Air travel must-haves

Here’s a quick list of air travel must-haves:

Food and beverage. No one’s serving anything for free and what you can get tastes just as bad as it always has on a place, regardless of how much more attractive the packaging is now relative to the past.  Exceptions to the “no free food” rule are generally routes to or from European destinations since non-Americans traditionally have higher expectations of service – even on our domestic carriers.  Check with your airline if you’re unsure of the accomodations, or (much better still) bring along healthy non-liquid items that will be a much better caloric investment.  Remember, you’re going to be more or less dormant for several hours so light occasional healthy snacking is easily your best bet.  As for drinks, water’s still free on every flight – or at least it is at the moment.

Easy, organized access to items you plan to use on the flight. Walk through your expectations of what you’ll be doing on the flight, especially if you’ll be cramped in the metal tube for over a couple hours.  You’ll be surprised at how inaccessible simple things like headsets are when you want them.  While your at it, reconsider the security process.  Where do you intend to put your jewelry, wallet, or other important items you’d prefer not testing with the metal detector?  When I went through this process the first time I realized I didn’t own a bag that worked for my purposes and hopped online to purchase a new one.  Stranger yet, the next time I traveled my old bag was more well suited to the trip I was taking.  This is a really important step to making your trip easy and predictable.

Two pens. If you’re traveling internationally, this is a must.  You will fill out customs paperwork.  If not, it’s always a good habit to have pens on hand to document things like dings in your rental car or contact information when you meet someone new.  You’re going to thank me on this one, because someday when you take an international flight you’ll be begging one from a neighbor after the one you have stops working (or you’ll just want your flying partner to help expedite all the forms writing).

Anything that keeps children in your custody extraordinarily quiet. You’re likely used to the cacophony of family life but your nearby seatmates are often nervous at the prospect of even getting on a plane.  That tension is amplified when the simplest of actions – a bumped chair, a continual banging or clicking noise, or a crying child – interrupts an otherwise focused attempt to stay calm.  Some might be offended by what we’re saying here.  After the number of flights we’ve been on where we’ve seen ourselves and others fray at the seams, we side with them over parents who take anything less than full responsibility for their childrens’ actions.  We’re parents as well, and sadly there is such an overwhelming prevailing lack of responsibility people have often felt compelled to thank us for our child’s behavior despite it being our responsibility and not some bonus we threw in for the heck of it.

Your itinerary. If you aren’t going nonstop, and your next transportation or action plans if you are (nothing sucks more than landing and wanting to move things along with no interruptions or confusion, and a bonus would include previous trips to websites which help you know what to expect – things like sitting at Heathrow for 4 hours waiting to get through security instead of enjoying London)