10 Years + Travel Etiquette

We honestly didn’t do too much this weekend – relaxed at home, went to a 4th of July pool party, and ran errands.  I’m not complaining though since I only got back from London on Thursday night and wanted to decompress a little.  And Vishnu worked on both Friday and Sunday (that kind of sucked!).

Funny side story before I continue with what this post is supposed to be about.  While Vishnu went to sleep almost immediately after I got home (he had to get up at 4:45 for work) on Thursday, I decided to stay up and watch TV, and of course, ended up falling asleep on the couch.  At one point, I woke up, looked at my watch, saw that it was 5:51 am and freaked out.  I assumed that since I never heard Vishnu moving around, he overslept and was late for work.  I ran into our room and said/semi-yelled, “It’s 5:51.  You’re going to be late!”  As soon as I said that (and woke him up/freaked him out), I looked at the clock on my nightstand and realized that it was 12:51 am.  My FitBit never reset and was still showing London time.  I quickly realized my mistake and told him to go back to sleep.  I felt SO bad.  Poor guy!  My bad!

Moving on…

This past Saturday was mine and Vishnu’s 10th dating anniversary!  Craziness!  Ten years ago on the 4th of July, he asked if dating had crossed my mind.  When I said yes, he said cool, and that was that!  We were officially a couple.

And a decade later, here we are!

Can’t wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for us!

Moving on once again…

The last couple of years have been filled with a fair amount of travel.  Mainly air travel.  And while I’m so thankful for the opportunities to go both near and far, I’m not a big fan of flying.  Not because I’m scared of something happening, but because I hate the process.

So while flying home on Thursday, in between episodes of Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, and New Girl, I jotted down a quick list of how all flyers can help make the process a bit more enjoyable for everyone….a little travel etiquette if you will.

You’ll quickly notice that the theme is to be courteous and use your common sense.

1. Unless you are about to miss your flight, don’t run in the airport.  Especially when it’s crowded.  I recently saw an older couple almost get run over by a group of teenagers.  That’s not ok!
2. Respect other people’s personal space.  For example, when standing in the security line (or any line), maintain, at the very least, a foot of distance between you and the person in front of you.  And when you’re on the escalator, don’t stand on the step directly below the person in front of you.  Keep some distance!
3. When deplaning, let the people in front of you exit their row and get off the plane (unless they tell you to go ahead).  I HATE it when the minute the seatbelt sign is turned off everyone gets up and gets their bags.  JUST WAIT YOUR TURN!
4. Don’t put your jacket/small item in the overheard compartment.  If it fits under the seat, put it under the seat.  This annoys the crap out of me because it just means that everything gets delayed.  And it’s also super rude!
5. I understand that not everyone flies on a regular basis, but I always assume most people know about the “no liquids through security” rule.  Not only are there signs as you move through the security line, but also TSA agents are constantly screaming “NO LIQUIDS!”  But of course, I’m almost always proven wrong about my assumption.  I’ve had someone standing in front of me put two water bottles and a large bag of full sized personal care items through the security scanner.  Again this just causes delays and frustrates everyone around you.  Don’t be that person!
6. I know this is a little subjective but don’t bring stinky/messy food on the plane with you.  I once sat next to a guy who pretty much brought a whole chicken with him on to the plane and proceeded to take it apart and eat it for about an hour.  I wish I was kidding.  I thought I was going to throw up and/or punch him!  Bottom line – it’s rude and disrespectful.  Not to mention gross.

By no means am I saying I’m a perfect flyer.  When travelling with friends, we’ve talked and laughed loudly and probably annoyed people.  No one is perfect!  So maybe the point is that we should ALL (myself included) be a little more aware of our behavior. 🙂

I hope you had a great weekend (and a wonderful 4th for those in the US)!  And as always, thanks for reading!

What are some of your travel pet peeves?