Monday, April 19, 2010

la nube de ceniza...

...aka..."the ash cloud" preventing airlines from flying ANY PLANES in Europe.  Traveler's nightmare :(.  I was reading in El Pais that there was a time in the 1800s when this volcano erupted for an entire year. Hmmm....let us hope that June is clear for travel. Don't the pictures below just make your skin crawl? I think that's just about the worst headache imaginable....I feel so bad for these people.  Mother nature is a forced to be reckoned with.

I love traveling visiting new places.  Who am I kidding?  Traveling is HORRIBLE!  Jet lag, missing/almost missing connected flights, tons of people, crappy and expensive food, airplane headaches... blah.  Somebody want to invent teleportation?

Still, with each international (and national) flight that I take, I learn more tricks of the trade that make it a little more bearable.  I don't know what helps you...but this is what helps me...
  1. DON'T GET ON THE PLANE.  Okay, you need to get on the plane, but what's the rush?  Everyone wants to be first in line to be on the plane with a 13 hour flight ahead of them...take a back seat.  You've got lots of time to sit.
  2. DON'T SIT IN THOSE AIRPORT CHAIRS.  Sit on the floor by a window.  So much better.  Try it sometime.
  3. PACK YOUR OWN FOOD.  It's like $10 for a sandwich.  This seems obvious to me.
  4. AISLE SEATS ARE THE BEST.  Window seats seem like the winning place (views and a place to rest your head), but they are more cramped, and with the aisle you have the ability to stretch your legs out.  Just don't trip the flight attendant.  They are pretty good at stepping over you, though.
  5. NAB THE BLANKETS AND PILLOWS, STAT.  The flight usually only have a limited supply, so if they aren't already on your seat ask for one right away.
  6. BRING YOUR OWN HEADPHONES.  They charge you $5 for the in-flight movie and you can use you i-pod head phones to watch.
  7. GO WITH THE FLOW.  There's not much you can do to change a delayed (or even canceled flight).  So sit back and ignore the stressed around you.
  8. DON'T TAKE NAPS WHEN CROSSING TIME ZONES on an overnight (new time) flight.  Sleep if you can...if you get a wink, great.  When you arrive in the "morning" stay up a normal day and crash at local time.  You will be delusional, but it will help you adjust faster.
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1 comment:

  1. emseedubyaApril 21, 2010 at 2:01 AM

    All the flights I've been on between LA and Aus. have had free food and free on-demand movies/tv shows/c.d.s and free headphones, I can't imagine doing a 13 hour flight without all that! It makes the 3 hr flight from LA to DFW feel like a non-event even though they never have any of that stuff. I always do aisle seat for international, in the center section where there's no window seat so that there will only be one person trying to crawl over you. I always do a window seat for domestic because I'm exhausted and want to sleep and am not interested in getting up 3 times for the guy with the peanut sized bladder. I've sat on the floor by the window and in the chair, but will always choose the stool at the bar with a margarita in-hand right up until boarding if given a choice.

    I love how everyone has their own travel system! lol I loved reading about yours and how parts are so similar to mine!

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