How to Avoid Swollen Feet on an Airplane

 Air Travel Tips  No Responses »
Dec 072011
 

Traveling spells out joy for a lot of people. I love traveling a lot myself. Traveling means a chance to visit people, to see new places, to click lots of pictures and freeze memories.., traveling means shopping too! Nothing perks up my spirits more than planning a trip to somewhere – be it a long holiday to some far off place, or just visiting my friend in the other city. I am sure there are many like me out there. But the most daunting prospect of traveling is the actual journey to and from the place. This is not because the journey is long – no journey is long if you have a good book, some good music and a warm and comfortable blanket. But swollen feet during flight can ruin the fun and joy of traveling. Your feet swelling during travel is the last thing you want, for it makes even simple things like walking up to or even waiting at the baggage carousel pain.

However, there are some very easy tips and tricks you can follow to prevent your feet swelling during travel. Of the many causes of swollen feet, this is the easiest to avoid. There are simple things that you would have to do – nothing expensive or extensive either. Here is how you can avoid swollen feet on an airplane.

Tips to Avoid Swollen Feet While Traveling
1. Hop Around!
That does not mean you go bunny hopping all over the plane! What I mean to say is, take a walk down the aisle once in a while. On a really long flight (more than 6 hours) you can relax your legs and walk around roughly once every hour. It helps to improve the blood circulation and prevents you from getting swollen feet and ankles.

2. Elevate Your Feet
Usually the seats on an airplane are designed in such a way that they have a footrest for the person sitting on the seat behind. Use it. Place your feet on the footrest so that they are not absolutely perpendicular to the floor and are slightly elevated or raised. It prevents blood from pooling in your feet.

3. Luggage Overhead
Make sure you keep your luggage overhead rather than at your feet. That way your legs and feet will have enough room to stretch and fit. A lot of times we keep our handbags or cabin baggage at our feet – a grave mistake. It restricts movement of your legs. Toss it up and make room for your legs.

4. Carry Golf Balls
Confused? I don’t blame you; but a golf ball would be just the thing to prevent getting swollen feet on a flight. How? If you cannot get up and walk in the aisle of the airplane (or if you are just to embarrassed to do it again and again!), simply place the golf balls under each of your feet and roll your feet over them! It works wonderfully. If not, you can even carry a kneading pin.

5. Drink Water
Drink lots of water and keep yourself hydrated. No movement coupled with no water can very quickly make your body stiff. Dehydration can also lead to painful cramps. The chances of getting cramps change even more if you are stationary. Also lots of water means you will have to flush out more often, giving you more chances to walk as you go to the loo!

6. Avoid Tight Footwear
Not only is it painful and less comfortable, but it simply refuses to come off if your feet swell. It is best to wear comfortable footwear while traveling. Use the flip-flops that the flights provide you. They are super comfortable and soft and feel amazing! Tight footwear – especially with straps around the ankles – can be a horror. Strictly avoid.

7. Wear Compression Stockings
Compression stockings (also called compression socks) are a blessing on a long flight! They are graduated stockings that are usually thigh high. They are designed and tailored such that they exert more pressure on the ankles. The pressure gradually decreases as you roll the stockings up your leg. This ensures that blood is in fact pushed up from the ankles, avoiding swollen feet. However, it is important to wear compression socks the right way, so make sure you educate yourself about the same.

Even with so many tips to prevent swollen feet during air travel, your feet will swell at least a little I guess. So here are some after flight exercises you can do to get your feet back in shape.

After Flight Exercises

The first and foremost thing you should do is not rush and start walking immediately. With your feet having swollen, walking is going to aggravate the situation! First relax a bit. Lie down. Stretch out. Then sit up and give yourself a nice foot massage. Begin with the toes. Put your fingers through your toes and grab on your toes with your fingers and vice versa. Do this alternately. Then massage your feet with some warm oil. As your feet begin to loosen up, point your toes – in the front, at the back, and on either side. To relieve the ankles, rotate your feet slowly; first clockwise, then anti-clockwise. But do it gradually and don’t jerk. Finally, take a long walk!

Another great idea to take care of swollen feet is to use hot or warm water. You can immerse your feet in a bowl of warm water and let the water relax your feet. If you want, you may even use an aroma therapy feet scrub or gel to wash your feet. It will help you clean as well as relax your feet.

That should take care of swollen feet for you. These tips are very easy to follow, so there isn’t really a reason why you won’t be able to follow them. They will greatly reduce the pain and make traveling a more enjoyable experience. By the way, before I take leave, I would like to point out that the same strategies may also help take care of swollen feet because of a sedentary job… think about it! Have a happy journey!

