Airport Security; 5 tips to make it more enjoyable!

I LOVE to travel, that’s pretty obvious. My least favourite part of traveling? Airport security! I’m impatient, and get hangry quite often (of course my hunger normally kicks in just as I arrive at the gate), and do not enjoy long line ups in sweaty crowds. Airport security doesn’t have to suck or ruin your trip, so here are my top 5 tips and tricks to make it less horrific!
Travel Tip Tuesday
Liquids

I can’t believe that travelers have still not received the memo that all liquids need to be 100 ml or smaller. Want to travel with your favourite shampoo that comes in a large container? Put some in a smaller container; I find the small containers from Goodfood (yup, the meal kits) are the perfect travel size and I can recycle them before our return trip to get more space in my bag for souvenirs. I would also recommend to label these smaller containers, as not to cause any suspicions, and to help keep track. And last, keep it all in a sealed, completely see-through, airport approved bag (I’ve only had issues with mine once, and I’m pretty sure it was so early that everyone was just lacking caffeine in their system).

Dress to Impress

Common sense says that if you don’t want to strip down, remove belts, etc, then just don’t wear them. You can still look great in a simpler style. Wear shoes that can slide off quickly and easily, minimal jewelry (if any), and keep your pockets empty! My husband wears the same belt on every trip, airport safe, it never beeps when going through the metal detector, and he is rarely asked to remove it. However, it all comes down to the airport staff and their discretion. Another trick if you are wearing a coat is to put everything from your pant pockets into your coat pockets that have zippers. The items won’t fall out into the bin and it will allow you to pick up your bag without having to stuff items back into your pant pockets at the crowded screening area – do this on your walk to the gate or at the gate itself once you have relaxed.

At an airport Follow the rules

The last thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself when you just want to start your vaycay. Follow the lines (keeping in mind that the shortest one, is not always the fastest option). Families will often take longer than individual travelers, Sorry y’all, it’s a fact.

Airplane
Pack accordingly

It’s no secret that you’ll need to remove liquids and laptops and show your paperwork. So why pack them at the bottom of your bag? I see this mistake every time without fail. Be prepared and pack them in an accessible location for quick removal. If you have other items that always get you pulled aside, then be proactive. I have a little bag where I keep my jewelry and change. It gets checked on practically all flights, so I leave it aside for easy inspection. Save us all the hassle. And if you are forgetful like my husband sometimes, do a quick eye scan of your bag before you leave your house. We once got pulled aside since he left a steak knife at the bottom of his bag (the same bag he brought to work daily, which held his lunch, and cutlery…)

Pack light
More bees with Honey

At the end of the day you are at the mercy of the airport staff. They are working, probably for hours on end, dealing with frustrated passengers all day long. So send some friendly niceties their way. Give them a smile, tell a joke, be nice and that may get you further ahead in the long run. MAY. No promises.

Just love this photo

Either way, embrace the long lines, be patient, don’t overdress if your body temperature rises quickly, make sure you are caffeinated, and always go to the bathroom before joining the line and enjoy your trip!

I hope these tips help! Let me know in the comments below if you have any to add!

Cheers,
Melissa

October 22, 2019 0

Airplane Etiquette

Happy Travel Tip Tuesday! This month I want to touch base on basic airplane etiquette, drawing inspiration from the past week where I endured 4 flights, each with their own mix of excitement and frustration. When flying to and from your next bucket list location, remember that you are still in a public place – not your living room.
Travel Tip Tuesday - Flights
My most recent experience was the passenger in the middle row across from myself (it was a wide body plane) spread out over all the seats, shoes off, SOCKS off, and resting her bare feet on the pull-down tray. Gross! I’m never eating any crumbs off trays again. I know you want to relax and get some shut-eye on long flights, please spare us the sight of your feet! Airplanes are not as clean as you think. Carpets get spot cleaned, the windows are not regularly washed, and attendants only have 5 minutes to walk through and tidy the plane before the next batch of travelers load in, so really, do you want to walk around in bare feet collecting those germs and bringing them with you? There are better souvenirs in the airport gift shop.
Sleeping on flights
Make it a smoother ride for everyone by maintaining your personal space, and respecting those around you, especially if you like the same treatment back. Most people prefer the aisle or window, but quite often the only seat left is the middle. Let the middle seat passenger use both armrests (they are stuck in the middle, with no window to lean on, or aisle to escape down. It’s the right thing to do), keep your legs in front of you, and respect the bag rules for safety reasons.

Last week my middle seat neighbor brought two bags with him; his so-called personal bag and a carry-on. The carry on tightly went in the overhead storage bin, no issues there. It was this so-called personal item that was so large, it could not fit under the seat in front of him, barricading myself, the window passenger, in my seat for the entire flight. When the flight attendant came by for pre-takeoff checks, he carefully angled his body and what appears to be Harry Potter’s cape to cover his enormous bag so the flight attendants did not notice. When disembarking the plane, he couldn’t get his bag out, as it got stuck, delaying many passengers from leaving the aircraft. Don’t be this person. If your bag is too big to fit, pay to get it checked or pack better for next time, do not inconvenience others just because you can’t pack accordingly.
Bags on flights
Disembarking – We all want to get off the plane. It’s hot, smelly, and we are excited to start our next adventure or return home. Don’t rush ahead (if you must to catch that connecting flight, do so kindly, you really do catch more bees with honey). But don’t push, shove and cut in line, just don’t.

