Check out the May issue of Woman’s Day Magazine! On page 158 I offer a few travel tips….
Tag Archives: travel tips
Here’s one way to avoid getting sick on an airplane
This quote originally appeared on Businessweek.com in the article How to Avoid Getting the Flu at work, by Claire Suddath, January 31, 2013. Sixth paragraph, right after the word “screwed”…
Heather Poole, a flight attendant and author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet, pounds orange juice and doesn’t touch airplane bathroom door handles. She still gets sick. “Don’t ask for a snack when the flight attendants are picking up trash,” she says. “All those cups we touch are covered in germs, and whatever we then hand you will be crawling with them.”
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11 Travel Tips from REAL travelers
Last week Anne Taintor and I teamed up for a holiday travel giveaway. To be entered into the contest readers were asked to share their favorite travel tips. I’ve decided to post a few of my favorites…
1. Make hotel stays more pleasant: One of my favorite tips for the holiday is tearing out one of those perfume adds that are in all the fashion mags, and place them gently on top of your lamp next to your bed in your hotel room to help take away those miserable stale room smells - Sara Culver-Truby
2. Pack foil: I have so many travel tips it’s hard to pick just one but I guess my favorite one is to always have foil with you. If you do, you can heat up ANYTHING with an iron! Sometimes our hotels don’t have microwaves and if I have foil, I can wrap up any left over and use an iron to heat it up. I think this would have to be my favorite travel tip! - Leesa Grauel
3. Get a good night’s sleep: I’ve downloaded a “sound machine” app. on my phone. It’s great for drowning out noise in hotels. - Karen Long
4. Go left: That was our advice for visiting Disney, and it almost always works. People tend to go to the right, so go to the left for shorter lines - Michele
5. Move quickly through security: If waiting in a long line, talk politics. Somehow it always moves things along a litle faster. Helps to talk blue politics in red states, red politics in blue states. If you’re loud enough, the people at the counter even seem to move more quickly. - Lisa Hardwick-Cillessen
6. Make trips more memorable: choose a new lotion or perfume scent, that way whenever I encounter that scent in the future it will always bring back a wonderful memory of that trip. - Bailey D. Caskey
7. Get rid of baggage: excess weight–clean out your purse! Invest in a nice lightweight nylon handbag. You can carry it inside a much larger carry-on totebag that will also accommodate your book, snacks, camera, change of clothes, etc. When you get to your destination, you have a smaller, light handbag for sightseeing, restaurants, etc.
8. Out with the old, in with the new: For longer trips, I always bring some end-of-life undergarments, sneakers, PJs, etc. I toss them and then have room for those items I purchased. My other must haves are a Swiss Army Knife and a Spork (combo spoon & fork). They are essentials for when you want to make a meal from a food market. - Cynthia Felts
9. Pack Jewelry: I learned to use straws to put your necklaces in, so they don’t tangle all up. - Maureen Androshick
10. Stay Healthy: Never leave home without a small antibacterial spray. Hit up the remote, the light switches, door knobs and taps. Hotels are festering places and if you do any amount of regular travel, this is the only way not to pick up every single greebly bug floating around. - Jean
11. Plan Ahead: Mapquest the liquor store in the neighborhood where you are staying to avoid those costly hotel bar drink choices. – Sandy
Photo courtesy of Jen Pollack Bianco
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7 celebs & travel experts dish on their go-to travel item
This originally appeared on Huffington Post
Poshbrood caught up with some travel experts, road warriors and celebs to find out their must-have travel items to help make their travels more enjoyable. Now I have no idea how I got included on this list, but I’m flattered nonetheless. Here’s what I shared…
“The survivalist in me wants to say a bottle of water and snacks that don’t expire for five years. That’s because I’ve been on too many flights that have been delayed hours because of weather or that have diverted to other airports due to medical emergencies and I know there’s not enough food in coach to feed a full plane full of passengers. That aside, I rarely ever travel without headphones. Only because you never know when you’re going to sit next to someone who likes to talk – a lot. If you’re a flight attendant, or even a frequent flier, you’re often too tired to strike up a lengthy conversation with a stranger. A lot of times I don’t even turn the music on. I’m just sitting there listening to silence.”
[Photo courtesy of Smays]
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20 travel tips from a travel expert – AKA a flight attendant (That’s me!)
Traveling soon? Here are a few tips…
1. Always bring a sweater / hoodie on the plane. Airplanes are like movie theaters. They’re freezing!
2. Airplane mode is not off! Bring a magazine to read during takeoff and landing! I’m talking to you Kindle people!
3. Wear running shoes in case you have to run from the airport bar to the gate. Flips flops and heels will only slow you down
4. Remember you can bring food through security. Bring leftovers! Share with the crew! More water / wine for you!
5. The airplane is the perfect place to let kids watch movies & play video games THE ENTIRE flight. Just bring headphones
6. Ladies: leave the jewelry in your carry-on bag. Put it on AFTER you go through security. Do the same with your belt
7. Let it go! You can’t control delays and getting all stressed out about it will only ruin your trip.
8. Buy water! We never have enough on board for everyone. You’ll be glad you have it if your flight diverts. IT HAPPENS!
9. Eat something! Even if you’re not hungry. Calories don’t count at the airport. Plus you never know when you’re going to eat again.
