My Airplane Essentials

     I'm back again!! So far, so good on this whole posting thing, eh? As I'm writing this, I'm preparing for a road trip across the country to Florida that will accomplish two goals: first, get one of our cars to Florida in preparation for moving and second, to get me out to Florida for our biannual family vacation.

     Two years ago, in the summer of 2017, my mom's entire side of the family went to Myrtle Beach and spent about a week there just hanging out and having fun. It's something my grandparents pay for every two years instead of getting us birthday/Christmas presents. And I'd much rather have it than presents. It's always so much fun.

     Anyway, after this family vacation - which is again about a week long - I'm going to be leaving our car out there and flying back to California. So I thought I would write a quick post about my airplane essentials, which are similar to the road trip essentials I wrote about back in August. 

     I think there is a bit of overlap, but you have to think a bit differently for airplane trips - things that aren't as important on road trips are essentials on airplane trips. And without further ado, let's get into my list!

1. Comfort

     This is probably the most important thing to me on an airplane. It's hard to be entertained or have fun if you're uncomfortable. I'll have more things to help with the comfort later, but these items are key (for me, anyway). (Not pictured, but I sometimes bring along one of those neck pillows or some other small pillow... I don't tend to sleep on airplanes though so this isn't as important to me.)

     One thing we all know is that an airplane tends to get pretty cold. To help combat the coldness, I like to bring a big scarf and/or a jacket. The scarf could also be replaced with a sheet but that takes up more space and isn't as cute. XD When you get cold, put your jacket on and wrap the scarf around you like a blanket.

     Another thing I like to do on airplanes (or long drives or any time where I'm sitting down for a long time and I can...) is to take my shoes off. Since I usually wear sandals on airplanes, especially when I'm flying during the summer, I like to pack an extra pair of socks to put on my feet. Not only does this help to keep you warm, but it also keeps all the gross airplane germs off your feet. Win-win!

2. Important

     Obviously, I would call all of this important, but these things are really key when you fly - or when you travel in general. Basically, it's all the stuff you would have in your wallet: a debit/credit card, your license or another form of identification, and then some cash for emergencies. Or just to use... XD And also don't forget your phone.

     I don't think this requires much explanation... I will say though that it's super cool to actually have a license to use as identification. I'm not a kid anymore!! (Oh and I'll get a new Florida one too - obviously - and I'm pretty excited about that. XD)

3. Entertainment

     On longer domestic flights, this is super important. When we flew to Ireland, I still brought most of this stuff along, but it's also standard for international planes to have the in-flight entertainment thing on the back of the seat. This isn't so common for domestic flights...

     Basically, I like to bring my iPod (which has exponentially more space for music and podcasts and the like) and I can store most of my entertainment on there. I like to download an audiobook or two, and then I have a bunch of music already on there. And finally, you can't forget about podcasts. Some of my favorites are called Age of Minority and That Sounds Fun. If you're looking for podcast recommendations. :)

     With my iPod, I'll also pack my earbuds and Bluetooth headphones. And my portable charger and a charging cord. Gotta make sure to keep those electronics charged, am I right? And finally, I'll obviously bring along a few books because... I must bring books. I'll probably truck along with my other activity stuff that I got for the road trip, sudoku and such.

4. Random

     This section includes everything else that I need... Most of it is sorta in the beauty/toiletry section and includes chapstick, nail clippers, hand sanitizer, lotion, some makeup powder, gum, tissues, Tylenol and deodorant. More specifically to me, I bring along my retainer case so that I have somewhere clean to put my retainer when I take it out to eat or chew gum and such... 

     The final thing in this section is a must-have: snacks. Yummm. I brought along quite a few snacks on the road trip, so I'm appropriating those for the airplane ride back. Who knows, I might also buy a few snacks before we leave.

     That's it for this post! I think I covered most of my essentials... I think I'm gonna do a mini-review of this post and my road trip post after all the traveling I'm doing this month and maybe update/edit the posts. We'll see. :) See y'all next week...

~ Anna