven’t ever flown, haven’t flown in awhile, or simply cannot remember certain rules and guidelines, just take a quick Google search and look at the TSA website so once you get to the airport and are in the security line you are not having to throw away your full size shampoo because you only have a carry on bag. Just triple check guidelines if you are unsure. Never hurts.
- Make a list of the things you will be doing on trip (camping, going to the beach, visiting museums, etc.) then make a list for each event of what you might need (extra warm pajamas, swim suit, walking shoes) so that you aren’t just standing in front of your closet for hours and not being successful.
-Make a list of all the things you will need in the morning. There will be certain things you will have to pack in the morning, like your tooth brush or flat iron, and those are the things that I personally forget often. Make a list in your reminders app on your phone and then set them to pop up before you have to leave. Then it becomes a little check list you have to keep track of everything.
- Get everything you can ready the night before you leave so there is less stress the day you have to go. Have your carry on packed and ready. Have your suitcase ready to go minus those little things on the list. Have it all ready to go.
- Sleep. The rest of the day will go so much more smoothly if you actually sleep the night before you leave and do not stay up stressed and thinking about it all. Lists in general help you make sure that it will all be set up and ready to go and help ease any traveling anxiety you have.
- Plan to get to the airport earlier than you need to. Most people say that if you get their about an hour before your flight leaves you will have plenty of time to get through everything, but that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for human error. If you plan to be there two hours early, for example, then you have time to get stuck in traffic on your way there, leave your home late, get stuck in a TSA line, and so many other little things. By giving yourself extra time, it will make any little thing that goes wrong not seem like such a big deal.
At the Airport:
-Wear comfy clothes and easy shoes to slip off. Celebrities wear crazy outfits on private planes when they don’t have to go through a TSA line. You are a common person and need to wear limited jewelry and metal, and have shoes you can slip on and off on less than a second. If you hold up the TSA line, everyone behind you will curse you forever.
Pinterest I included this one even though the boots may not be the best airport wear.
-Have your laptop or any other large electronics in easily accessible so that when you have to take them out you are not holding up the line once again. You are no longer required to take out your toiletries if you are carrying on your luggage so that makes it ridiculously easy to get through TSA if you just wear easy shoes.
Pinterest Minus the belt, this is a great way to do airport style.
- Have all documents ready and easily accessible always. You can put your tickets on your phone now so do that and you won’t lose it. Have your ID ready, or your passport, or both depending on where you are going. Have them ready for the TSA line and then your ticket ready for the plane so, once again, you are not holding up everyone behind you. That is kind the most important part of any airport travel.
- Once you are through TSA, look for one of the large departure/arrival screens, find you gate, and then get a coffee. Or whatever other fun beverage you desire. It will seriously make the slightly stressful portion of the airport that just happened seem like a thing in the past and you can rest comfortably at your gate.
- Pee before you get on the plane. If it is a long flight, having to go on the plane is inevitable but airplane bathrooms suck and if you have a window seat or a middle seat you have to make the other people in your row angry to go. And then sit with them the rest of the flight. So do your self a favor and just pee before you even get on the plane.
On the Plane:
- Once you are seated on the plane, you just get to kick back and relax. Depending on how long your flight is, you may be able to just get a quick nap in and land refreshed. If it is a longer flight, it may require a little more effort to land feeling refreshed and not like you were just hit by a truck. Everything listed below is relatively inexpensive and will make your time on the plane so much nicer.
- Lip balm
- Portable charger/charging cord
- Socks
- Book
- Lotion
- Advil
- Anything else you may need to keep yourself entertained (iPad, podcasts pre-downloaded, movie’s pre-downloaded, things to journal, things to draw with, etc.)
-Patience: If you can accept early on in your travels that you have no control over anything going, the trip will be so much smoother.
While some of this may seem like common sense or standard fair to making sure a flight and a trip to the airport goes well, it really isn’t. Next time you are traveling, just take a look around and see who was wholly not prepared to embark on this journey and who is also running at least 20 minutes late to get to their gate.
Madey