Improving the conditions of your academic travel

One of the things I do when I travel is prepare lectures, or simply read scholarly journal articles or books associated with my academic life. Long-distance travel (usually when I go to Victoria by ferry or when I fly anywhere, either for a scholarly trip or for a media trip that has usually an associated academic component) is probably the only uninterrupted period of time.

1. Choose your seat strategically. Because I’m not a fan of long trips themselves, and because I travel by air so frequently, I have found that choosing the right seat can definitely help you accomplish more work. It’s one of a few tricks that work for me and help me accomplish some of my academic work while on the air. Because I’m 5’11 and I have long legs, I need A LOT of leg room. We all know that planes aren’t giving more leg room, so what I do is I choose the seat that is near to the emergency exit row. One of the seats is always moved forward a little bit (as shown here) and I make sure to (whenever I can) choose it and book online.

2. Bring with you a light blanket, and a light sweater. I am always cold, and we all know that air conditioning in planes tends to be really cold, sometimes. So what I do is I buy one of the small, light blankets that the airline itself provides (I bought a few years ago, so I just bring one with me every trip) and pack it along with a light sweater (I usually bring a V neck sweater that Minna, Jay and John from The Network Hub gave me for Christmas last year – warm and light at the same time). Both items fit in my laptop bag and they don’t increase the weight by much. And I can usually snuggle and read journal articles while staying warm.

3. Make sure to bring the light laptop (or a tablet). This is a lesson I learned recently. I used to have a heavy, 17″ ACER laptop that weighed a lot (and because of the battery dying, it was pretty much impossible to use it while I was travelling). Now, Air Canada has recently implemented power outlets in the seats (which I find completely awesome), and that enables me to travel with a dead-battery-power-outlet-only laptop.

At the time when I bought the previous ACER I did not realize that it would be a pain to travel with it (because it had a large screen, I thought to myself “yay! more space to write academic articles!”. Uh. Not a smart idea. The next laptop I bought (another ACER, indeed) is very light and I can prepare lecture slides, presentation/talk slides or write academic manuscripts in it even within the cramped area of a plane. I also use my HP TouchPad, quite often, to make notes and/or read PDF journal articles.

Whatever I bring (laptop or tablet) I make sure that I seat where I just told you (this reminds me of an article by my friend Alexandra Samuel who mentioned that she worried that the guy in front of her would break her laptop by pushing the seat to the back (what I do is I sit where there’s nobody else who will push their seat backwards). Protecting my laptop IS a priority.

4. Bring healthy snacks and beverages with you. I have noticed that, regardless of which airline I travel (and most airlines will NOT offer any meals at all, unless you purchase them), I almost never like what they offer. So before I get on the plane, right before, I buy a bottle of water (I know, I feel the guilt already!) or a soft drink or juice, and a sandwich. I also buy snack bars. This enables me to stay hydrated and well-fed while travelling instead of feeling like I want to pass out.

5. Bring an ergonomic travel pillow. You may be like my Mom, who can’t sleep on planes. But I can, and I am blessed by that. So, I take advantage of this opportunity by always bringing with me a neck-fitted, ergonomic travel pillow. If you sleep on the plane, that talk you have to give as soon as you arrive to the meeting (and trust me, it has happened to me) will go much more smoothly.