The One Thing I Won’t Travel Without

I’ve never been shy about my anxiety around traveling. I always love the idea of it, I have a great time while I’m traveling, and I love that feeling when I return knowing that I’ve been somewhere. But the thought of having to pack for the trip is enough to cause alarm bells in my head. Here the fight or flight mode takes on a whole new meaning. I immediately start thinking about how I can get out of the trip and that I’d rather just stay home. But I pack away my fears the best I can.

I’ve taken one trip (for a job interview in college) where I only took a small handbag. Seriously, I had my iPad, but no laptop. It was the strangest feeling. I normally check my bag and then bring one tote filled to the brim with necessities in addition to my regular purse. In that tote is my laptop (because I’ve since adopted the ABC, always bring computer, rule), a camera or two, extra underwear, a sweater or oversized wrap, sunglasses, eyeglasses, medication, at least one book, a magazine, some kind of candy, a bag of nuts or trail mix, an empty water bottle, all the chargers I could ever possibly need. You name it, and it’s in there.

A pair of headphones has always been on my list of things to bring on board. About a year and a half ago, I splurged on a pair of noise-canceling headphones. I had a pair in college for studying, but they magically ended up with my sister somehow. After flying one time with the noise-canceling headphones, I will honestly never travel without them. I have two pairs now: over the ear and in-ear. (Both are great!)

The reason why I decided to write this post, and I hope you’ll excuse the brevity of it, is that my headphone battery died mid-air on my flight back to Connecticut. I normally pop them on the minute I get on the flight and don’t take them off or out until we’re completely pulled into the gate on the ground.

The noise-canceling magic extends beyond just blocking out the extremely loud airplane noises–babies and chatter included– it seriously reduces airplane anxiety. The minute I flip the noise-canceling switch on, it’s like I’m in my own world. It doesn’t stop the anxiety, but it helps. A LOT.

And I was reminded of how much it helps on the plane when the battery died. I decided against charging it at my parent’s house because I was afraid I was going to forget them and risked the battery life. When they went off, I was annoyed, and then the anxiety of the plane set in. I hate that “trapped in a flying tube” feeling and there were at least three dogs and eight babies on the flight. Oh, and the landing was the worst I’ve ever experienced.

It was the closest I’ve ever come to throwing up on a plane. I will never get on a plane without a fully charged pair of headphones ever again!