8 Thoughtful Tips from a Travel Genius

Whether you travel a little or a lot, it’s always good to have the best advice available from an industry veteran. Here are some tips from one of our in-house experts to help you travel like a pro… 

Tip 1: Say hello to your flight attendants prior to boarding 

Flight attendants are there to “attend to our needs during the flight.” They are not our personal servants. A simple ‘hello’ shows them that you recognize them as fellow humans. Make eye contact, smile, talk to them in the tone of a friend or neighbor. This gives you the upper hand over your fellow passengers, who are so busy rushing to their seats that they brush right past these folks.

Tip 2: “Feed me Seymour, feed me”

I’ve never board a flight, without some sort of trinket for the flight crew. Some cookies, magazines, candies, mints, or popcorn. Typically, they are rushing to the airport to make their flights and don’t have time to stop for goodies. Trust me, the crew talks. Didn’t you wonder how the passenger in 9B kept getting free boxes of snacks and one-on-one attention throughout the whole flight? Well, mystery solved.

Tip 3: You will need only half of the things that you feel you MUST bring

To my fellow fashionistas: Try to pack clothes that are in the same color family, preferably dark. Be advised you can’t be a fashionista with stains on your clothes. Dark clothes mask a multitude of sins. Pack on the concepts of layers. Less is more. In travel, the key is simplicity. Roll your clothes to save room in your suitcase. Or use Ziploc bags. Use your belts to line your collars. It keeps them crisp and reduces the space needed for the belts. By the way, pill containers make better organizers for your baubles than jewelry rolls. Yup, you are welcome.

Tip 4: Yes, my 10-year-old piece of luggage is fragile!

I actually learned this tip from a professional baggage handler: A little duct tape goes a long way in the airline industry. This is an amazing trick to help ensure your bag is not ruined by baggage handlers. Your luggage will be taken off the plane right after the priority bags too! This will reduce your wait time at baggage claim as well and anything that can do that is a plus!

Tip 5: Just my two cent’s worth

This is travel law: Take two wall phone chargers, two car phone chargers and two battery packs for your digital cameras (if you still use those). Keep them in a zippered water-resistant bag.

Tip 6: If you don’t abide by rule number 5, noted above, see below

If you don’t listen and forget your wall charger, you can still charge your devices through the USB port on the television.  Most modern televisions have a USB port on the back or side of the TV. Use your USB cord and plug right in. Double check your charging icon and you are good to go.

Tip 7: Better safe than sorry

Always have a copy of your passport, visas and driver’s license sitting in your personal email, just in case. Hopefully, you will never need to access the info, but forewarned is forearmed.

Tip 8: No Comprendo? No Problemo!

Nothing speeds things up in a foreign country like speaking the language. Thanks to a multitude of mobile apps you can smoothly decipher many languages – English to Italian, Russian to English, French to Spanish and so forth.