What we’ve Learned about Travelling, Part 4: Other Thoughts.
It’s important to pay attention to your habits while travelling and to make sure you structure things to help reduce your stress levels as much as possible. For example, some people like to arrive at the airport really early, to make sure they have plenty of time to get through security, get situated, grab a coffee and read something. Others like to arrive with just enough time to get through security and walk onto the plane. We’ll let you guess which of us is which. 😄 Make sure you know your preferences and act accordingly. The last thing you want is to get to the airport and feel rushed; that will only add stress to your journey and make for a worse travel experience. Travelling is supposed to be fun and exciting, so don’t do things that start you off with the wrong mindset. And be kind to the desk agents, security agents, gate agents, custodians – I promise your issue isn’t the only one they’ve had to deal with that day. Smiling, kindness and understanding gets you much farther than being pushy, arrogant and obnoxious.
Unless you’ve had your noise-cancelling headphones and sleep mask on for the last 2 years, you know we’re living in a pandemic. That’s changed so much about our lives and, unfortunately, travelling is in the same boat (see what I did there?). That translates to sometimes longer lines (but remember…Pre-Check and Global Entry for the win!), higher stress levels, vaccination cards, and, yes, masks. The thing about masks is that no one likes wearing them, least of all while travelling (although, having seen some of the stuff that we have on planes, sometimes I’m not super upset about the mask requirement AND they do a great job of keeping my airway and eyes from drying out on long flights), but that’s what we have to do to see the world right now. The passengers don’t like wearing them and the airlines don’t like having to enforce them. But again, that’s our new reality, at least for now. Not interested in wearing a mask when you travel? I get it, but that probably means flying isn’t the right choice for you right now, and that’s okay as there’s tons of stuff to explore without stepping onto a plane. What’s not okay is knowing you have to wear a mask, getting on a plane, and then throwing a very public tantrum because the airline is going to enforce the rules they told you they were going to enforce when you bought your plane ticket. Please don’t be that person. Also, know that everyone is stressed out right now, including your flight attendants. Sure that’s part of their job, but it never hurts to give folks a little grace. So, when you see them walk by, make sure you smile (yes, even with your mask on, smile with your eyes…they can tell) and say thanks. It’s probably what you’d want if you were in their job, doesn’t cost you anything, and can help you get in their good graces (always a good idea). It’s also the right thing to do, even when we aren’t in a pandemic.
Here’s the thing. We put a lot of thought and planning into our travels, most of the time. We’re constantly reading the news, making plans, cancelling plans these days, and just trying to remain on top of the situation. Some people like to do this, some hate it and want a travel agent to do it for them. We prefer not to work with a travel agent because we want to experience the full culture of an area and have control over our plans when things don’t work out, rather than trying to find our agent in another time zone who is probably sleeping when we’re denied our accommodation for the night. Anyone been there? We have. It sucks. This means working with locals, their quirks and getting the full feel for an area before we go. This is also how we’ve made unexpected friends all over the world (we know the best bus drivers and hotel owners in Scotland)! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve used a travel agent a couple times when we were first getting started with travel and it was mostly ok. We’ve just come to appreciate it more when we are in charge. Plus, it helps keep costs down. One of our go-to trip planning tools is Trip Advisor. We’re huge on reading reviews, seeing traveler’s photos (not the photoshopped marketing photos), and hunting down deals. Plus, we can use Trip Advisor to save ideas for us to look into when we get to an area and create our own itineraries to share with family so they know where we are and when (safety first). If you’re a frequent traveler it’s a good idea to keep a list of things you want to do/experience and places you want to go. We have a running list, by country, of trip ideas. You never know when you’ll find a great deal on plane tickets and just need to be ready to go without much planning! Like this working trip to Bozeman, MT last fall – it was planned, so we picked some dates and headed for the hills!
