Learn From Your Mistakes

I've been overseas once before when we vacationed in Dubai last year.  That week leading up to that trip was an anxious one for me.  I had never traveled overseas (and barely out of Texas), never been on a long-haul flight, never traveled alone, never dealt with customs.  The list of things I had never done was endless.  This time, my only anxiety involves the airport transfers.  One layover in Dubai and one in Muscat.  Last year was a direct flight with my dear husband waiting at the end.  This time it's a day and a half of travel and navigating multiple flights on my own.  I'm a big girl.  I can do it.  That doesn't mean I haven't had a few nightmares about it though.

For any first time overseas travelers out there, I've learned a few things:

• Don't bother with nice clothes on the plane.  You're going to look like you've been on a 3-day bender when you arrive regardless of how nice you looked when you got on the flight.
• Don't bother with make-up.  At best, you'll look like a raccoon by the eighth hour.  If you must have on make-up on arrival, bring a small mirror and put it on before you land.
• Sleeping in economy sucks.  Last time, I winged it and brought nothing but a book.  I slept exactly zero minutes on the 16 hour flight.  This time I'm loaded down with a neck pillow, comfy eye mask (lightly spritzed with lavender), soft socks, a sports bra, my own blanket and my Nook.
• Go for the aisle seat.  If you can swing having an empty seat next to you, all the better.  Some people swear by the window seat because they can lean against it.  I tried it both ways and HATED the window seat.  I felt even more squashed than economy already made me and felt bad about waking up the two nice men (how the hell did they sleep the whole way?) to go to the bathroom.
• Drink water.  Pick up a couple of bottles after you go through security and get more water when the drink cart comes by.  When you think you have drank enough, drink another bottle.  The dry air in the plane is a killer.  This is another good reason to pick the aisle seat.  Extra water equals extra trips to the bathroom.
• Bring snacks.  The food leaves much to be desired and is rarely served when you are actually hungry.  I also bring some hard candies to suck on when my mouth feels like the Sahara.
• Bring some baby wipes.  Use them to wipe down your arms and face when you start to feel grungy.  You will feel grungy.  I promise.
• Noise canceling headphones are a must.  Cheap ones work fine.  The roar of the engines is louder than you think and not at all conducive to relaxing or being able to hear the in-seat entertainment system.  The headphones they hand out on the flight are worse than the ones that come with a Fisher Price cassette recorder.
• Don't look at the time.  You don't want to know how many hours are left.  It only adds to the anxiety and the feeling that your are on an endless plane ride to nowhere.
• Smile at the flight attendants.  One smile goes a long way towards making it a pleasant flight for yourself.

All in all, a long haul flight is far from fun, but it is tolerable.  You can make it more tolerable if you just sit back, turn on the in-seat movie and pretend you're in a movie theater.  One that's hurtling through the atmosphere at 600 mph.