Flying from Long Island to Philadelphia is a very short flight.  By the time you get in the air and the seat belt sign is turned off, it’s time to put it back on and prepare for landing – it’s that quick.  Quick flights call for one thing (besides a shot of vodka) – small planes!

When traveling it’s wise to spend time preparing for your trip by creating a to-do list including items you need to pack, things you may want to do while on your trip, find local restaurants and places available to eat in the area, maybe a place you can grab a workout or two, and of course, keep track of your itinerary and photo ID.  Here are 4 more items to add to your to-do list, specifically before you get on a small plane:

1.    Apply deodorant.  Let’s do our fellow passengers a favor (and ourselves) and apply an adequate amount of quality deodorant to your under arms before leaving the house.  Small planes = not enough area for foul odors to permeate and dissipate.

2.    Take some Gas-X.  It’s happened to you, I know it has.  You are sitting on an airplane, 3-hour flight, and your stomach is in doing somersaults.  You relax and let it go hoping the faux-leather seats will absorb the odor or that no one will know it was you.  This situation can be avoided altogether by using an old product by the name of Gas-X (or any other off brand will do).  If you know you’re going to be in a confined place for an extended period of time with other people, take some Gas-X – even if your tummy is fine right now.  Chances are it won’t be fine the moment you’re stuck on the plane.

3.    Bring a pillow and blanket.  You’re definitely not getting a free one when you hop on the plane.  Even if there were pillows and blankets available, who would want to put their head on something someone else whom you don’t know has used.  Always be prepared, you’re going to need the pillow and blanket for #4.

4.    Take out a life insurance policy and give your loved ones a hug and kiss.  Seriously, I’ve been on small planes before, but this one took the cake.  I mean IT WAS TINY!!

This flight was by far the scariest flight I’ve been on besides the one where the turbulence was so bad the oxygen masks fell from the overhead compartments.  Sitting in the front row, exit row, all I could think looking out my window for the duration of the takeoff was if the propeller was going to somehow come loose or just stop spinning altogether.  And then we’d go down, and how horrible would that be.  Just this morning American Airlines was on the news again with their seats becoming loose mid-flight.  Rest assured, my seat remained in tact.

Lesson learned – don’t think about things falling apart during takeoff and always fall asleep during the flight that way if something does go wrong…you’re sleeping, so it’s all good or you wake up scared sh*tless.