 Posted by at 3:37 pm  Tagged with:

How to Survive a Red Eye Flight

 Air Travel Tips  No Responses »
Nov 142011
 

Red eye flight popularly refers to airplane journeys of short duration usually towards eastern direction. The term ‘red eye’ became popular on account of fatigue felt by travelers on such journeys. Red eye flights are scheduled at nighttime or midnight, which can leave the passengers stressed due to lack of sleep. The flight usually reaches the destination early in the morning when the passengers feel drowsy and many of them end up having red eyes due to stress. However, red eye flights need not always be that bad, provided you follow some easy precautions and catch up on some good sleep even when you are in transit. Read below to get some useful tips.

Tips to Prevent Red Eye Flight Effects

Eating Healthy
One of the most important things to do before you board the flight is to eat your fill of food. Ideally eat light dry food that suffices your daily dinner requirements. Eating beforehand helps you sleep without any interruptions throughout the journey. Usually people who look forward to food served on the airplane, tend to stay awake till the food is served and finished. You can save some precious sleeping time by eating in advance. Similarly, eating light and dry food exempts the possibility of air sickness. Keep a water bottle with you throughout the journey instead of waiting for the airline crew to provide you with a glass of water each time you are thirsty.

Seat Selection
It is essential to choose a seat with ample leg space and a good leg rest. At the same time, the seat should be recliner so as to get into a proper sleeping position during the flight. Ideally, select a seat which is not too close to the two end exits. This is because, washrooms are located at these exits, which makes this area full of activity throughout the flight. Seats at the rear or near the emergency exits are usually non-recliner. So even these seats are not recommended. Choose a window seat towards the frontal part of the plane as it has ample leg space. A window seat offers you a chance of peaceful sleep as your neighbors will not disturb you for accessing the plane aisle. Similarly, window seats offer you a chance to recline your head on the plane’s window for additional comfort.

Sleeping Well
Most of the passengers find it difficult to sleep peacefully on planes. At such times, the best option is to induce sleep by creating a good sleeping environment. One of the most important things to do is to recline your seat at its full limit. This is because one can get best sleep in horizontal position only. Ask for a blanket to keep you warm throughout the airplane journey. Similarly, a cushion to support your head would help you sleep better. One ideal way to induce good sleep is to use an eye mask and a pair of cotton ear muffs. You can even carry some lavender scented gel to sniff on as lavender is known to induce sleep as part of aroma therapy. Avoid listening to music or watching movies while on red eye flights as they eat away your precious relaxation time.

Tips to Recover from Red Eye Flight Effect

These were suggestions to help you avoid the red eye flight effects. But what to do in case you happen to be a victim of this problem and want to recover from it at the earliest? Here is what you can do:

* Drink a lot of water or fresh fruit juices. The basic idea here is to stay hydrated so that you will feel less exhausted.
* Your body will go on signaling throughout the day that it is tired but keep your mind alert. Steer clear of any temptation to hit the bed and go off to sleep. Instead, start the work that you had planned to do before you embarked on the flight.
* If there is no work schedule, then use the time to work out or go and explore the new city. Maybe, you can engage in activities like shopping or sight seeing that are bound to keep you alert and awake.

I personally advise all my readers to fight the desire to sleep at whatever cost and go to sleep at their daily schedule only. This will help your body adjust faster to the time difference.

 Posted by at 3:44 pm  Tagged with:

Activities for Kids Traveling on a Plane

 Air Travel Tips  No Responses »
Nov 102011
 

Traveling with kids can turn out to be a nightmare if the journey is long and you haven’t taken care to pack some things to entertain your kids throughout the journey. Kids have much more energy than we do, and so it becomes difficult for them to sit still for more than half an hour at a stretch. No point blaming them or yelling at them to shut up and sit still. If they do manage that, there will invariably be the continuous and vigorous shaking of legs, or shifting in their seats, or playing with their boogers (oh, the horror!), or then the continuous prodding with their cute, tiny fingers to ask you all sorts of questions! Not only can it get really tiring for the parents, it may disturb others on the plane too, if your little child throws a tantrum because he is bored and restless. Here are a few ideas that you can try out to keep your child happy and engaged on the long journey.

