Next month, my daughters and I will be vacationing in Japan. The flight from Atlanta to Tokyo will be just over 14 hours, and I want to be as comfortable as possible. To enjoy long flights, here are a few items I always carry on board! 

I know where I’ll travel this year! I promised myself that each year post-retirement I would visit at least one new place. This year it’s (drum roll) - Japan! My two youngest daughters visited Tokyo in January, and now I get the chance to join them for a mother-daughter trip to Osaka and Kyoto!

When traveling, my skin care and makeup routines are much like they are at home. There are certain products I always use, because they work well for me. I have allergies and recently had cataract surgery, so I am perhaps overly cautious.

In the past year I have taken three amazing trips abroad, and these are the best things I learned!

Finally, it’s time to actually pack for my trip. Since I was introduced to packing “cubes” a few years ago, they’ve been my favorite way to organize the inside of my bags. I used to use plain organizing cubes, but I found that my clothes were still shifting around. So I switched to the compression cubes, which have a second zipper to eliminate excess air and space and keep my clothes wrinkle-free.

I’m not a big shopper, but my one weakness is bags. In fact, my daughter frequently calls us “bag hags” because of our collections. Each time I plan a trip, I feel the urge to purchase a brand new bag. It doesn’t have to be a suitcase. Sometimes it’s a purse, or maybe a wallet, it could even be something as small as a cord holder or makeup bag. My current favorites are Vera Bradley because they are pretty, light, and easy to care for.

As soon as I've selected my dates and destination, I start booking flights and accommodations. I try to plan a flexible schedule because that can save money, especially on flights. Due to a few bad experiences with third party bookings, I now get my flights directly from the airline. I also purchase travel insurance, which I didn't do when I was younger, because it gives me peace of mind.

As soon as I decide when and where I'm going, I check to see what's required for travel to that country. At this posting, I needed vaccination information and a current K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) to enter South Korea, in addition to my passport. I checked my expiration dates for all these items and my global entry pass.  I'm good to go! As a backup, I have printed and digital copies.