Other things to consider when traveling, it’s kind to help those around you that are having a hard time with their bag. If a family asks you to swap a seat – consider it, one day that could be you asking to sit next to your sweetie pie (some low budget airlines *cough* Viva Air Peru *cough* world’s worst airline *cough* purposely don’t seat you together, so that you’ll pay extra fees to move. Instead, we sat 24 rows apart.).
Cheers!
Who doesn’t love free wine? But does that mean you should get drunk? NO. You are not at the bar. A rule of thumb is that 1 drink on a plane is equivalent to 2 drinks on the ground. Respect those around you and keep your drinking to a minimum. We don’t need to hear you shouting, or crying, while we are trying to eat our hospital food sized dinners. Don’t be that person. They also say to avoid coffee, tea, and sodas, but meh, go for it if you like, just be sure to stay hydrated. My drink of choice is a tomato juice, a special treat when among the clouds.
Mexico Flight
So there you have it, some of my tips to make the flight enjoyable for yourself, and others. Do you have any tips to add? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,
Melissa

September 24, 2019 0

Travel Taco Tuesday

Holy Guacamole! These last few weeks have flown by and it’s time for my monthly ‘Travel Tip Tuesday’ post. This month my focus is on food, more specifically, cheesy veggie goodness rolled into a soft (or for some, hard – I’m judging you btw) tortilla shell. I’m focusing on Tacos, lets tacobout it now!
Travel Tip Tuesday & Tacos
I just returned from Cancun, Mexico on a mission to sample all the best tacos that I could possibly fit into my stomach. For the full video, including my reactions to hot sauce and tequila (cause you have to in Mexico), check out my YouTube channel Mellie Telly for my latest video HERE!
Hello From Cancun
No time for a video? Then read on for my tips on finding, eating, and enjoying my favourite food. I mean, we had a wedding taco party, how much more dedicated can you get?!

The Taco Search

Finding tacos in Mexico is not difficult; the real 5-star challenge is finding a local business, not the restaurant chains geared towards sucking as much money as possible from tourists while providing practically tasteless food. I spent lots of time on Google searching “The best tacos in Cancun”, reading forums, searching “Local tacos” and looking up suggestions from expats and locals alike. To save you the time, here is my list of restaurants that I have personally tried or ambitiously wanted to make a stop at: Taco Factory, La Parrilla, Tacun, The Surfin Burritto, El Asador, El Poblano, Tacos Rigo, Los de Pescado, Taqueria Coapeñitos and Mextreme. Some are located in the Hotel Zone, and some downtown Cancun. Taco Time In the end, we could not possibly hit up every single place. In Mexico, portion sizes tend to be enormous and greasy and add in the intense summer heat, was way too much food. We ended up sticking to a few local places downtown (so local that not a single tourist was in sight, and no one understood English, PERFECT), with a few touristy spots for comparison. Can you guess which ones were best?
Build Your Own Taco at El Poblano
You’re right if you were thinking the handmade, under-priced, over-spiced deliciousness that the local shops offered up. Oddly enough, many places did not have vegetarian tacos on the menu, so after some hand gestures and awkward attempts at Spanish, they were willing to create something special. Often it would result in a ‘build your own’ taco, and gluten-free was not always possible. You win some, you lose some.

Eat It Hot

All meals are served with chips, dip and HOT sauce to start. I prefer that over bread and oil any day. The hotter the sauce, the better, provided I had a Corona or Sol (low gluten beer) to combat the burn. I suggest trying all the sauces on the table; you are in Mexico after all. The colour of the dip or salsa is not an indicator of spice, as in some restaurants the green one was the hell in the bottle and others the red one was the mouth scorcher. Not sampling all the flavours would be like flying to Amsterdam and not having a handful of cheese. No one does that.
Taco Factory Cancun
Most of the time the tacos were fresh off the grill, hot, spicy and ready to go. Have napkins nearby to soak up your sweat, a bottle of water and/or beer, and you are set to roast in the sun and eat tacos to your heart’s content. I always take a bite first to experience the original flavour the chef provided, and then add sauces and lime wedge squeezes if needed.

The Results Are In

More often than not, my stomach and taste buds were satisfied. There were some meat close calls (1 accidental consumption), too many intakes of gluten and some fun games of charades before ordering, but Cheese Louise, it’s worth it for tacos. Overall I was surprised by the lack of “street meat” taco stands that I had envisioned would fill the roads, perhaps we were not in the right city? Or it was tourist down season? If you know, leave a message in the comments below.

To see which taco won my heart over in Cancun, be sure to watch my YouTube video on Mellie Telly! El Poblano No matter how tasty these Mexican meals were, I am still on the hunt for the PERFECT taco holy grail (and maybe one that won’t cause stomach pains hours later). So far the best have been the ones we’ve made, (with love) with our own hand-picked ingredients and extra flavours. Maybe it’s the control of portion sizes, adding specifically what I’m craving or the joys of building and plating my own. Now, let’s see if my saucy souvenirs will now only enhance what we already have, as my search continues.

Cheers,
Melissa

July 30, 2019 0