10. A long line of frequent fliers (think single passengers holding computers) will go 10 X’s faster than a line with a family with a new baby in it!
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Improve your travel with Bruce Lee
The following quotes are from the book Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living by John Little.
1. Something for nothing - “There is only something for something, never something for nothing.”
Think about that next time you feel nickel and dimed by an airline. Ticket prices are less than they were twenty years ago, so in the end you’re still paying the same price you were in 1992, maybe even less. Keep in mind the Barbie Glam Vacation Jet costs $119.99 at ToysRus. That’s more than most one way tickets.
2. Emptiness is the starting point - “In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. Drop all your preconceived fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is so useful? Because it is empty!”
Don’t let what happened on your last flight affect your next flight. Often passengers will board and immediately want to rehash the details of what went wrong on another trip. Things don’t usually go so well from here. How could it? I’ve just been linked to the worst flight ever!
3. “Is” vs. “Should” - “What IS is more important than WHAT SHOULD BE. Too many people are looking at “what is” from a position of thinking “what should be.”
To become a flight attendant one must be flexible. Being able to quickly adapt to change is essential on the job. If there’s one thing we can count on in the aviation industry, it’s something is bound to go wrong. This is why we always have back up plans A, B, C, and D. So next time something doesn’t seem to be going right, do what a flight attendant would do and instead of getting upset about what should be happening, focus on what is happening, and start making alternative plans – QUICKLY! Before all the hotel rooms are booked and the rental agencies run out of cars.
4. Anxiety - Anxiety is the gap between the NOW and the THEN. So if you are in the now, you can’t be anxious, because your excitement flows immediately into ongoing spontaneous activity.
I can spot a fearful flier a mile away. If they’re not asking about the weather, they’re clutching the armrest and sweating profusely. A little unknown fact is more people die falling off donkeys than they do in plane crashes. Remember that next time you start to feel anxious. Focus on the fact that you’re sitting in a somewhat uncomfortable seat and drinking the beverage of your choice. There’s probably even a very nice person sitting beside you. If that doesn’t work, tell a flight attendant what’s going on and we’ll do what we can to help. We’re trained professionals. That’s what we’re there for.
5. Not to think, but to do - Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
You know the saying, life is the journey, not the destination? Well it’s true. Your trip starts as soon as you throw your bags into the trunk of your car. We only get one chance at this life, so why not make the most of it, even if you’re on an airplane or stuck in the terminal after a breach in security at Newark Airport.
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A recipe for jet lag – cherry coco smoothie
(FYI: There’s still time to CLICK, comment & win a ”red hot” traveler’s kit!)
Earlier this week I wrote about melatonin and how it helps cure jet lag. Tart cherries are a natural form of melatonin. This got me thinking about recipes containing cherries. I’m a terrible cook. I have zero creativity in the kitchen. So I decided to contact an expert for help. Who better to ask than Robyn, an international flight attendant with a passion for health and raw food and the author of the fantastic blog Girl on Raw? Two days later Robyn emailed me her latest creation – a cherry coco smoothie recipe. (Thanks Robyn!)
Cherry Coco Smoothie Ingredients:
1 Young Thai Coconut Water and Meat (view How To Open a Thai Coconut Video here)
1 ½ cups of Frozen Organic Cherries
2 Frozen Bananas
Juice of 1 Lime
1 T of Agave/Maple Syrup
Pinch of Salt
Blend all ingredients on high in a high-speed blender and serve with a cherry on top!
Serves 3 – 4
You can find more healthy recipes at Robyn’s blog: www.girlonraw.com
That's Robyn inside the bin!
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Travel questions answered
Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of of Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana, and Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines, interviewed me on her fun and insightful blog. Just thought I’d share…
This week’s Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 contributor spends her days pushing 300-pound carts at 30,000 feet and then blogging all about it: Heather Poole. A flight attendant with 15 years of experience, she’ll be making her memoir debut next summer.
What is “home” for you? Is it a particular place or person or thing?
Home is where my fifteen-pound cat, Gatsby, lives. I’m a flight attendant. I spend part of each month living out of a suitcase. My husband, whom I met on a flight, travels over 100,000 miles a year for business, while my son, a three-and a half-year-old, has been on an airplane at least once a month since he was three months old. All roads lead back to the cat, the only family member with a permanent address.
When did you first hit the road? How did it go?
After I didn’t get a raise working a regular 9-to-5 job for a well-known watch company, I quit. Soon after, I ran across an ad in the newspaper for an airline looking to hire flight attendants. I had never wanted to be a flight attendant, but the pay wasn’t bad and there were lots of days off, so I figured I’d do it for a little while, and as I traveled the world, meeting all kinds of exciting new people, I’d apply to other jobs, ya know, the kind that pay well and people have respect for – something in marketing maybe. Fifteen years later I’m still flying. Life is good.
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