OK so you may not actually look fresh as a daisy after a
transatlantic flight spanning many time zones, but hopefully these nifty tips
will reduce the chances of you looking and feeling like a crumpled rag doll.
Travel is the new lifestyle mantra, it helps broaden
horizons, gain new perspectives and experiences, but I find that half a day is
spent just recovering from the journey to our travel destinations itself.
So I decided to gather all my tips on staying fresh during
long flights.
1.
Fly as expensive as you can: Many people
scrounge on the flight tickets, in a chance to spend more on the holiday
destination itself. But, think of your holiday starting the minute you leave
home, and then arriving at your destination is also part of your amazing holiday.
Travelling business class with the great inflight food, services, and extra leg
room is bound to keep you frsher and happier when you arrive in your
destination rather than being cramped on a 14 hour flight between snoring
gentlemen and crying babies.
2.
Choose your seats in advance: not all of us are
lucky or rich enough to travel business or even first class. Nothing puts a
dampner than realising you got the worst deal as far as economy seats go. A
common victim to the ‘seat exchanges’ are single travellers, especially guys.
People automatically presume that you will move/adjust so that the lovely
couple can sit together or a gregarious family of seven can all camp together.
Book your seat in advance, use seatguru.com to make an informed choice. Window
seats if you plan on getting that first view of the himalyas or the alps, and
an Aisle seat if you are going to be walking a lot to the rest room, more about
that later.
3.
Prep your face at duty free: This is my all time
favourite travel ritual. Now we board mostly from Mumbai International airport,
but almost all international airports have a beauty store, with the best of
estee lauder, shiesdo,clarins and Clinique products. Plump up your face with
the night serums, and under eye creams, lather up your hands in luxurious hand
lotions, spritz on your favourite perfumes. I generally use the night products
on long flights since they are richer and heavier and pack more bang for your
buck. But , if you have just a four hour flight and land in the day, feel free
to use spf crèmes, a little glitter lotion, that funky lip balm. Buying a
travel kit at these counters is a good thing too.
4.
Hydrate: drinking lots of water during the
flight may make you rush to the washroom often, but think of it as a beauty
cleanse, and also the short walks, keep your blood circulation in your limbs
going as well. you will board of feeling a lot more limber and fresh.
5.
Take of your shoes on the flight, but be sure
you have clean socks!: allowing your feet space to swell and also being able to
do a few toe wriggles, and ankle twirling and foot flexion extension exercises will keep you from that heavy
leaden feeling after a long flight. Try and stretch and flex as often as you
can. Some even suggest a change of foot wear and socks prior to disembarking to
make you feel like you just changed your entire wardrobe. Change into a slinky
heel instead of your travel loafers prior to disembarking and you go from
frumpy to diva!
6.
Wear a scarf: no matter how great my journey has
been, my hair manges to look like a bedraggled mess. I prefer to tie a braid,
even though it doesn’t look as fashionable. Carrying a wide tooth comb, a scarf
and a shine serum may help. I like to take style tips from my airhostesses
sometimes when I see one of them with a particularly well made French knot.
7.
Enjoy inflight entertainment: a 12 hour flight
means atleast three great movies to watch for me. Animated films are a sure
shot winner with a guaranteed happy ending, some funny dialogues and plenty of
good cheer. I am not much on infotainment but sometimes there are great travel
documentaries on the places you might be visiting; I watched a great one on the
history of Istanbul on my flight to Istanbul, which kind of helped me write my istanbul blog.
8.
Sleep it off: you know the best solution to jet
lag? Sleep! As a new mom, I find that I can sleep any time anyhow anywhere,
guess I just have to test it one a flight now. The relaxing music onboard may
help! I hate it when kids are wailing though, but imagining the poor plight of
the moms who can’t even walk and rock their kids on board makes me empathise.
9.
Wear an eye mask: As a follow up on the above
point, wearing an eye mask can really help get some snooze. I would carry a gel
eye mask, which can do the double work of preventing dark circles and puffiness
while onboard. Another nifty tip, ask for two teas, drain out the tea bags and
use on your eyes, DIY eye mask on board! P.s. don’t drink the teas if you don’t
want to be running to the washroom! Another eye care tip is to always carry an
eye lubricating eye drop, or what we call tear substitute. Eyes tend to get very
dry , itchy and red on these ‘red eye ‘flights. Take it from an ophthalmologist
travel blogger, these tiny bottles of tear substitutes are the secret to bright
and shiny eyes.
Hope you enjoyed these tips, for more on how to be a responsible
traveller read here, and on the life lessons that I learnt on my travels read
here.
