Airports are magical portals from the land of sanity to crazy town. Where else in the world do you see people dragging their belongings behind them while sprinting to a Sbarro’s and wearing an inflatable neck pillow?
The land of crazy town is home to the infamous Terrible Traveler. These are rude, loud, and probably smelly people who make you reconsider taking an 11-hour flight with two connections just to avoid being seated next to them. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s probably you.
Here are some tips on how to not be terrible:
Tip 1: Don’t play dumb in the security line.
What’s that? You’ve been waiting in the security line for 45 minutes and decide as you’re walking up to the x-ray machine NOW is the time to remove all your metal jewelry and laptop from your bag? That’s fine to hold up the rest of the people behind you (said no one).
Investing in a comfortable pair of shoes that are easy to slip on and off will make your life so much easier when traveling through security. If you’re traveling to a place that requires a lot of walking, this means that you are also probably wearing your bulkiest shoes on the plane, freeing up luggage space. Win-win!
Tip 2: Keep your smells in check
That curry dish smells great, but continuously smelling it for five hours on a flight is no bueno. Traveling can also be stressful with airport overnights and no access to showers, so make sure you always have deodorant and a travel-sized bottle of your favorite perfume or cologne for a light spritz. Your seatmates will thank you.
On every flight I take, I always pack a small pouch with a travel-size deodorant, chapstick, and a small TSA-approved fragrance to spritz after getting off the plane. Consider adding an atomizer to your travel kit so you can bring whatever fragrance you’re loving with you whenever you travel!
Tip 3: Don’t be an outlet hog
In airports, outlets are more valuable than gold nuggets in the Wild West. If you’re not charging, don’t take a seat next to a wall outlet.
Since you can’t always rely on having access to an outlet, make sure to charge all your electronics up to 100% before heading to the airport. Investing in a heavy-duty portable charger with at least 20,000 mah means that you will get multiple charges across all of your devices. Smaller chargers with around 5,000 mah are great if you only anticipate needing one quick charge and don’t want to weigh down your bag.
Tip 4: Follow road rules
Slow walkers on the right, fast walkers on the left. If you don’t follow this rule, there’s a pretty strong chance you’ll get run over on the moving walkway. This also applies to escalators. If you’re running to catch a connecting flight, you’ll want a clear path for the best chance of making it!
These are four of the most basic rules of airport etiquette. Once you’re on the plane, you’ll want to know these five secrets only a flight attendant will tell you!
Some of the links listed above are affiliate links. Clicking them helps me with no additional cost to you! As always, ideas and opinions are entirely my own.
