To say I made the most of my commercial flying career would be an understatement. The friends I made and the experiences I was afforded by traveling the world were priceless.
I spent most of my career commuting to a base since I often chose to live in smaller towns and more intimate settings. When I worked I was all in, when I was off, I was all gone. When I flew out of Salt Lake I lived in Whitefish, MT. When I flew out of Atlanta, I lived in Beaufort, SC. It could be challenging sometimes to get to work but the freedom to live where I wanted was a fabulous perk.
Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park
One day on a flight to work I sat next to a flight attendant who was also commuting to work for NetJets. She introduced me to the world of private jets and corporate flight attendants. After 25+ years of flying commercial, I was ready for a new chapter. I began my research and set my goals. The flexibility of my job allowed me to learn new skills and prepare for the change and I was grateful for that. We’ll switch gears and take a look at the life of a corporate flight attendant next, but it might be nice to pause and share some travel tips from true travel pros that might just make your travels a little easier.
Cubes
I can’t say enough for being organized when you pack. It’s the foundation of a smooth and enjoyable journey. Every single day you will begin, end and interact with your organization or lack thereof. That sounds so nerdy, I know, but work with me here for a minute or two.
The foundation of good organization are these fabulous cubes:
They come in different sizes, colors and prices. They are your best friends. Pack all of your medicines, and only medicines, in one. This goes in your carry-on bag in case your 2nd bag gets checked at the last minute. Women, one is for makeup. One is for toiletries. Don’t follow the temptation to just use a big one for toiletries and lump everything in. If you do use a big one, use smaller plastic bags or cubes within it to separate out shower items, Q-tips etc., and put everything back in their places after use. One may be (particularly if you are a flight attendant and live on the road) your food cube. That usually has non-perishables (nuts, dried fruit, energy bars) and a bottle opener and corkscrew. Be sure the corkscrew does not have one of those teeny-tiny little blades on it to cut the foil on a wine bottle. I like to call those a donation to TSA. Just a simple corkscrew and possibly an elegant camp wine glass in case your room only has plastic glasses. The last cube is for your nightstand. That one has your chargers, flashlight/headlamp, earplugs, lavender linen spray, travel candle, matches.
Now when you arrive in your room, the top layer in your suitcase is all cubes. It’s tempting to put them on the bottom, but then you have to dig through all of your clothes every time you move and get the cubes back out. Cubes on top.
Take your cubes and distribute them in their appropriate locations around the room. You only do this, of course, after you have used one of your Clorox wipes and wiped down every surface you or your cube is going to touch. Drop toiletries in the bathroom, food on the desk, and your night cube on the nightstand. Unzip each one but don’t just take everything out and move in like it is your new home, just use things out of the cube as much as possible and you will remain packed and ready to go. You also minimize the chance of putting things somewhere in your room and forgetting it. There! You’ve unpacked!
When it is time to leave, place each item in your room in its appropriate cube and zip it up. Carry the nice closed cube over to your suitcase. Bam!
You might have paused reading at the candle and lavender spray. It doesn’t take much, but makes an enormous difference if you pack a few human comfort items that make a hotel room feel like your space at home and less institutional. When doing yoga or enjoying a glass of wine (in your own glass) it is comforting to have a lightly scented candle burning for homey ambiance. Just before bed, a quick spritz of some relaxing lavender linen spray makes every bed feel like home and familiar. I subscribe to an online yoga channel and can stream any kind of yoga class I want any time anywhere. A bath towel makes a perfect yoga mat, and my hotel room becomes my studio and a place to recharge and relax.
If heavy travel is part of your life, don’t just curse the darkness but embrace the ways you can make it comfortable.
Packing Clothes and Laundry
After removing your cubes, the bottom layer in the suitcase should be your clothes. Some folks get very organized and cube their clothes (shirts, pants, socks, etc.) but my life on the road is more casual and I wing it in this section. Sort of.
It’s tempting to just grab stuff from the closet and fold it and throw it in the suitcase layer upon layer. That might work if you are going to a beach house for a week and plan to unpack all of your clothes once, but for everyone else it leaves you digging through the pile every time you need something. Two methods are best for organizing this section whether using cubes or free form. Rolling each individual item or folding it compactly, Marie Kondo style. Organize the clothes in a way that works best for you. Some folks place the items in the space organized by outfit. One shirt, one pant, underwear and socks.
