Do This, Don't Do That

Unlike those poor airmen who flew in B-17s during World War II, we travel in relative comfort. Our cabins are pressurized and the climate is controlled. But there are a couple of things about the cabin that demand our attention.

The first is the temperature. That is controlled by the flight crew. I always find the cabin a tad bit on the cool side, so I carry something to keep me warm. This summer, in the midst of a monstrous heat wave, I flew with a flannel shirt over my short-sleeved shirt.

The second item of note is the cabin pressure. The cabin is pressurized, but never to one atmosphere, the air pressure we experience at sea level. Instead, it is pressurized to between 75 to 82% of sea-level pressure. This corresponds to the pressure at an elevation of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. The fact that cabin pressure is not one atmosphere leads to a few side effects.

If you want to get drunk fast, try drinking on an airplane at these reduced pressures. There is a lower blood oxygen level at reduced pressures, and this results in a quicker drunk. So, if you want to get drunk fast, and possibly make friends with an air marshal, drink alcoholic beverages on an airplane.

The other side effects that have been reported are ear popping or ear pain, sinus pressure, headache, fatigue, bloating, and a slightly higher heart rate. Cabins are pressurized to a lower pressure to ease metal fatigue on the air frame that repeated pressurizing and de-pressurizing causes. It is a trade-off, and not a very happy one.

Recirculated air on an airplane is also a problem. I am told that somewhere between 25 and 50% of the air on an airplane is recirculated, and that each airplane has HEPA filters that remove 99.97% of dust, bacteria, and viruses. That sounds like a pretty decent filtration system; however, one sneeze contains up to 200,000,000 individual virus particles. If the recirculation rate is low (25%) and the filters are working at 99.97% efficiency, then every sneeze produces 12,000 virus particles that are neither purged by fresh air nor removed by the filters. So, if you have ever returned from an airline trip feeling like you have a mild case of the flu, you probably did not imagine it.

Recirculated air is also dry air, which contributes to dehydration. This helps accentuate the problem with drinking alcoholic beverages on the airplane. It also dries out the mucous membranes. I carry a nasal saline spray to help with that. Many people spend the entire flight drinking water, which is fine if you plan to spend you trip in the lavatory. But whatever you choose to do, I strongly encourage you to drink fluids that come from a bottle or a can. Under no circumstances should you drink airplane “tap” water. It tastes awful!

I’ve heard some theories as to why this is so: the water tanks are not disinfected frequently enough; they are not flushed often enough; the water in the tank is a hodge-podge of water from every city the airplane visits. I don’t know if any of these theories are true, or not. I know only that the water, and anything made with that water (coffee, tea), tastes terrible.

Probably the most important rule for me involves checked baggage. My rule is: never check a bag.

I realize that rule cannot be followed at all times. You cannot put your kid on a plane for a semester at college with only carry-on luggage. I myself have check a bag or two in the last 20 years. But I avoid it if at all possible.

I will have more to say about checked bags and how to pack for a long trip. My previous record was 14 days in a small duffel bag and a briefcase. My current record is 17 days in a small duffel bag, no briefcase.

If I counted correctly, our recent vacation involved seven airports and four train stations. I have no idea how many travelers I crossed paths with during that time; a wild guess of 150,000 travelers seems to me to be a reasonable, probably low, estimate. If that is correct, then 149,999 of them were traveling with hard-sided suitcases on wheels. There were several sizes: tiny suitcases pushed by three-year-olds; suitcases sized for overnight trips; larger suitcases for a long weekend; suitcases about half the size of a U-Haul trailer.

The one traveler out of 150,000 who didn’t have a hard-sided suitcase on wheels? That would be me.

I travel with a duffel bag. It is not very large: about 20 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches tall. I prefer it because of its soft sides, which means it can fit under the seat in front of me, even on small commuter jets. Hard-sided bags generally cannot fit under the seat and have to be stored in the overhead bins. These bins fill up quickly, especially on commuter jets, and as a result, many of these bags get gate-checked, which usually means a trip to baggage claim, a fate I prefer to avoid.

As for navigation through airports, the wheeled cases cannot be beat. Still, I prefer the duffel bag. It has a shoulder strap, so I don’t always have to carry the bag by hand.

The duffel bag has an outside zipper pouch, which contains one of those sleep masks that in theory allows you to sleep on an airplane, a pair of foam earplugs, and an Apple AirTag tracker. What goes inside the duffel? I will cover that next week.