Tips to travel without going raving mad. (Travel Tips in General)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Travel Tips in General
Date:	19/07/03 (202 review reads)
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Advantages: You can go places you might otherwise never see

Disadvantages: None really, apart from costing a bit!

Travel tips. Hmmmm. I’ve just been looking back over the reviews I have written since arriving at Dooyoo, and I would estimate that almost 50% of them are something to do with travelling in some way or another. Holiday, hotels, car hire, theatre. They all seem to come in the UK/Ireland, or the Travel and City sections. So I therefore assume that I am pretty much qualified to be writing in this section too!

Actually, it is really only in the last few years, with the children off hand, and a little more money to call our own, that we have had the wherewithal to travel much at all! We always had our annual holiday at one of the holiday camps on the coast when the kids were growing up, and a fear of travel sickness kept me firmly on the ground! I’m not scared of flying. At least, I don’t think so. But I do have an almost irrational fear of being travel sick. Stupid, I know, and to date I have never been physically sick whilst flying, but some of the sensations experienced in the air do make my stomach (literally) turn over.

But now I fly. I can’t say I thoroughly enjoy the experience, and probably never will, but I can do it now. To date, the furthest I’ve flown is Malta, but that will be rectified in November, when we fly out to Australia for our son’s wedding. If I can manage that, I can manage anything!

So how did I manage to conquer the fear enough to allow me to fly? Well about 6 years ago, I really wanted to go to the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, and there is absolutely no way I am going to spend nearly 3 hours on a ferry! Just the thought of that makes me feel sick! The flight from Land’s End to St Mary’s on Scilly takes about 15 minutes, on an 8 seater Skybus, so I decided to be brave, and go for it. Admittedly, I had my eyes closed, and gripped the seat hard, but I did it! In fact, we went there for 4 years running, and by the end of it, I could even keep my e
yes open on take-off.

I also admit to resorting to travel tablets. I use Avomine, which I find suit me best, having gone through about every other brand available. My hubby reckons that travel sickness is all in the mind, but then, he’s never been travel sick. I would rather take my trusty tablet, and know I’m not going to be sick, than not take it and have that worry at the back of my mind. I also try and drink plenty of water, and have something light to eat prior to flying.

Anyway, since the initial flight to Scilly, I have flown to Scotland, Jersey, Luxembourg (very bumpy ride!) Malta, and Ireland 4 times. Admittedly, none have been long haul flights, and with the exception of the trip to Luxembourg, they have all been pretty smooth sailing, but with each one, I have become less and less nervous.

So if you, like me, really don’t like flying, or have never flown, my tip would be to take it slowly, with short flights to begin with, and gradually build up to the longer ones. Also, experiment with different travel tablets to find one that really works for you. I tend to take a whole tablet the night before a journey, and then half a tablet about an hour and a half before we are due to fly. Some tablets can cause drowsiness, and by doing it this way, I can alleviate some of this drowsiness.

There are also some general things that I do before travelling, that may be of help. These would be useful whether travelling by car or by plane, or indeed any other mode of transport!

* Have a checklist ready for those last minute things, and tick them off as you pack them. That way, you won’t get half way there and suddenly remember something you’ve forgotten.

* Even if you, like me, tend to do all the packing, insist that hubby packs his own personal things, like wallet, diary, keys etc. That way, if HE forgets them, he can’t blame you!

* Try not to leave in a rush, or
even worse, late! If you are already apprehensive about the journey, this will only add to the anxiety. I would rather be at an airport an hour early than 10 minutes late.

* If you are travelling by car, take time before the journey, to check the atlas, and write down your intended route. That way, you will always know the next place you are making for. Also, have the atlas in the car, so that you can make any detours necessary en route.

* Whenever possible, try not to travel on a Saturday in peak season. If you really have to use Saturdays, maybe it is possible to travel overnight. There is nothing worse than sitting in a long traffic jam, with fractious kids, in a heat wave! Been there. Done that! These days, if we are travelling in this country, we will either travel down on a Sunday, or Monday, and either leave very late on the Saturday to come home, or leave it until the Sunday. It really is much better.

· Always take enough bottled water in case of emergencies. You can drink it if you get stuck in traffic, use it to wash hands and face should you get dirty or if the weather is really hot, and you can top the radiator up should you need to. If the kids will only drink squash, take that in a separate small bottle and make it up as you need it. You can’t put orange squash in a radiator, or wipe it round your face!

· Think about what you are packing for the journey. Do you really need all those shoes? We’ve really cut back on the amount we take, and we still manage to come home with quite a bit of it unused. Invest in a slightly smaller suitcase so you physically can’t take any more than it will hold. We have two reasonably sized holdalls, which between them, when packed to capacity, weigh around the 25-27 kilos in total. That way we know we are within the 15-kilo allowance that most airlines stipulate. If we are allowed extra, we use 2 backpacks as well, plus a little hand luggage.

So there
you have some Jammaker tips for travelling. I suppose I’d better read my own op just before going to Australia! I have to say I have some trepidation about the trip, and if it wasn’t for the fact that it is for a special occasion, I doubt very much that I would have made this trip from choice. But at least I feel able to face it without absolute dread.

Oh, and by the way, my mum (aged 77) made her first flight ever to Jersey, just 2 years ago, having vowed she would never fly! So you’re never too old to start!

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