flying 101

For many, flying any distance can trigger an array of worryful emotions. Here are some “Fly Safe” tips that I’ve acquired over the last few years of world travel.

This is how you want your flight to feel like - smooth, serene and drama free.

I have flown in and out of the world's scariest airport, Lukla in the Himalayas of Nepal, more than once (first time in 2011 footage is here) and feel I may have learned a lesson or two on perfecting the peaceful art of flight. We're not talking about divinely inspired astral projections through the quantum leaps of spirit travel, but if you have that gift and haven't mastered how to stay cool on land, I'd strongly recommend meditation.

Here are some tips on how to ensure a smooth transition from one reality to another while not getting too lost in the no-mans land of departure lounges and loud monotonous voices on repeat.

1. Start from the ground.

Time can move at a different rate when one is on tour. Days, weeks, hours, minutes, oh how they like to stretch and squeeze. My tip is to set a reminder in advance for your trip. Print out or write down your destination, transfer trains/stops and pack the day before. Be prepared and grounded.

Starting from the ground gives one the opportunity to gather some momentum, to feel your feet without the risk of leaping out in to thin air and hitting a solid surface full frontal with an emotional winding and a sore head.

2. Surrender to the lights.

Airports are the no-mans land of the modern age (or if you're a dreadlocked buddy of mine; 'a transdimensional porthole from one mindset to another').  Airports can all suck in their own kind of way and there’s nothing dignified about taking shoes off and going through a pat down in the ghastly-lit terminals of the transient but it’s a necessary discomfort for travellers to become accustomed to.

Eventually you will train yourself to not have liquids on you whether or not the rule applies in that country or not. Warning: letting out a sarcastic sigh going through the metal detector may also receive suspicious glances.

3. Run, but don’t panic.

Should one get too soaked up by the free wifi or the perfume tester section of Duty Free and find their name being called for an imminent departure; Run. Run like the prostitutes handbag you probably stink of. Do your best to make that flight, but whatever you do, don’t waste oxygen panicking. Or if you do, take deep breaths and know that by panicking, that flight isn’t going to be any slower.

This is a learning experience. Be cool. Sweat a little and look like a muppet running through departures but inside... be cool. Hit that curve ball home run.

4. During your flight… Sit back… meditate.

The best thing about flying for me is the choiceless time it affords between toilet visits, food and tea breaks.

When food is served on the flight I recommend the vegetarian option - you will be guaranteed to get your food before everyone else, be doing something good for the environment and importantly will probably avoid bloatedness too.

The world can be a paradox of choices and having less space and distractions, despite somewhat enforceably, can open up an endless choice of the very little. This is worth appreciating if you’re from a world of ‘mass choice consumption’.

If you’re on a flight with a decent film selection that will entertain and not overly sensationalise the end of the world with blood, gore and zombies, then you may be able to just aimlessly relax in front of the screen and allow time to pass and meditate i.e. consciously breathe nurturing a stillness within.

The last movie I recall watching is Breakfast at Tiffanys for the first time, it's a sweet lady movie to get jet-lagged to.  I find fly time as my meditation and gaze in the right direction when the lady tells me how to put a life jacket on and where the exits are while somewhere in my consciousness I know what I'll be doing should there ever be an emergency.  

5. Coming in to land.

If you can’t pilot the plane then you may as well relax through the descent and avoid wasting your imagination with ‘what ifs’. If the plane’s going to crash, it will crash. As someone who’s flown in and out of the most dangerous airport in the world, tucked up in to the Himalayas, I trust my authority on this one.  If you decide to believe that you have any influence at all on the plane’s landing, please take some seriously deep breaths, think happy thoughts and stay relaxed. That’s some big responsibility you’ve given for yourself there.

6. Put down your landing gear. Eyes wide open.

Let whatever experience you had from one contrast to another, one paradigm, one world, one way of being; just let it all wash over you. It may require a lie in, a shower and a decent local meal. For me a sunrise tea and a bath is a wonderful slow way to reset and start again. It’s always good to know someone where you are going to first (couch-surfing is great for that) although it’s also fun wiping the slate clean and working it out for yourself with a map and a cool head (and some useful local words). Don't look for your name on a card as you get through arrivals, you survived the fuzzy headed queues and the grilling from customs, walk out head high and find the bus stop, train station or taxi rank. The signs just there in front of you. Remember: Stay in the love dimension and "happiness is a way of travel, not a destination" (Roy M. Goodman).

You made it so pop your shades on and get on with it.

Here are 3 lessons from traveling that lead to everyday happiness.