Flying to Seattle- Travel days=STRESS. How to cope!
Early morning starting here in Philadelphia, on route to the Airport at 5am! Flying to Seattle to join a cruise sailing around Alaska and Hawaii. For those curious this will be the start locations of this blog. Later in the year Caribbean and Europe, so please stay tune for some exciting adventures into 2018.
Back to Saturday morning travel day, its Way too early to eat a healthy breakfast, but certainly not too early for coffee! Some have asked about negative experiences regarding travel. I usually do not like to focus on the negative, however, travel days are the exception and epitome of negative energy. No-one really enjoys the actual travel day, early trip to the airport, hustle and bustle, the entire hurry up to wait mentality, its all very stressful. Not to mention the anxiety of flying most encounter. Yup it all sounds like christmas morning…not. Well in a way its the same effect up until christmas morning, All the stress to get to the good stuff, your amazing destination. I truly do not like airports for a handful of reasons, I would like to share some positive tips and hopefully the next time your off to the airport you can keep this in mind to help ease the stress of the process.
So here we are at the airport, finding ourself rushing to then sit and wait. You made it on time, checked in, and through the security (which is probably the most stressful, but for a good reason, our safety.) This brings me to TIP #ONE, GO Apply for Global Entry, its a one time 100$ fee, must complete the application, and background check/interview, but it makes life a hundred times easier to pass through TSA security! Keep your shoes on and most of the time the laptop stays in bag, its much quicker then standing in a long line and way less stress! Honestly even one trip to the airport a year, this is so worth it! Global entry, A MUST! (www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry) Now we made it to our gate, after more waiting. They finally announce boarding has begun. TIP #TWO, People! Please, do not all panic and rush to the line, thats why we have zones to board. My suggestion, relax! Get a coffee enjoy your last few minutes on your phone or whatever you enjoy doing. All are boarding the same flight and whether you board first or last, guess what…. your basically still sitting and waiting on or off the plane! To be honest tighter confined plane waiting with more germs, and people crawling over people, or keeping your distance and own personal space, with endless leg room and your phone on a charger! I mean truly its your preference. I think we can all agree kindness goes a long way, let the person in front of you go first, it makes the world a happier place! In this stressful moment, We all have to board the plane, so to add less stress, I personally would rather board last then first! Lastly, this same mentality for landing. Unless you are rushing to catch another flight, one of my biggest pet peeves, seat belt light goes off, EVERYONE stands up! WHY? Seriously, we still have to wait for all the rows in front to exit, so why stand on top of each other. This I will never understand. But as it happens, I really have NO tips for this one. Normally I want to yell, SIT down and just be patient, but then Im the crazy lady on the flight. So I choose to turn airplane mode off and text all my loved ones I made it safely and ignore the pushing and stress of the others. And again, let the others in such a rush go in front with a smile, (after multiple years of practice, this gets easier.) Travel days are no fun, Hopefully some of these tips help and remember kindness goes a long way, even letting one person before you with a smile spreads a positive energy even in these stressful times! So happy travel days ahead!
