(Almost) Universal Truths about Travel
by Lynn Cutts
Travel is so educational! Every single one of these Universal Truths has come from my own experiences as I've been traveling about the country, promoting my new book, Change One Habit, Change Your Life. My experiences have certainly changed some of my habits when I'm traveling. Hopefully this list will let you learn from my experiences, instead of having to go through them yourself.
- The middle seat in coach, especially those at the back of the plane, were rejected as torture devices by Torequemada. Book early and request an aisle or window seat. But be aware that several airlines are starting to charge extra for those seats.
- In general, the facial tissue in hotels is made by the same company that makes sandpaper. Bring your own!
- The fluorescent lighting in hotel bathrooms is designed by doctors to make you look so jaundiced that you feel you need liver function tests. And it is never bright enough for putting on make up. A small mirror will allow you to move over by the window so you can take advantage of natural light.
- Your luggage will get lost or delayed when you desperately need it for an event or business function. Conversely, if you don't have anything big planned, are heading home, or aren't on a tight schedule, your bags will be first off the plane. So be sure to have everything you need for the first 24 hours (including any materials for your presentation or whatever) with you in your carry-on luggage. You can also ship material ahead of time to your hotel and not have to deal with taking it on the airplane.
- The keyboard on laptops loves to make your cursor jump around randomly, so that suddenly you're typing a word in a sentence two paragraphs above. Disable the touchpad and pack a separate, USB mouse. Also, an anti-static device can help.
- The in-room coffee makers at hotels a) frequently leak and overflow, and b) make lousy coffee. Bring your own coffee. And don't have your stuff too near the machine when it's on!
- You always need to go to the bathroom as soon as the captain turns on the fasten seat-belt sign. Plan on it! Go right before you get on the plane, and then again about 45 minutes before landing.
- No two hotels have the same amenities, services or procedures. They vary just enough to trip you up, so you can't count on anything. It pays to a) call ahead to check on anything even slightly out of the ordinary, and b) to become loyal to one company and join their loyalty program. Not only can you save points for rewards, but being a member (especially if you have whole bunches of points) can get you preferred treatment. Plus you'll get to know the amenities and procedures of the company which makes things easier and more familiar.
- Hotel rooms, even non-smoking ones, always smell stale. Scented candles help, but you can't carry matches or lighters on the plane, and with every place now non-smoking (I feel sorry for smokers sometimes), you can't just pick up a matchbook at a restaurant or bar. What to do?
- Airlines have decided to improve the quality of airline food by not offering any. So always carry spare food on flights. I like to carry a deli sandwich, and I always have a Cliff bar or something in my purse. This can save you from crankiness - and when dealing with the inevitable delays and snafus of travel, you don't want to be cranky on top of that!
- Hotels will provide you with an iron and ironing board, but no convenient place to plug the iron in, and the cord on the iron will not be long enough to stretch to the ironing board. Bring your own extension cord.
- The lighting in hotels is designed for sleeping or television watching, not working or reading. Bring a brighter lightbulb (100 watts or fluorescent) to ease eyestrain.
- Containers of cosmetics will only leak on your best clothes. Wrap paper towels around any bottles or tubes of stuff, and carry them in a sealed plastic zipper bag, not just a cosmetics case. If you do use a cosmetics case, put it inside a sealed plastic bag as well.
Even so, travel these days is pretty amazing. It wasn't that long ago that a trip across country would take weeks or months, instead of hours, under conditions so miserable and hazardous they are now illegal. The challenges we face today are primarily those of comfort and convenience, instead those of food, shelter, sanitation, and survival. So as we deal with these petty issues, we should be grateful that we even have them to deal with.
After all, at least we're traveling!
|
|