I take a more organic approach and stack all tops, bottoms, underwear/swimwear and sweaters in sections. Once you remove your cubes you are looking at all of your options at once without unpacking at all. You can select which shirt, bottom, etc. you wish from the selection and leave everything else untouched. Pack shoes (in a bag or cube) on the end with the wheels.
Marie Kondo suitcase from @MarieKondo
The natural product of wearing clothes is dirty clothes. May I suggest bringing an empty cube for these? It keeps those clothes separate and when you get home you just take that cube to the laundry room and you’re done.
For clothes you need to wash on the road, here’s a real pro tip. Laugh if you will, but just try it next time and you will be amazed.
We’ve all tried washing clothing in the little bathroom sink where the drain sometimes works and then dripping across the bathroom to the shower to hang up the wet clothes to dry. That’s just nasty. It’s hard to make sure you get the whole item properly cleaned as well, so what’s the purpose?
Next time, just step into the shower while wearing those sweaty clothes. Use the liquid body wash and soap up all over. Everywhere. Next rinse, use the handheld spray to make sure you get every bit of your clothing. Next step is to take the item(s) off and rinse the inside. Leave your clothes in the tub while you take your shower.
After you get out and dry off, lay another bath towel down on the floor. Wring out your clothes as best you can over the tub, then lay them flat on the towel you have prepared. Starting at one end, roll the towel tightly and completely to the other end. When you unroll the towel, you have semi-dry clothing. Grab a hangar and hang your clothing from the shower curtain rod or inside the shower, or just drape over towel bars. You now have clean clothes with no mess that will actually dry by morning!
If you want to take it a step further you can do what one of my favorite corporate pilots did after I shared this method with him. He went right off to his room and tried it and next thing I knew I was getting a text from him. The text was a video of his pilot shirt hanging from the ceiling fan in his room just flying around in circles. So there’s that option as well if you have a ceiling fan…
Eating on a Budget
Not everybody travels on a cushy expense account. That includes flight crews. If you are going to be on the road for a while you can only pack so much food and protein bars get old especially when trying to pair them with a lovely Pinot Noir.
Restaurants are nice, but if you really travel a lot that gets old and you just want to kick back on your own and relax and not spend a fortune on room service that somehow always tastes the same. A lot of us head out right away when we get to a destination and visit a good local deli or grocery store. Some nice fruit, cheese, crackers and maybe some prepared salad are great things to throw in the little frig in your room. You eat better and save a ton of money over eating out or picking up non-nutritious convenience food. Items you pick up also allow you to eat more like you are at home which helps you feel less like you are constantly on the road.
Staying Healthy
We’ve gone over the importance of cleaning your space on the plane and then re-sanitizing yourself every time you touch something else or plan to put a hand near your face. Your hotel room is not your home either. There are different standards of cleanliness everywhere and even with the best training, folks who do the thankless cleaning every day get tired or have an off day. Take control of your own space. As I’ve mentioned, travel with a packet of Clorox Wipes (the thin ones in the samples section of the store are perfect) and make that job-1 when you check in to your room. Don’t forget the remote (do you really want to hold hands with the last guest? Do you know where those hands have been???) and the light switches. The toilet handle is another place easily missed and the faucet handles. Door knobs. You don’t have to really worry about a list, just take a moment to walk slowly through the room looking at everything. If you think you might touch it, wipe it down. If there are glass glasses or mugs for the coffee, wipe them and then rinse with clean water. They may look clean, but you can’t be sure what cleaning cloth was used to wipe them. Eeeeeeeew.
Examine your bed before unpacking so if you need to change rooms you don’t have to pack everything up. When you have made your room your own, then unpack.
Consider the food you eat. Room service is not fine dining in a 5 star restaurant. The concepts of a fabulous poached sea bass may look enticing, but it is prepared in a hotel kitchen, sits until ready to bring upstairs and then you get it. Don’t complain about the room service, change your expectations. It’s also not a good idea to order things or pick them up at the little convenience market in the lobby if they have ingredients that need to be fresh. Stay away from the tuna salad, egg salad, pre-packaged sushi and such. Go to the store and pick up some fresh fruit and cheese instead.
Just keeping your surroundings clean, your hands clean if you are going to eat and eating mindfully can change your life from always getting sick when you travel to bringing nothing home but pictures and memories.
So there’s a few pro tips for you that you won’t find everywhere. They make life on the road a little smoother which I had to learn to do for my next adventure when my career was going to really go into high gear. We’ll look at the world through the oval windows of private jets next.
Whitefish Dog and Home 