Confessions of a Type A Traveler

Air Ambulance Card President Sam Jackson is traveling in China this week. Sam is a bit of neat freak, and loves to be prepared. He shares some of his tips for maintaining sanity (and sanitation) away from home.

I've noticed a lot of people on this trip who are obviously concerned about health care issues. Glad I am not alone. I saw a good many using instant hand sanitizer, both in small bottles and in disposable packages. Doesn't matter where you are traveling, this is a really easy thing to carry in your bag or purse so that you can both clean your hands after a meal and sanitize them. (You can usually find this in a small 2 oz size at your drug store in the travel and samples section. These are small enough to meet the TSA requirements of less than 3 ounces.) Don't forget, you have to put liquids and gels in a 1 quart clear ZipLock when you go through the security line.

I also saw several people on the long distance flights who put on surgical type masks while they slept on board the plane. Can't help but make you think about SARS, and who wants to do that when flying to China? Still, this would certainly minimize exposure to cold and flu bugs and does not take up much space when you pack.

I always pack a couple of band aids to take care of the inevitable nicks and scraps that occur on a long distance trip and a small tube of Neosporin or other triple antibiotic cream is a good idea as well.

Speaking of ZipLocks - I always put an extra in my carry-on case so that I can put all the "stuff" from my pockets into it before I have to go through the metal detector. I just put it all in the plastic bag and drop that back into my brief case so I know where it is when I am done with the "full body search." I am not kidding - I have had total knee replacements on both knees so I light up the metal detector like a roman candle! While I get the search and pat down, my carry on items are sitting on the end of the x-ray conveyor. I want to make sure that my wallet, money, watch and such are not out in plain site. The ZipLock solves that for me, plus, all that stuff is not then floating loose in the bottom of my brief case for the mad dash to the gate.

China is great. More to come...