The world is getting crazier by the day – regardless of whether you’re just traveling for business, for pleasure – whether domestic or international, things nowadays just seem to be more “difficult”, to say the least. Couple that with acts of God, as well as sadistic men – and you have a melting pot of bad things that can happen on a moment’s notice.
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I am a well traveled individual, having now logged over 3-million miles on Delta Airlines alone, not to speak of Southwest, Singapore Air, United and all the rest. Over 85 countries in the log-book, including 4 trips to Antarctica and I’ve learned that there’s only a few things that are consistent:
- Expect problems – ANY problems.. if anything can go wrong, it probably will
- Don’t get crazy just because things don’t go your way… planned for a 45 minute layover and missed your connecting flight…? Well DUHH as my daughter would say… sucks to be you..!! I plan for 2 hour layovers so that I can be more “stress free”
- Go with the flow – you can’t change the events, so why not make the best of it..?
- Be NICE to people – it amazes me how verbally abusive people get when things start to unwind and go into the toilet. Grown men turn into teenagers and start whining and throwing tantrums.. wow… Really..??
- Make some friends – there are always people to talk with who are reasonable and level-headed. Seek those people out and enjoy the “adventure”. I’ve made a number of friends this way – especially in South America and Asia, where the pace is just a bit “slower” and the societies are a bit “nicer”… enjoy the moment because there’s always a ray of sunshine in every storm.
Okay – so keeping your cool is a condition of sanity, but when the “stuff” really hits the fan, like with this trip I’m on now, how would anybody prepare..?? I’ll admit that I didn’t anticipate this natural calamity happening, or that I would be spending my Christmas helping with the Red Cross, but what if the floods were in my destination city..?? Some thoughts that might be of use to some of you:
- Shortly after 9/11, I started carrying my Dual Band radio with me whenever I traveled outside of my “home cities” – whether it be Vegas, or my work “home”. Having simplex and repeater access was always comforting – and I always carry a AA-cell battery pack because you can get AA cells anywhere in the world (even in Antarctica – really..!!),
.. - Starting in 2005, I also started carrying a satellite phone – initially an Iridium phone, but after I wore the buttons off of that phone, I switched to an Inmarsat phone which uses 4 geo-sync satellites to cover the entire world. The Inmarsat phone is vastly superior to the Iridium system – even though the delay is longer due to the higher orbit, the audio quality is much better.
.. - I always carry my meds with me in my carry-on, as well as a full change of clothes and my toiletry kit – INCLUDING a small bar of SOAP (no kidding). It’s amazing how much better you feel after taking a “bath” with some paper towels and a real bar of soap (not the liquid crap at the airports),
.. - A couple of granola bars are always in the carry-on, regardless of where I’m going, or how long I’m staying – I’ll occasionally “cycle” these by eating them every couple of months and immediately replacing them.
.. - and finally, I always have a 1L bottle of water with me, ALWAYS – it’s the first thing that I do when I go thru security at the airport – every time.. get stuck no the airplane on the ground with no food or beverage service..?? No problem. I think the longest that I was stuck was about 5 hours in Minneapolis in the winter – had it gone to 7 hours, I would have depleted my granola and water, but fortunately it didn’t come to that..
