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The tricks of travelling
March 2007
Joseph Baron, International Trade Today
What can you do to look and feel your best when on that important trip abroad? We’ve all heard the usual stuff: drink lots of water, moisturising on the plane, avoiding certain foods etc… but there are other tricks, and, you never know, you might not have heard of these.
Here are four suggestions to help you before you go, during the flight, and after your arrival.
HOW TO PACK PROPERLY
Opening up the suitcase in the hotel after a 12-hour-long trip is for most an exercise in damage limitation. How wrinkled are the clothes? What can I get away with not re-ironing? Will the hang-the-clothes-in-thebathroom-during-hot-shower-trick finally work for me? (Ha, unlikely…)
The secret to successful ‘damage-limitation’ is, it turns out after exhaustive research, preventing the clothes from moving inside the suitcase. One method of packing is called the ‘cotton bale’, so-named after the yesteryear way of stor
ing cotton inside an outer covering. This system is recommended by America’s Cotton Producers and Importers and they should know a thing or two about fabrics.
To best explain, first visualise that you are standing in front of an old-fashioned rectangle suitcase, long side closest to you.
First, lay the suit jacket face up so that the collar is touching the middle of the inside of the furthest long edge. The arms should be extended over the short sides of the suitcase, hanging out at four and eight o’clock (roughly).
A shirt, or blouse, should be next, again face up, but this time the collar to be closest to you in the reverse position to the jacket, and again the arms are over the sides. Repeat with other shirts or blouses, but alternating the position of the collars between 12 and 6 o’clock.
Trousers: the first pair (already folded seam to seam), should be placed lengthways so
that the waistband is on the left edge of the blouse/shirt beneath, sticking out at right angles over the right hand side of the suitcase. Repeat with other trousers in the opposite direction (waistband on the right edge of the shirt, and the bottom of the trousers sticking out over the left hand side of the suitcase).
Dresses and skirts should be next, following the same pattern as the shirts and jackets previously mentioned.
Next, place a bag containing all undergarments bang in the centre of the suitcase – this acts as the ‘hub’, pinning down all the garments below. Lastly, beginning with the garments closest to the top, fold them over the ‘hub’. Shirts, blouses and jackets should be folded in ‘x’ formations, while trouser bottoms should just fold over roughly on top of their waistbands.
All empty edges should now be filled with shoes and toiletries. Hey presto!
GETTING THE BEST SEAT
Does sitting in plane seat that was clearly not designed with you in mind play havoc with your nerves, not to mention your legs? It’s the last thing you need when going straight to a meeting after a long-haul flight.
This jewel of a website provides clear seat map graphics for a wide range of airlines and their planes, detailing the best and the worst seats to pick, such as those with reduced legroom, limited recline and misaligned windows.
Armed with this information, seatguru also advises you if internet check-in is available, and whether you can change or select onboard seating online.
The website is not just for people with long legs, because it includes information such as where the laptop power points are (if at all), whether to expect food service, and the type of entertainment provided. Priceless.
TOILETRIES HEAVEN
Along with the clothes you wear, it is the face that everyone looks at, and, in foreign climes, it can become obvious very quickly that maintaining that alabaster perfection in hot/cold/humid/dry conditions is not easy.
Of course, the well-known rule of thumb is to keep re-hydrated at all times, avoiding caffeine and high fat fast-foods, but this is often harder than it looks.
For men, in my humble opinion, the secret is to take a leaf out of the ‘female beauty stash companion’ and invest in a ladies’ size toiletries bag. Said bag should then be crammed with pre/during/post shave ointments, moisturisers and accompanying accoutrements – including an industrial-strength deodorant. Any products with the word ‘mint’ or ‘menthol’ are a good thing because of their anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and refreshing properties – a ‘must’ when dealing with those shaving accidents.
Female travellers often comment that heat and sun combined with merciless air-conditioning can play havoc with their make up and faces. To help soothe her face, one reader revealed that the first thing she does when arriving in a hotel room is dive for the mini-bar (but not for the alcohol). She stashes all her toners, moisturisers and cleansing gels next to the gin and vodka mini bottles, and, apparently, the cooling result is instant.
She also takes baking soda on her travels (which could cause concern at Customs) to hot countries: sprinkled on deodorant it protects clothing from staining at the underarms, and, mixed with talcum powder, it also absorbs excess body moisture.
AVOIDING THE FAMILY BLUES
Looking good is not just about how you look and how your body feels, it’s also about the mind.
Being abroad can sometimes make you feel as if you are losing your sense of self, because that sense of self is to an extent defined by your interaction with the outside world. And if the outside world is very different to what you are used to, then any reminders of the familiarities of home suddenly become very precious. Which is why this next gadget could, in the future, become an indispensable part of a traveller's arsenal.
Digital photo frames are beginning to take off, it’s official. They may look like ordinary photo frames, but they can store dozens – or even hundreds – of your digital pictures (and/or slideshows), and can also display videos and play your favourite music.
Kodak is launching four models this year alone, but a number of names are already in the market, and there is even one model with business travellers in mind. The Media Street eMotion 3-in-1 Desktop Media Player and Digital Frame also serves as a portable DVD player and CD player, and accepts SD, MS, and MMS memory cards and can run on battery power up to 2.5 hours.
Admittedly, travel digital photo frames are not quite there yet, mainly due to limited battery life, but, when they are, they could add that home touch that turns an anonymous hotel room into a personalised space.
