I tell people that I travel a lot for work. Their first reaction normally is a mix of smiles, nods, understanding and sometimes they respond with a list of various stories about their travel experiences. In reality you may travel as much as I do, right? Probably not.
When I tell people how much I travel, things change. I do fly more than some flight attendants. Being a Qantas Platinum One frequent flyer on economy fares most often makes people squirm. So here is a year of travel in review and some insights on how I cope, what I can not travel without and some do’s don’ts to have a more pleasant flight.
To get started, let’s have a look at some numbers: I take around ~150 flights a year. I traveled 20 times around the globe (in air miles) in 2018. Visited 60 cities and 15 countries. In total I have spent 327 days on the road. A challenge in any scenario.
Working for a large international company like IBM has it’s benefits. The biggest one of them for me in 2018 was a larger focus across Asia Pacific. For IBM this includes besides Australia and New Zealand: India, Indonesia, Phillipines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Add my trips to the US and you have a first insight the overall list. Working in these countries gives you a lot of perspective on business culture in different countries and left a big impression on how people conduct their marketing.
Amazing experiences happened in all kinds of business meetings as well as outside of them. Like a road trip from Mumbai to Pune, customer sessions in the Watson Experience Centers in San Francisco and New York, a work dinner at the number 1 restaurant Eleven Madison Park and many more.
It was the flights to get there and back again which I had to manage. So how do you set yourself up for a flight?
THE FLIGHT
I swear by a simple list of improvements I have collected over the years traveling from and to Australia. They are easy to fit in to your travel bag and make a big difference:
- Fresh ginger tea – blood circulation is a key to a relaxing flight. With all the time being spent in the air – having a great drink is key. Ginger tea makes the difference for me. Better even: fresh ginger. Cut it into your ‘BYO’ teabag and just ask the flight attendant for some hot water after takeoff.
- Water and no alcohol – it is tempting, but staying off alcohol when doing this many flights is key. I swear by a large amount of water to keep me hydrated (in addition to the ginger tea). Just bring your own bottle to refill or make sure you get a bottle in flight you refill.
- Ginger Flight Therapy by Aesop – This roll-on stick supplies a fresh smell and keeps your environment ‘clean’ during the flight. Just apply it onto neck, temples, wrists, behind the ears and abdomen to counter stress, nausea or weariness (or your smelly seat neighbour’s odours). I have even told some Qantas crew members about this little tipp and they do carry them now.
- Flight socks – this may be an absolute placebo, but I wear them on my long distance flights. Try them and decide for yourself…
- Noise cancelling – This is the single most important part of the frequent traveler equipment. Get yourself some noise-cancelling headphones. I swear by my Bose Quiet Comfort. Make sure you have enough battery with you (this can be painful as you do not want to fly without, once you have tried them). Ever wonder why people have those on a plane? Go get some and be amazed!
- White noise app – I use Rainy Mood. This app just plays a different selection of sounds (rain, waves, coffee shop). A perfect way to clear the mind and fall asleep. The only challenge is – sometimes it is not easy to clear the mind with white noise alone. In those cases I do revert back to ‘meditation’. See further below for my go-to app Headspace.
- Prepare for your flight – Flying to the US and landing in the morning? Try to plan for your sleep and don’t get lost binge watching those TV series or movies on offer.
- Keep moving – with the amount of water and tea I drink before falling asleep – this is not a big issue. What I try is to fit in one or two of my foundation training exercises during the flight on the way back to my seat. You can find more on this further below.
- Travel in style – I have blogged about my travel bags before here. Have a read. QWSTION is my brand of choice (for now).
This should be a pretty comprehensive list and as you can see pretty simple. The next step though is key: what you do when you arrive. For this section I had to change my habits a lot this year. It simply is not possible to stay functional and avoid jet lag, if you do not plan your arrival.
THE ARRIVAL
I have adopted a couple of new habits into my travel approach due to a simple truth: I got exhausted without them and swear by the difference. All of them are key to arriving fresh and function for work-related engagements – drug free (so no sleeping pills for me).
Daily Yoga – I have experimented with yoga years ago and done it once a week. It paid some dividends then, but for travel it is a game changer. Sitting for long durations at a time itself is no good, but if you want to be able to stomach a lot of flying you need to counter it. Yoga can be tricky though. First, I don’t have enough time to go to classes. Then I arrive quite late in hotels sometimes, which means I cannot use the gym either. So I had to come up with a very flexible approach. My 2 items I swear by are: the Daily Yoga app and my Lululemon’s ‘The Towel’ (66CM X 180CM).
The app has more than 100 yoga and meditation classes from all levels. A whole series of beginner-friendly tutorials to help you find your best routine and support it – wherever you are. I have done yoga every day since I got the app and continue to do so. If I need a bit more of a challenge, I then switch to Asana Rebel. This app is a more sporty approach to yoga and includes some HIIT workouts too.
Posture workouts – Again, due to the long time seated in a chair, I needed to work on my back and suggest you do so too. I have found Foundation Training to be by far the best solution out there. It may look easy, but here is a 12min version to get an introduction. If this is not enough, try their ‘Surf Squat’. One of the most painful bodyweight exercises I have found so far.
https://youtu.be/4BOTvaRaDjI
Meditation – as mentioned before it is important to unwind. Either during the flight or upon arrival. I have not meditated before 2018 and never really found it to be a necessity for me. Given my crazy flight routine though, I wanted to experiment with it. Headspace is my answer. The app has the right entry level for beginners and Andy Puddicombe has an interesting story to tell. So much so that even Bill Gates put his book on the ‘best reads of 2018’ list.
https://youtu.be/t_yXe_6mYTA
I have found this to be a quite positive addition to my routine and can only suggest you try it. A lot of my flights have become more bearable, since I have started to use Headspace.
Which leaves me with the final action after arriving at my new destination:
Be active – this again sounds like a no-brainer and it is. Running, swimming, cycling – whatever gets you going. My favourite so far has been a surf in California. It makes a huge difference and even if it is just a walk, do not miss out on it. I could add much more here, but there is one final app I swear by I have to list: Freeletics. This bodyweight workout app has made a huge difference on my physical and mental fitness and the best thing about it? You can do it anywhere. I swear by Burpees. Here is a nice ‘how-to’ video from the app:
So far so good. 2018 has been quite a year and I will continue to search for new habits to improve my travel routine. In case you have any suggestions, let me know!
