Holiday Travel: it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times.

One one hand, it’s a minor miracle that we can jump into a tin can and fly across the globe to meet loved ones. On the other, odds are pretty good that the airport you depart from will resemble The Thunderdome.

 

 

Air travel during the holidays can be challenging, but here are a few reminders that will help you stay calm, cool and collected while you travel this holiday season.

Before you Go

Double check your reservation and luggage rules. Make sure you’ve got the right date and time penciled in to your calendar. Make sure you know how many bags your fare includes,.. in recent years many airlines have started offering Basic Economy fares that do not include carry-on luggage. If you need to bring more bags than your fare covers, it’s often cheaper to buy them in advance than it is to upgrade at the airport.

Don’t forget to select your seats. Some reservations let you do online and others don’t. You can always request a type of seat (window/aisle) from the booking attendant when you check in even if you were not permitted to choose seats in advance.

Show up early. You will generally be able to check in for your flight 2-3 hours early, and while the adrenaline rush of nearly missing your flight can be appealing for adventure junkies, holiday travel is especially unpredictable, and your odds of being able to hop on a later flight are lower than usual.

Dress comfortably in layers. You will be happiest if your jeans are not trying to chop your abdomen in half for the entirety of your flight. You can plan on it being both too hot and too cold on the same flight, so layers will help you stay comfortable. A lot of travelers also live for long scarves… they can double as pillows or eye-covers if you get sleepy. I prefer to get a little dressed up on a plane (and depending on the airline, it might make you more likely to be upgraded.) I usually wear a lightweight dress, leggings, a cardigan or sweater and a scarf.

Pack snacks and bring an empty water bottle. Airport food is overpriced, and the lines can be nutty during peak travel times. Bring some food with fat or protein to keep your energy up during your flight, especially if you get hangry. if you’re prone to traveler’s constipation, pack something with fiber. Fill your water bottle once you clear security, and start hydrating before you board.

At the Airport

Embrace the madness. There’s something beautiful about an utter shitshow (you’ve seen Showgirls, right? Glorious.) Holiday air travel is intense, but it also makes for fabulous people-watching if you can maintain a little detachment.

Find the ugliest travel outfit, the cutest sleepy kid. Create an honorary award for the grumpiest person in the airport. Try to guess which couple is going to get engaged before New Year’s. Predict what city people are traveling to as they walk by. When someone is rude for no reason, kill them with kindness and hope you improved their day a little bit. It’s only miserable as you let it be.

Create your own airport routine. A lot of people who travel a lot often have a little routine that makes the post-security time go faster and keeps the airport feeling familiar and not too overwhelming. My ex always caught up on telephone calls and reconnected with friends while waiting to board.

I always walk past my gate to make sure it hasn’t changed or fallen into a space-time sinkhole, then I seek out the bookstore and check to see if Neil Gaiman has signed any of his books there. It’s not exciting, but having a little routine makes me feel calmer and keeps me busy.

Remember that your situation isn’t unique. No one is excited to pay premium rates to cram their vacation travel into the same week as every other person in the Western hemisphere. Assume that the struggle is real for everyone, and adopt a “we’re all in this together” mentality.

Once on Christmas Eve day, I tried to fly to the midwest, but the last leg of our flight was canceled due to snow. Everyone was miserable, but I befriended the girl behind me in our giant re-booking line and we laughed about how awful it was. They ended up`cancelling every flight that night, but we got on so well that we decided to rent a car and take a 7-hour roadtrip home together!

Be kind to people of color, old people, disabled people, fat people, new parents. They may be worried about being harrassed by security or throwing a blood clot midair or being kicked off the flight because they don’t fit in their seat. or terrified that their infant will wail for six hours straight. Be chill and cheerful. It’s the human thing to do.

 

On the plane

Drink LOTS of water.  Airplane cabins are extremely low humidity environments: most clock in at 10-20% humidity (the Sahara averages 13-15% humidity, for context.) Humans are generally most comfortable between 30-60% humidity, and low humidity environments produce a lot of unpleasant effects for us.

Tight itchy skin, chapped lips, and dry eyes are common, and low humidity can also exacerbate allergies. Low humidity environments also dry out your nasal passages, which can make you much more susceptible to catching cold, flu and other infections, so drinking lots of water is the best way to keep your mucus immune defenses up and running.

Hydrate your face & body while you’re at it.. I always slather myself in body and facial oil before flying, but I still end up feeling flaky mid-flight. I keep a thick lip balm and lotion in my purse, and when I want to feel fancy, I travel with this Evian spray mister. It’s so refreshing and makes me feel like a fancy luxury traveler!

Don’t get wasted. Far be it from me to ban alcohol in the sky, but keep an eye on your intake. It’s a myth that you get drunk faster on an airplane, but you’re at greater risk of dehydration than normal on an airplane because of the dry air, and you compound that risk when you drink in flight because alcohol flushes water out of your system at a rate far faster than normal.  Dehydration is one of the main symptoms of a hangover, so if you don’t want one, drink at least a glass of water per alcoholic tipple.

Be patient with flight crew. They’re not home with their families, and they probably didn’t have any say in the matter. Flight attendants don’t usually get to request holidays off until they have seniority, so they’re probably as thrilled to be working as you are to be flying. Say please and thank you, wish them a pleasant day, and refrain from being short-tempered with them just because flying is tough.

Wiggle it (just a little bit.) Your body will feel better if you move every once in awhile, and stretching during flight can improve blood circulation and prevent deep vein thrombosis (the formation of clots in the body’s deep veins.) It’ll also probably help you feel less stressed. Try these airplane stretches to stay loose.

Accept that being on a plane is boring… but boredom is good for you. So your phone’s powered down, you’ve finished flipping through the magazines, and the in-flight entertainment system is on the fritz. Time to… stare at the seat in front of you? Yup. Researchers believe that boredom is actually good for you: it can lead to a burst of creativity, and that it may also be a powerful helper with solving complex problems. (There’s a reason people have great insights in the shower, and it’s not because showering is thrilling.) So go ahead and embrace your boredom.. Maybe your next amazing idea is around the bend.

When all else fails, take a few deep breaths and focus on the positive. You’re flying to visit loved ones, and while that can be complicated, it’s also pretty astounding that we have that option. It wasn’t available to most of the history of humanity, and it’s still not available to a huge number of people living today… It’s difficult or impossible for a lot of people to travel by air, for a variety of reasons.

Air travel is not perfect, but crossing oceans in still a pretty amazing option to have, and it’s also a huge gift to have a family or community that you choose to spend time with. It’s easy to lose sight of that in the holiday chaos, so try to keep perspective and get through your holiday air travel with a sense of humor in your heart (and a water bottle in your hand!)