Slip-ons, water, menthol: set for take-off

On a long-haul flight from Auckland, ANNE CHALFANT checks the security system and sets up house.

If you're heading to the airport, put on your travellin' shoes. And I don't mean comfort shoes, I mean easy slip-ons.

Shoe checks are more and more a part of the airport security drill these days. Ever since the incident in America in which passenger Richard Reid tried to ignite his explosive sneakers, most airports at least run spot checks on shoes, passing an explosive detection device over passengers' feet at random.

Travelling from New Zealand to the US recently, I found myself padding in stocking feet through security lines more often than not.

Shoe removal was required of all passengers out of Auckland. At Los Angeles International Airport, domestic passengers had to pass through two security lines, removing shoes each time and placing them in little baskets to pass under the scrutiny of the x-ray.

Shoes off, shoes on - you're balancing in midair a lot, and if you're wearing shoes that tie, good luck. So wear those slip-ons.

Here's another trick for easier passage through counter lines and security lines: the agents all need to see a photo ID and your boarding pass, but it can be quite a juggling act pulling those out and tucking them away again as many as five times for one flight.

So no, I don't pin them to my jacket, kindergarten-style. But it's close: I wear them around my neck in one of those hide-the-passport neck wallets, except I wear it on top of my shirt, not hidden. I put it on as soon as I get into the baggage check line, with ID and ticket inside.

And yes, I look like a complete dork, but it's better than lipstick and tissues flying from my purse every time I go to dig out the ID again. Also, I worry about dropping something and losing it if I just carry the documents in my hand, as many people do.

Enough about standing in line. Let's get to the seat - and what a relief it is to arrive there these days after all the waiting.

On long flights, I've found it pays to approach my seat as if it were my hotel room, my tiny, cramped cell of a hotel room. Oops, let's employ a little psychology here - my own snug and cozy happy place.

Here's me on arrival at my seat. I set down my carry-on and pull out my "nesting kit", a 25cm-by-15cm zipped bag of in-flight essentials. I toss the bag and my book and my two bottles of water on to the seat.

As I take these things from my carry-on bag, I am cantilevered sideways into my seat so people in line behind me aren't blocked. My little homesteading activities would not amuse the line of folks waiting crunched in the aisle.

In short order, I heave the carry-on bag into the overhead bin. Mine does fit under the seat, but on long flights, leg-stretch room is essential.

Also, it's mildly amusing to get stuff out of the carry-on during the sixth or seventh hour of flight.

Next on the nester's list: since I'm always cold on flights, I scrounge a blanket. Some airlines do not stock enough for everyone, so better to hunt early.

Blanket in tow, I sit down to set up housekeeping. I tuck two water bottles into the seat pocket - the flight attendant may serve you water but this may take time, especially during the night, and the water's not always cold.

If I'm on an overseas flight, I tuck in two 750ml water bottles. I can't leave one in the overhead bin and delude myself that I'll drink the second "later". Both have to be poking my knees.

Water is the essential elixir for avoiding dehydration and the ensuing exhaustion. It really works.

Gulping lots of water also makes you take tours to the toilet, and moving about helps to prevent stiffness and also deep vein thrombosis, a clotting problem that has killed several airline passengers and put others in the hospital following long-haul flights.

The next way to get comfy: I slip off my shoes and pull my neon yellow "air socks" from my zippered bag. I pad around in those the duration of the flight. Now for the sanity boosters.

I now own a set of Sony MDR-NC5 noise-cancelling earphones, which block most engine noise. Engine noise is tiresome. I bring along a CD player with music I like and tune out the world, teenage-style.

A good headset has another benefit: you can actually hear the in-flight movie, as opposed to hearing half the words with the airlines' headset.

Also in my nesting kit: extra batteries for the CD player.

For sleepy-time - not a trick actually in my repertoire but I'm working on it - I bring along a sleep mask to block light, a set of ear plugs, and one of those blow-up neck pillows which keeps sleepy heads from falling forward or on to a neighbour.

Some airlines have got smart and built these into the headrests - on Air New Zealand you just bend the headrest flaps forward to create a little corral for your head.

One other item in my kit is for olfactory self-defence. More than once I've been seated next to a passenger who, for lack of a better term, needed a good airing. On a long-haul flight, this can be really dismaying.

My new mode of defence, discovered accidentally in New Zealand, is a little bottle of eucalyptus and menthol mixed up by a chemist for colds; a few drops on to a tissue and a few sniffs, and presto! nasal passages are clear.

The side effect is a powerful sock of aroma in the air, but believe me, no one around me noticed the perspiration odour of the passenger next to me on this flight.

- NZPA