Earplugs. Put them in as soon as you scan your boarding pass and are waiting in the jetway to get on the plane. Nothing that is said to you after that point will be important until you’re off the plane; and if it is, you can just take out one earplug and say “say again?” You can avoid most of the annoyance of in-flight announcements and advertisements, screaming babies, and jet engines.
Drugstores. Your destination probably has them. You don’t need to pack any toiletries that you can easily obtain in one. If you are flying to New York City, you do not need to bring toothpaste with you; they have toothpaste in New York City, and you can just buy it in the Duane Reade shop that’s a block from your hotel. They have toothpaste in San Juan and Paris too. In any tropical destination, they have sunscreen there — and the sunscreen they sell there is actually safe for the coral reefs.
Water bottles. Many major airports have stations for refilling water bottles after you clear security. You can take an empty water bottle, fill it up, and carry it on the airplane.
Masks. In the old days before COVID, nobody wore masks in airports, and lots of people got colds or flu when traveling. These days, you can wear a mask and people may think you’re weird but you are less likely to pick up random respiratory diseases. I regularly wear a standard 3M N95 mask in American airports and no longer get the sniffles every time I travel.
The mask thing is not a joke. My cousin came to visit and the moron didn’t get the 2023 vaccination. Came over, and spend 80% of thanksgiving struggling with covid.
300 people in a crowded plane… Circulating the same air, what do you think was going to happen?
There's an additional reason why masks are popular in Asian countries: During flight, in-cabin air tends to get quite dry and that can easily upset your throat.
A mask reduces the humidity loss caused by the dry air exchange.
I disagree with the toiletries thing. It’s no panic if you forget them, but straight after a long haul flight, you want to refresh which includes brushing teeth.
If you’re flying somewhere hot, you want to apply sunscreen and get straight in the pool at your destination. It really makes it feel like the holiday is started,
Don’t forget that sunscreen can be expensive depending on your destination. Going to a family or friends house and the beach? NBD. Flying to Cancun and into a resort? That on prem sunscreen is gonna cost ya mucho dinero compared to BYO.
If you don’t like flying, then the best thing I can recommend to relieve the stress is that when you get where you’re going, you take off your socks and shoes and then, on the carpet, you make fists with your toes.
Not bc climate change, but bc no human has ever gotten off a commercial flight. and been in the best possible condition to face whatever they were flying to.
People are miserable, and concentrated in a small space they're doubly so. Add to that convincing security theatre puppets that my CPAP is actually medical equipment, and that no, the meds that make sleep possible are not prohibited (liquid max be damned).... Hell with that.
I can get from my driveway to Chicago Union Station in two hours or less from my driveway. The LSL can have me in Albany ~12h later. Given that I was forced to make that trip quarterly in a past life, trying to fly WN would have forced me to go via BWI or ATL and taken the same damn amount of time all considered, with lots more stress.
Train gave me a decent sleeper car for less than plane fare for the two of us, even on WN. I arrived ready to get to work, versus a lil jet lagged and angry at people in general. Yeah, train was a no brainer.
Obviously not an option on all routes, but worked well for me.
If you don’t need an overheard bin to store anything it’s less stressful. You can chill in the bar and then get on the plane very last and it doesn’t matter, and you can potentially get off the plane faster when you don’t have the big carry-on to wrestle with.
CubbyTustard has a good list. I’ll add the following:
Don’t fly a budget airline
Pop a dramamine before the flight (it makes you sleepy)
Bring gum with you on the plane (chew a piece on accent and descent to help pop your ears)
If in the US, use the Libby app alongside your local library and download audiobooks for free to pass the time during flights
Wear a mask on the plane (or better yet, one of those buff scarf things). Not only to protect against germs, but because if anyone farts, you’re probably not going to smell it. Plus, people kinda get intimidated by people wearing masks these days, so they probably won’t chat with you too much.
I love flying and being in the airport. Yes it can be stressful, but it’s a miracle of modern dang science that ~300 people at the same time can take to the sky. Awe-inspiring, really.
I’m a paranoid flyer and I always have at least 6 movies, a dozen mobile games, and a dozen switch games, 5 audiobooks, 40 ebooks, and a paper magazine.
The thought of being bored scares me. And the one time I had a 12 hour layover, I was well prepared.
Definitely this! I loaded fun videos on micro sd cards and popped them into each of my kids’ tablets for a transatlantic flight recently. It saved my sanity big time.
Wear a good-fitting N95 mask from before you enter your departure airport until after you leave your destination airport. Covid sucks, flu sucks, rsv sucks - just wear a mask, ffs. And get vaccinated.
You will be in close quarters with a lot of people. People suck and will be inconsiderate fucks. Airlines are shit and have you by the balls in terms of delays and shitty service.
Go in with low expectations and don’t make yourself more miserable by getting upset about it
Don’t fly because airports have some kind of secret knowledge that they keep from us ordinary folk. Why do you think they call it “TERMINAL” parking? It’s like they can’t resist throwing it in our faces.
Checklists have proven time and time again to be incredibly effective.
For years, doctors refused to use them because it was an insult to their intelligence. But the results showed, and doctors still refused. Then insurance happened and surprise surprise, doctors now use checklists.
It’s $50 every 5 years. As someone who’s sat in border lines nearly 2 hours long, it was an easy buy. The eased up security in American airports is just a cherry on top.
I do sometimes feels like I’m selling Nexus cards because it’s so amazing, I want everyone to have the same experience.
I once flew into Victoria BC, Canada. Airport is really small so they don’t have a dedicated Nexus line like they do for major airports. I walked up to the guard at the front of the line and asked, ‘where’s the Nexus line?’ and he said to the crowd of people waiting, ‘wait here. I’ll be right back’ and then told me to follow him. He lead me to the front of the line like some movie star or big shot and everyone was eyeballing me like wtf is this guy. They tell people to move back to make room for me, right before the scanners and I just slink my way to the front with all eyes on me. As the guard leaves, I said, ‘I have a Nexus card… $50 for 5 years, it’s totally worth it’.
Prior to having a Nexus, I once nearly missed a flight due to airport issues, not because I was late and the stress alone was worth $50 per flight, let alone $50 for 5 damn years. Even better? Americans pay $100 USD for 5 years and we only pay $50 CAD.
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