Tiptoeing around travel

Young Chang

Ever had your feet swell while traveling on an airplane? Ever take

your shoes off to make them feel better and not been able to put them

back on?

Combine that with having to step off a plane with heavy bags and a

jet-lagged head and you’ve got problems.

Margaret Argos, manager of Newport Mesa Travel Connection in Newport

Beach, suggests two small steps to avoid ill-fitting shoes: Stay away

from carbonated drinks when you’re in the air, as unusual oxygen levels

way up there don’t marry kindly with sodas, and keep your shoes on.

For those with greater travel problems than swollen feet, Argos and

other Newport-Mesa experts have some know-how about traveling by air,

land and sea to share.

But before getting into specifics, there are some general tips every

traveler should know:

* Don’t carry your written prescriptions in the same place you’ve

packed your medicine.

“In case you lose the paper,” Argos said. “You can’t just go into the

pharmacy and say, ‘I’m taking whatever.”’

* If you’re traveling internationally, always have a copy of your

passport packed in the suitcase.

* Leave your itinerary with someone at home or at the office with a

list of hotels, addresses and phone numbers.

* If you’re going somewhere without readily accessible laundry

machines, pack a hair dryer and a plastic bag. You put the clothes in the

bag and turn the hair dryer on.

“You need to compact that air,” Argos said. “And this way you got your

own little dryer.”

* If your dry-cleaned clothes come in plastic bags, keep the plastic

on and roll the clothes in it. They take up less room in the suitcase and

don’t wrinkle.

* Don’t pack all of your finest clothes and jewelry.

“It’s rather ostentatious, and it’s subject to theft,” said Pat

Harrison, cruise specialist at Seven Seas Travel Store in Newport Beach.

“And you don’t need to impress the people you’re traveling with, because

you’ll probably never see them again.”

* If you have special health requirements and need, for example, to

eat every few hours, be responsible about packing the food and the

quantities you need.

* Be flexible. You never know when or where it’ll rain, never know

when you’ll have to visit the museum instead of the beach.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

* If you like to carry your own personal soap, and it comes in a

powdered form, go for the liquid kind.

“It can be mistaken for all kinds of things, especially if it’s taken

out of the container,” Argos said.

* Women might not want to wear an under-wire bra while traveling

because the wire can set off metal detectors.

“One of our ladies had one on and she’s coming home from Arkansas, and

they made her go in a little room and take her top off,” Argos said.

* Don’t drink too much alcohol on the plane.

“It affects the equilibrium,” Argos said. “Because of the oxygen

levels, one drink is equal to two in the air.”

* Drink lots of water. It aerates the body.

ON THE ROAD

* Make sure to have maps.

* Carry water, flashlights, blankets and a first-aid kit in the car.

* Munch on unsalted snacks, as sodium creates thirst, retains water

and causes swelling. Carrots, celery sticks and other foods that have

water in them are good.

* Stop often. It’s good to walk around, stretch and rejuvenate.

CRUISIN’

* Most boats nowadays travel so steadily and with so little rocking

that not as many seafarers get seasick. But anyone who thinks they might

should go for the patches.

“But they should be careful because they do affect some people’s

equilibrium,” Harrison said. “They don’t really know until you put them

on, but it can cause vertigo.”

* There are new acupuncture wristbands that ward off seasickness.

* Be sure to know what kind of cruise you’re going on, whether you

need a formal jacket for dinner, and whether the entertainment features

are catered to a young-adult crowd or families with young children.

* Pack light and in the order you’re going to be wearing the clothes.

“On one cruise, there was one bag that fell overboard while loading,”

said Darwin Reinglass, president of Newport-Mesa Travel Connections. “It

was mine.”