Some more Friday tips for conference travelling

Indeed time flies on happy wings but some times we also need to stop and think, train and prepare for the times when we are not in perfect conditions while travelling to conferences

People with hearing problems and other related conditions often suffer from the changes in cabin pressure on take-off and landing. My father, who we later discovered suffered from a brain tumor, also experienced intense pain each time the aircraft landed or take off, to such an extent that he did not want to fly in the last years of his life. Other members of my family also suffer from headaches, hearing difficulty and even nausea until we discovered that chewing gum helps to prevent or at least ease most of these symptoms. We also experienced that this helps for mild cases of travel sickness in cars, on buses and trams. So my backpack always has a pocket stuffed with gum of every flavour and texture. I also ensure that I have a few small sealed snacks for when blood sugar drops and the in-flight service is slow or the tour itinerary is not going according to plan. 

Only once in my life I took my shoes off during a flight and wandered with the airline-provided sleep socks to the toilet. That was way before there were lists of not-to-do-things-in-an-aircraft (and on the airport) that you could read on the internet so I got a terrible surprise when stepping on the soaked carpet of the toilet. Never ever go barefoot on an aircraft and if you leave your seat, do put on your shoes. 

Frequent travelers know that the emergency exit nearest to them could be behind them and normally when the safety announcement is made we do glance over our shoulders just to make sure, but a friend who survived an accident told me to actually count the numbers of rows between your seat and the nearest exit. Not that this always would help in a serious incident, but at least it will give you an indication of how many steps you need to take in a certain direction when the cabin (or what is left of it) is dark or filled with smoke. 

Last, everyone should know how to do CPR. Just in case you need it. We often train to do CPR at work and think we will use it in our offices, or at our homes or on the road, but speaking to people who actually had to use their CPR training, I was told that they actually needed their skills while attending an academic conference - scary, isn't it?