Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Sounds great, baby.” Hannah grabbed both of Mark's hands and gave them a squeeze.
“I'll put my mind on all the wonderful things we're going to see and do this week. But
first, I'm going to the little girls' room.” Hannah let go of Mark's hands and headed off.
But sensing his eyes still on her, she looked back and gave him a little smile as she walked
away
.
At this point you'll have planned and prepared for a trip of a lifetime. You'll have become
conversationally proficient in your host language, you'll have learned the history of your
destination, and you'll have created an itinerary full of life-enriching cultural experiences.
In other words, you'll have started to
Travel Every Day
. Even if you didn't take the trip,
you'd still have benefited from the process, but the good news is that the trip is going to
happen, and you're going to have an amazing time! In this chapter, we're going to cover
some additional details that will help make your trip truly fantastic.
To begin with, let's discuss your outbound flight. We've already discussed the pos-
sibility of using miles to upgrade your seats. Regardless of which seats you're in, though,
you'll want to maximize your ability to sleep on the plane. To this end, inflatable pillows
can be a great help. For example, an inflatable footrest can take pressure off your lower
back, while an inflatable side pillow can be extremely useful if your seat doesn't recline. In
addition, a good eye mask is extremely valuable and noise-cancellation headphones, while
not perfect, will at least tone down some of the ambient noise. See the
Appendix 1
at the
back of this topic for my recommendations on travel accessories.
After what has hopefully been a restful flight, you'll arrive at your destination. If
possible, while you're still on your plane, be sure to complete any necessary customs and
immigration forms. Once your plane arrives at its gate, you'll want to get off and into the
line at passport control as quickly as possible. Once you've cleared passport control, pick
up your checked luggage and proceed through customs with your paperwork ready. In the
next
chapter
, we'll discuss what to do if challenges emerge with any of these steps so far,
but for now let's assume that everything will go smoothly and that you'll get through cus-
toms without a hitch. Now you'll be ready to take transportation to your hotel, but before
you do that, for the sake of hydration and a little thrill, buy a bottle of water using only your
new language in communicate. You're going to be speaking your new language throughout
your trip, and this is a great time to get started.
Once you've arrived at your hotel, try to check in using as much of your new lan-
guage as possible. A good plan of action afterward is to lie down for about twenty minutes,
