By Judith Roberts
Let’s talk travel accessories.
I love visiting new places, domestic and international. I love seeing new areas, experiencing new cultures, trying new foods. I love walking on cobblestones, wearing a coat in June, and paying in Euros. I love it.
What I don’t like is traveling.
Seriously, though, who actually does like being crammed on a flying tuna can for an entire work day (maybe longer) and crossing your fingers that you don’t catch something from the guy coughing next to you as you hope that Emergen-C is a superhero supplement? And what about when you actually arrive at your destination? Flying domestically may not be too bad, but anything outside the continental United States is going to give you awful jet lag. And the older I get, the less I bounce back from jet lag.
However, from our last international trip last month, I have some suggestions that I hope will make your next trip more comfortable going and coming.
First up is the Timeshifter app, which a friend told me about before we left for Germany. It’s free for the first trip and $10 for subsequent trips, and it worked perfectly for us to negate most of the jet lag on our first day. You plug in all your flight information, and it gives you a detailed schedule — including when you should drink caffeine, when you should nap, and when you should see bright light – to help you adjust to the new time zone. Our time shifting for our most recent trip started about three days before our flight, and I cannot stress how much this helped for our first day arriving in Germany. I wasn’t at 100 percent, but I certainly wasn’t on fumes, either.
Secondly is this water bottle I purchased from Amazon. I bought one each for me and the girls, and this is one of my favorite travel accessories of all time. When collapsed, it takes up hardly any room, and it fills up 20 ounces of water (once you get past the TSA, of course).
Thirdly, these compression socks and leggings. On our long flight to Scotland last summer, my feet felt like they were going to explode on the plane. They ached, and I searched for something to make my feet feel better without having to take off my shoes on a plane (to each his own, but it’s not my favorite thing to do on a plane). I read lots of reviews for compression socks, and the Physix ones were the ones I decided to go with. They worked great for me, but if you’re interested in compression socks, I would read reviews to make sure you’re getting the ones that work best for you. As far as leggings go, I travel long distances in pure comfort. I am looking for something that doubles as “real” clothing as well as pjs. A friend recommended the CRZ Yoga brand, and I love it. They are like Lululemon dupes for a much more affordable price.
Next is the Airalo app. While I love the idea of turning my phone off and soaring into vacation, realistically, that’s not my life. This is a virtual E-SIM card that works in dozens of countries, and this past trip was my first time to try it. It is not super user friendly if you’re not technology savvy, and it didn’t work perfectly (though that could have been user error), but for a total for $6 for my entire trip, it did what I needed it to while we were in Germany without the $10-$12/day cell phone service charge.
Lastly, I would recommend the Photo Circle app for big groups traveling together. This is what our team used in Germany to share pictures, and it was so great to see everyone’s pictures. It gives you notifications when everyone updates, too, so you never miss a photo – and it’s really easy to download your favorites that your friends took as well.
The best part of this list is that about half of it was recommended by friends – I love learning new tips and tricks, so make sure to share yours too!
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
