Tips & Advice for the New (and veteran) Air Traveler

OK, let's face it. Many of you are traveling for the first time in a long time. Or some of you are casual travelers and never really thought about these topics. So who am I to give tips or advice when it comes to air travel? I'm no one. But I do have 2,000,000 or so air miles under my belt.

And according to TripIt (not a complete picture of my travels) I have 1,255 days of travel, 347 trips taken, 35 countries visited, and 182 cities. /* these are work travels and not personal vacations */

But more crucially, I am obsessed with efficiency, shortcuts, time-savers, and delight in travel gadgets that make my - traveling - life easier. So I thought I would give some advice. If you want additional write-ups, let me know via comments and I'll keep posting. Let's dive in

• When you board with your backpack on, you need to be spatially aware. When you turn around while walking down, you're smacking people in the head because your back extends about a foot (300mm) or more. So try to hold it in your hand, or if you need to be hands free, think about wearing the backpack on your chest. And PLEASE have your kids do this.
• Ever have those annoying power receptacle that's useless due to overuse? You plug in your charger and it just droops down? Especially those GARGANTUAN Apple chargers that block like 15 plugs on an extension cord? There's a cheap and efficient solution. (thank you Jon Hodgson for showing me this trick years ago). Buy one of those international plug adapters. The UK version has a stout connector. And all airplanes support it. Here's what it looks like

There are different versions, but I like the one that has the smallest footprint. Easier to carry on etc. I bought this mid-flight via duty free while traveling to SIN/HKG because the one I had had missing parts. It was my first trip about 12 years ago - cut me some slack!

• And of course, most of us travel with a tablet to pass the time on long haul flights. The problem is that airlines think they are serving T-rex customers. At times, you feel like a T-Rex trying to eat something off of the minuscule tray. And if you're fortunate (or is it unfortunate...hmmm) enough to get some food on the flight, there is no room for the tablet. What to do, what to do? Turn off the latest Netflix/YT/Prime and just eat your food like a convict? The hell with that!

This one I grabbed from AMZN (ASIN: B08NPMDR97) The key trait is that there is a gap between the bottom and the lip of where the tablet rests. So you can scoot it under the tray and enjoy your movie while enjoying (???) your food.

And here is my Kindle in action while I was getting ready to eat. And the best part? It folds flat for easy carry-on. /* I actually had to retake the picture because I left the text of the book that I was reading and didn't want to be judged. OK OK I'll tell you. It was Brad Taylor's Pike Logan series. */

Some random closing thoughts.

1. Jon is so hardcore that he also carries a 3-to-1 power adapter. This way, everyone can use the power receptacle (looking at you Apple charger people!)
2. And yes, those of us who travel a lot use airport codes. It's easier, simpler, and you can't end up in the wrong airport by mistake. The military uses brevity codes for a reason. It's the same concept. You saw me use SIN and HKG instead of spelling it out. Saves time - there's that obsession with efficiency even as I typed more characters explaining it which blew my efficiency rating. /* it's hard being me */
3. And if there's interest, future topics can include A) why you should never ever ever check your luggage (AMATUERS), B) how to make your luggage stand out and C) How to increase your odds of snagging the poorman's business class by playing the seat roulette properly. D) How to win the immigration lane pachinko game etc. E) Best credit card reward program F) which airline has the best loyalty program or mobile app.

Do let me know if this helped.