I am currently in the midst of my 24-hour trip to Goto, Japan for Sunday`s ironman . . . This is not an easy place to get to, as I don`t actually arrive at my destination until about 11 hours after I arrived in Tokyo–and last I checked, Japan was a pretty small country!
On the long ride over, I came up with a list of my travel essentials. There are a whole lot of bonus items that I may add to the mix on any given day, but these are the ones that I am never without on an airplane:
Water bottles. I always bring two or three of the biggest water bottles I can find, and fill them up before I get on the plane, then beg for refills once they are empty. I am not sure it is totally possible to compensate for the dehydration that occurs as a result of being at 35,000ft for 11+ hours, but I do find that the more I can do to combat it, the better I recover from the travel.
Black K-Swiss hoodie (pictured above): It’s super-cute. It goes with everything. It has big pockets for quick-and-easy crackberry access, and to hold whatever is inevitably overflowing from my little Prada handbag and whatever other carry-on I have, which is also inevitably too small. And it’s black, so although it will be filthy after 24 hours of wearing, it won’t show…too much.
Crackberry: Gotta love flight mode. Sometimes I feel like on the plane is the only time I have to sit down and write proper catch-up emails to my friends. If I have have the energy, the plane is often a good place for a productivity binge. I can dominate over my ADD in this environment because I really cannot find many distractions–especially once I have consumed all of the food I have packed (see the last item on the list).
Reading material: Back home, I always hit the airport newsstand for a trashy celeb mag or two, which are always good for an hour or two of entertainment. However, good reading material in English isn’t so easy to come by these days now that I am based in Germany. So this time I used some self restraint and left a fresh new issue of Vogue untouched since my Boston trip: Cameron Diaz and Susan Rice. Loved it.
Compression socks: Of course I wear them on the plane. I wear them not on the plane, too. With mini skirts.
PowerBar Protein Plus Bars. Limit: 2. I used to carry my whole trip’s supply of PowerBar Protein Plus bars in my carry-on, because they are heavy and I am always pushing the weight limit. However, I had recently had to change this habit and enforce a ProteinPlus limit for the carry-on. Because whatever food I carry on will be eaten, and it will most likely be consumed during the first half of my trip, whether that trip be 24 hours or 4 hours. And I love ProteinPlus bars. Today I went with the Dulce de Leche 30-gram protein bar, and a Cinnamon Roll bar.
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I can empathize with you, for sure. My travel jacket is grey fleece with zipp-able pockets. Can also work as a blanket or pillow
I bet the Japanese are into the compression socks. They love that school girl look. I’m surprised they didn’t have some bullet train to get you there much faster? Might need to have your “travel agent” look into it.
Hi Hillary.
I’ve only just come across your blog. So Hi [waving].
All the best first for the flight then 11 hours of further travel and of course the event. Thanks for sharing how you cope.
I’ll be waiting here like so many others to read your race report.
Oh, can’t help but ask. How come you get so few comments? You’re an incredible athlete.
I’d have thought people (like me) would be itching to say hi and wanting to “talk” to you.
Anyway, I understand I might be lucky enough to see you in Wanaka in January.
Long time til then, and so many more events to go before hand.
Take care out there.
Anita
Kick ass this weekend and can’t wait for the race report. Will be watching the coverage on the net. Have a good one like you always do and have fun.