My typical airport-prep routine

The more I travel and fly, the more my love/hate relationship develops. Love to travel, hate to pack. Love the pre-flight excitement, hate the anxiety of weighing my bag. While I begin watching my destination’s weather and thinking about how to pack two weeks prior, my routine has developed and works like well-oiled machine.

I always shower right before my flight as opposed to the night before. I found I’m more chipper, fresh, and ready to conquer the random search or gate change or person who stands left on the moving walkway.

If you have long hair, don’t wear a pony tail. Nothing’s worse than sitting at an 85-degree angle with a pony-tail digging into my skull, so I style my hair down. I pay a lot of money to board a plane anyway, so I want to look presentable. On that note, I dress for the destination’s weather, not Arizona’s heat.

I organize my things before I arrive at the airport so I’m not fumbling at arrival. I put a clutch in an easily accessible pocket of my carry-on with my essentials for easy access to reach in-and-out.

The right bag is critical to comfortable travel. I [try] to pack the day before so once toiletries are all in, I have time to rearrange and downsize. I don’t like dragging things around the gate, into the bathroom, etc. anyways. I know what bags fit on-board and which I tend to overpack.

I eat, drink and brush before I leave home to matter the time of day to omit the discomforts I have the power to avoid. You can take a frozen water bottle through security too, so if I have a long travel ahead of me, I’m willing to weigh down my carry-on with it. It beats a pricy bottle and bag of granola in the terminal.

Fin.