Fun Activities to Keep Your Child Occupied
Eatables
The main thing to remember while traveling with kids! Empty stomachs equal angry and agitated kids. Get light and interesting snacks to feed them at regular intervals throughout the journey. Try to avoid very sweet and sugary snacks since they tend to increase the energy levels and you will end up with a hyperactive and restless kid in a confined space. You can imagine the scenario!
Coloring
Never fails! Get the big, fat coloring books, get crayons, sketch pens, magic markers, and whatever else you can think of, to keep your kids occupied with the coloring. Choose the book properly, with lots of their favorite pictures, or you can get printouts of their favorite characters and ask them to color those. This should keep them busy for quite a while. Don’t forget to tell them not to paint the seat covers though.
Gadgets and Other Stuff
There are numerous gadgets that you get for keeping the lil’ ones happy. Try getting along a walk-man / iPod and books on tape for them to listen to. For small kids you can take along the CD or cassette of their favorite nursery rhymes and fair tales if they like that. PlayStation portable, action figures, handheld video games etc., are also good ideas.
Games and Activities
Another really fun way of keeping your kid engaged is by getting an interesting game for him to play or a puzzle to solve. Let’s see what sort of games will be best suited for a flight.
Printable Games
You have innumerable printable games for kids which are also great learning tools. Try to take these along since they are perfect for kids when they are stuck up in confined spaces and cannot move around much.
Rubik’s Cube
The ever reliable, Rubik’s cube. Kids above 6 will love to pass time doing something challenging, and below 6 years will be thrilled with the idea of having different colored squares moving around. Give them a combination that is possible and ask them to solve it. They will be delighted when they get these simple combinations and keep asking you to give them more.
Finger Puppets
Draw directly on your fingers with temporary markers or on paper wrapped around your fingers. Draw on your kid’s fingers too, and you can have a mini play with funny and witty dialogs.
Card and Map Games
Play uno hands, or take along a map, and when you leave from your destination, point out the place from where you are leaving, on the map. After every half hour or hour ask your kid to guess how much progress you’ve made and point out your approximate location on the map. If he gets it right, give him a chocolate or candy, and give him clues to help him.
Creative Games
Tell your child to pick out as many shapes as possible in the interior of the plane. Or tell your kid to start with the letter A and find something in the plane that starts with that letter and continue going till Z. Or, start a story and ask your kid to continue it after sometime. You can take turns and add your own twists and plots as you go along. You could also play I Spy, and virtual hide and seek games. Say “I Spy (something).”, and ask your kid to see whether he can spot that thing too, or pick a place you are familiar with, mostly your house and hide anywhere you want. Let your kid guess where you are hiding and then ask him to hide when he figures out your virtual hiding place! Your kid will surely enjoy these games.
Scavenger Hunts
One smart thing to do when traveling with kids is to take magazines along, flip through the pages, and find pictures, and then hand over the book to your kid and ask him / her to find that particular picture.
Art and Craft Activities
This list can be endless, what with ready-made art and craft kits available in the market today. Get the basic jewelry making kit for girls and you won’t even have to pay much attention to her, or the bike assembling kit for boys. They have jigsaw pieces and by changing their placements you can make different bikes with these pieces. Take care that none of the pieces roll away though. You can also have kids draw and color place-mats.
Movies / Videos / Songs
One of the best tips for traveling with children, is to carry along a few of their favorite CDs. A portable DVD player or a small laptop with you, and you can let your kids watch as many shows of Tom and Jerry as he likes, or as many movies as he likes till the journey is over. What a treat for your kids, specially if their TV time is strictly monitored at home. Not a peep out of them, I can bet you!
Books
For kids below 6 years get those books which have pop up scenes, and lots of bright colorful pictures which you can read out to them. For those above 6 years, some sports, adventure or mystery books, should be appropriate. If you give them permission to read one book that you weren’t permitting them to read because they were too young for it, it will make them feel special enough to sit quietly and finish the book! Take them along to choose a couple of books to read on the plane.
Surprises
I’ll admit this isn’t an original idea, and although I don’t remember where I read it, it works wonders! Whatever you want to give your kids on the plane, wrap it up and make a big show every time they ask for something. Let them unwrap their toys, books, crayon sets, chocolates, candies, and everything else! They can play with or eat whatever they unwrap, till they get bored and then move on to the next gift. This surely works to keep them happy.

With these tips and ideas, you will be better armed for your next long trip with your kids. Take along comfortable clothes for them in case they need a change of clothes and also make sure that they are dressed comfortably. No bawling, no tantrums, and no tearing of eardrums and glares from co-passengers! Let peace prevail!

 Posted by at 3:22 pm  Tagged with:
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