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I’m racking up the frequent flier miles over here, and I continue to believe that my greatest travel superpowers are a) being able to sleep well on red-eyes and b) being able to power through jet lag. My husband isn’t quite so lucky, buuut I’m trying my best to rub off on him. On our recent long-haul flights to Tokyo (and in advance of a few more cross-country flights this year), I decided to step up our travel accessories to see if I could make the experience more enjoyable.

I picked up these foot swings and finally decided to buy a pair of compression socks, and man, both were totally worth the (not a lot of) money. I thought the foot swing was particularly genius: I always want to be able to put my feet up a bit, and this gave me so many more options for foot and leg placement–I tend to be a fidgeter, so this was especially appreciated! My Bose noise-cancelling headphones continue to be a lifesaver: although I think the over-ear style does make it a bit tougher to lean and sleep with them on, they are super comfortable and great to block out that airplane white noise.

Movies

Although I have mixed feelings on Delta, the one area in which I feel they always win is on in-flight entertainment: there are so many movies to choose from! I always try to watch a few classics I’ve never seen before–and since I rarely go to the movies, I love seeing new-ish releases on the plane. On these flights, I watched Three Identical Strangers (way more interesting than I thought it would be, and very thought-provoking–David watched it too and we talked about it the whole bus ride into Tokyo), Won’t You be My Neighbor? (the Mr. Rogers documentary that is an absolute tear-jerker but also so inspiring!), A Quiet Place (not nearly as scary on a small screen when interrupted by beverage service), The Gospel According to Andre (I wanted so much more from this!), Almost Famous (my first time seeing it–so good!) and Thelma and Louise (also my first time seeing it–should Gert and I be Thelma and Louise for Halloween? Serious consideration).

Reads

I was able to squeeze in so much reading on this trip, which was a real delight: it didn’t hurt that several of the books were true page-turners AND we got stuck with some bad weather (aka an excuse to sit inside a spa and read). Quick thoughts: Dark Matter was definitely sci-fi and I don’t like sci-fi (but I still finished it, so that’s something), The Hate U Give is YA fiction but a worthwhile commentary on racism and policing (also very much looking forward to the movie adaptation), Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup was one of the most wild true stories I’ve read in a while and I can’t believe that it happened in our lifetime, and  The Alice Network is a solid WW2 historical fiction read.

Podcasts

The first season of Serial was what turned me into a podcast lover (like so many other people!): I actually still remember taking the subway up to David’s parents house for Thanksgiving dinner (my first family holiday with him) and we turned to each other once we got on the subway car and were just like, is it cool if we sit next to each other with headphones in the whole ride so that we can catch up?! I had mixed feelings on season 2, but I’m very much here for Serial Season 3: it’s covering all of the ins and outs of the criminal justice system in Cleveland. While it’s infuriating at times, it’s also a very necessary look at all that’s gone wrong in the letter and spirit of the law.

Words

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” -Robert Frost

This weekend, we’re in New York City for a wedding! Of course, I’m also squeezing in a spicy chicken sandwich, my all-time favorite Pilates class and an early morning bagel in Central Park.