Whenever my mother or some other evolved being tells me “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” I have to stop myself from shaking them by the shoulders and saying,
“OK fine! You sit next to a screaming child on a plane. And you’re right, my journey is going to begin with one big fat single step – noise canceling headphones!”
Goodbye San Jose
For all of you who will be leaving the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in San Joseand flying home and might find yourself in the unfortunate position of being seated next to a very loud little person, spend the two bucks for a headset and pump up the volume.
Here are some other travel tips:
Always ask for an aisle seat close to the front if you can – if you have long legs like me, you will appreciate stretching out and standing up when you need to without unearthing other people. Go ahead, drink as much coffee as you want!
Travel light – believe me, you don’t need all that stuff
Wear flip flops – now that we are in the era of inelegant air travel where we are subjected to all kinds of indignities like being herded through metal detectors, removing our shoes and traveling with less than 3 ounces of liquids which inevitably brings on immediate dry skin and swollen feet. Do yourself a favor – pre moisturize, slip off your flip flops and wiggle your toes
Bring earphones – listen up, you don’t want to be between loud people and screaming babies without these
Say hello to the flight staff – always good to know someone if you want to change your seat, or another bag of those cool blue potato chips
Volunteer to sit in the emergency exit seat area – people with babies don’t like to sit here
Graham & me
Thank you Graham, for asking me to be a conference blogger.
I wish everyone safe travels and I look forward to seeing you all again at next year’s conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer is the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts and writes style notes for people who change the world at www.hoongyee.com