Which whizz-bangery are you using to make your flying better?

[SooziQu]

Drugs (phenerghan), compression socks (makes a huge difference for me), Bose NC headphones, very old ipod and separate seats from hubby (love you Honey, see you in 12 hrs).

I love the Phenergan reference!

 

[RooFlyer]

Only do carry on

,,, and welcome to AFF @Duncan .

 

[petunia]

Overdrive app on phone loaded with books and audiobooks - endless selection, all for free using your library card. Font adjustable. Bye bye kindle. Movies and music on the iphone too, but the Overdrive books have been a game changer.
Compression socks and packing cubes are a must.
If travelling in Y, swear by a neck cushion bought years ago at a $2 shop. Not a donut, but 2 cubes with a strap between. Awesome to sleep/rest on and not bulky. Compresses into a small peanut shaped zipped cover which doubles as a back support or to sit on.

 

[Abrcrmb]

Hibermate all in one eye mask and soft shell ear muffs with low profile in-ear headphones (Sony MDREX15 for $20 work a treat) playing some relaxing tunes.

The eye mask is far superior to the airline offering and the combination of soft shell ear muffs and low profile in-ear headphones allows sleeping on your side or any other position you may desire while double noise attenuation of the ear muffs and in-ear headphones is almost as good as the over ear noise cancelling headphones used for the rest of the flight.

You do look like a bit of an android with them on, but who cares, you can't see yourself and you're sleeping soundly!

The other "wizz-banger" for a good night's sleep are the little bottles of herbal concoctions available in Changi Airport pharmacies called Gaba Night or Ezy Sleep. Couple of dollars each, stock up whenever transiting through Changi, worth their weight in gold.

 

[nat965]

Kindle, the one with no backlight, and audio books and podcasts. I try and shy away from TV shows and movies until I get to the destination.

 

[Nukie]

Packing cells are the best things ever for keeping clothes tidy and easily accessible when you're moving around a lot. Handy for dirty laundry at the end of a trip as well. We even use them in our caravan. I'm not into much tech stuff but would never travel without my Swiss army knife, checked in of course.

 

[Buzzard]

A lot of posters mentioning packing cells. Any brand/size/whatever in particular?

 

[JessicaTam]

A lot of posters mentioning packing cells. Any brand/size/whatever in particular?

I have a couple of ALDI ones that are a good size for keeping underwear sorted.

 

[SeatBackForward]

A lot of posters mentioning packing cells. Any brand/size/whatever in particular?

I've taken to using the Eagle Creek Pack-It Spectre range, the compression type. But they're pretty much all similar, you get a brand called "Gonex" off Amazon that is almost the same as the Eagle Creek ones, but a fraction of the price.

Even your local $2 shop will have something, the plastic roll-up vacuum bags are good value from these stores.

 

[mrsterryn]

Packing cells are the best things ever for keeping clothes tidy and easily accessible when you're moving around a lot. Handy for dirty laundry at the end of a trip as well. We even use them in our caravan. I'm not into much tech stuff but would never travel without my Swiss army knife, checked in of course.

Husband also doesn't travel without his army knife either

 

[FrankP]

A software thing I do which has proven invaluable is create my itinerary in Apple Notes. Windows option may be OneNote? which also stores cloud-based cross-platform unformatted content well and I've found very flexible. I don't know about Android but I'm sure there's an option.

But if you have Apple gear, Notes is free and perfect for this. It will easily store most anything you drag into it or share to it. Photos, videos, screen prints, scans, documents, web links, formatted text, freestyle drawings (if you have an Apple Pencil), contact cards. Cloud based so I can work on it via iPad, phone or Mac wherever I am.

For any trip, work or play, I put all my info about duty free, local website links, things to do, itinerary, PDF docs of all bookings and flights, screen shots of maps (in case I was offline although you can save map references which take you to the Maps app), taxi fare estimates, notes for eateries to try near where we are for the day. Having literally everything in a single cloud-based repository makes the lead-in planning unbelievably easier to manage and organise/re-organise as we re-think the itinerary and move stuff around. And gives me loads of time to confirm and be comfortable that we've got everything we need, before closing the door, and that it can't be lost during travels (all you need is an internet computer to get to your docs).

Lastly, and of most benefit, I can share the note with my partner so that we could both add/delete/organise information as we research the trip, and we can both see how it was coming along.

On the trip itself, photos of things I specifically want to make remember of could be added/saved to the note (I often use photos when it's too much to write). And short text of things I wanted to remember for next time (I'm not a travel diary person). If it's a conference, it gives me an excellent single repository for the entire conference - planning, travel, meetings, notes, session info, people (can store .vcf cards) which works well for me.

And then the whole caboodle is sitting on the iPhone everywhere we go. Really worked well. Just a tip - remember to right-click on attached files and say "view as small images".

 

[ALH]

A lot of posters mentioning packing cells. Any brand/size/whatever in particular?

Kathmandu. Variety of sizes. I actually keep my ski gear permanently packed and on standby in one set, my hiking gear in the Red Set (symbolising pain), Beach wear/Resort stuff in another set. You get my drift.

 

[get me outta here]

Was it this thread that mentioned good aps for self guided driving tours eg Yellowston NP? I can't locate it. Or, does anyone have recommedations please?

 

[k_sheep]

Was it this thread that mentioned good aps for self guided driving tours eg Yellowston NP? I can't locate it. Or, does anyone have reccommedations please?

Oooh I didn't know such a thing existed. I'm going searching for my Yosemite / Death Valley trip in a couple days!

 

[stm1sydney]

A lot of posters mentioning packing cells. Any brand/size/whatever in particular?

I have el cheapo ebay packing cubes, and they do the job.

5Pcs Packing Cubes Cube Travel Pouches Luggage Organiser Suitcase Storage Bags | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 5Pcs Packing Cubes Cube Travel Pouches Luggage Organiser Suitcase Storage Bags at the best online prices at eBay!

www.ebay.com.au

 

[VPS]

Was it this thread that mentioned good aps for self guided driving tours eg Yellowston NP? I can't locate it. Or, does anyone have recommedations please?

Hi - it was @bigpetebrown TR Planes trains and automobiles - USA summer, are we mad? and the app is Driving Apps Like Having A Tour Guide In Your Car™| GyPSy Guide

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks for confirming that.

Hi - it was @bigpetebrown TR Planes trains and automobiles - USA summer, are we mad? and the app is Driving Apps Like Having A Tour Guide In Your Car™| GyPSy Guide

 

[bPeteb]

Thanks for confirming that.

Thanks for mentioning GyPSy VPS. Being available offline and just using GPS was a godsend in Yellowstone where there was pretty much zero mobile coverage (at least with the SIM we used). It also stopped us from killing each other and allowed my partner to get his head out of either a mobile map or a paper one. The commentary was great. It was all North America abut it now has 'Great Ocean Road' coming soon!

 

[k_sheep]

Yes I've splurged on the Yosemite one - for once, the australia tax worked in my favour, was $6.49 AUD (compared to 6.99USD!).

 

[mrsterryn]

Anyone changed their whizzy stuff ?
I am contemplating upgrading to new Kobo
Anyone used those headband blue tooth ear plugs ?