Here’s a few of the interesting requests from these first-time visitors:

• Eat at Taco Bell, IHOP and Subway.
• Meet a real cowboy.
• Go shopping. While this is a common request from visitors from all the countries that I am with, I’m most perplexed by the visitors who are from China making this request. Chances are very high that they will be buying items labeled “Made in China.” Can’t they be found less expensive in China, maybe at their version of a factory outlet mall?
• Meet a ‘CHiPS’ police officer on a motorcycle.
• Go through a drive-through anything (yes, not all countries have drive-through fast food restaurants or banks or churches).

Some of these may seem silly, especially when you think of someone traveling thousands of miles just to eat at Taco Bell or Subway. Really? Is that on any of your lists of top things to do for people visiting the U.S.?

Before I chuckle too much at people wanting to eat good ol’ American fast food and meet a modern-day John Wayne, I thought it would be interesting to think about what we’d want to experience if we go another country – not the typical “1,000 Things To Do Before You Die,” but local foods, stores or events that we wouldn’t want to miss.

For example: I wanted to experience a Deep Fried Mars Bar in Scotland, walking the streets of Paris with French baguettes in white paper bags sticking out of my canvas bag, and High Tea at Harrod’s in London, and I’ve now done all these things. Other things on my list: Go shopping in a food market in Italy (and stay in a place where I can do my own cooking), eat off a street cart in China and take a photo of a restaurant menu (from anywhere outside the U.S.) that offers bugs on their menu. On this last item, note that I said just ‘take a photo’ vs. actually eat the bugs. Eating bugs is nowhere on my list of things to do.

While the things on our to-do lists may raise an eyebrow to the locals, just as the visit to Taco Bell elicits a “You’re kidding!” response from an American, it’s often these small things that give us the most enjoyment in our travels.

So what’s on your list of non-top-tourist things for your international travels that you won’t be happy unless you do?

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Dejectedly you set down your bags in an attempt to calm your frustrations. You look around and see all the other passengers looking exasperated.

Before you join the masses and get pulled into their malaise, know that there are numerous ways to actually make great use of this extra time. You even prepared for it ahead of time!

Here are the items to pack into your Flight Delay Preparedness Kit before you leave home:

1. Books or eBook reader: One or two paperback books (depending on how fast you read). With an eBook reader, stock up on several books, with at least one book that you know your mind can get totally caught up in.
2. Dried fruit or trail mix: Sitting anxiously in an airport causes you to want to crunch or munch something. Preferably pack a healthy snack; no need to pack on pounds while you wait.
3. Puzzles: Sudoku, crossword puzzles or other varieties are always a plus. (I like bringing the USA Today paper from my hotel to do their puzzles.) There are many apps for your smart phones for these games as well.
4. Journal: Keep track of your life and the great places you’re visiting. A special pen makes the writing more fun.
5. Money: Cash or change for any vending machine need you might encounter. Keeping hydrated with water is good.
6. MP3 Player (or music on your smart phone): An absolute must for those who wish to keep the noise of the airport away.
7. Stationery or postcards: Great for quick notes to friends and family, or for recording the highlights of your trip. If you will be sending via snail mail, remember to bring stamps.
8. Laptop: A great choice to keep yourself busy during the wait. (Airports are getting better about supplying power outlets to keep a full charge.)
9. Do a read through Harriet Baskas’ Stuck at the Airport site to see what’s happening at the airports you’ll be flying through. (Especially review her USA Today Airport Guides.)

This sounds like quite a list, though fortunately it’s mostly small items that won’t weigh down your bag. Even laptops are getting smaller and lighter.

Now that you are sitting at the gate, waiting to hear when your flight will depart, what do you do? Here are ideas to get you started in making the wait a far less stressful event:

• Catch up on your correspondence: Write a few cards or letters, answer emails, and take care of a few phone calls. Most of us have a tendency to allow these things to build up for ‘when we have time.’ Well, now you have time! Take advantage of the opportunity to get in touch with friends and family and get a couple of things checked off on your to-do list.
• Write in your journal: Start a new journal or continue updating a current one. (I’ve got several I bought at airport book stores.) Write about your current experience, what you did during your trip, or keep track of life’s lessons or childhood memories. This could make a great gift for your future generations.
• Read: Escaping into a wonderful exotic book can be a treat. Pick something you wouldn’t normally read, maybe one of those trashy novels or whodunit mysteries.
• Explore: The larger the airport, the more stores there are! Enjoy window shopping, pick up a gift or two, take an energizing walk (ask if the airport has lockers to store your bag for a while), or check out the art the airport might have on display. Or just sit and people watch. Create unique story lines for the people you see, give them exotic lives and personalities and send them off on fantastic travels!
• Enjoy spa time: Indulge yourself in a facial, manicure, pedicure or massage at an airport spa. Spas are going into more airports all the time. A relaxing massage, even for just 15 minutes, can take all your cares away and you’ll be so grateful for the flight delay!
• Eat and Drink: Instead of a fast food meal on the run, enjoy being waited on at a nicer airport restaurant. If there’s a wine bar available in the airport, explore new vinos, order an appetizer and savor the experience.
• Find a quieter section of the terminal and listen to your music while keeping busy with Sudoku and other mind-occupying puzzles. Just going to a less-occupied gate area across the hall is calming, and you can still keep track of the goings-on at your gate.
• Get online: If free Wi-Fi is available in the airport, then do some surfing, catch up on emails or connect with your social network. You’ll at least get some sympathy from your Facebook friends on your flight delay! If the wait for your flight is long, it may even be worthwhile to pay for Wi-Fi. Otherwise, use your laptop to watch a movie you’ve saved for just this occasion, play a game or use the time to write or get a bit of work done (get that expense reporting all caught up!).
• Get a day pass for an airline lounge. You’ll feel like you’ve escaped to another world as you enter an airline lounge and sense a feeling of calm being away from the hectic airport hallways and jam-packed gate areas. Many lounges now offer a day pass and this can be so worth the cost when your delay is counted in hours. Agents in the lounge will typically announce when a delayed flight is boarding so you can get back to your gate in time. See Airport Lounges-One of the Great Perks of Travel for more details.

I have had countless delays in my years of traveling. Some were just a few minutes, many a few hours and a handful of overnight delays. When I’m prepared with various things to keep me busy and productive, the delays are much more tolerable. If I had an uncharged laptop and little in my tote to do, I’d be throwing up my hands in frustration with the rest of the passengers!

So be prepared, as flight delays are a commonplace occurrence, and experience much more pleasurable travels.

Guest post by Lenora Spatafore Boyle

We need to let go, to leave all of our responsibilities behind. Once a year I retreat with a small group of women to my own favorite get-away –the five small seaside towns of the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. Like shedding a thick skin, I let it all go—cell phone, board meetings, problem solving, family challenges. Now it’s time for me. A retreat can bring us any kind of nurturing, pampering or adventure we need to return renewed. “Your mind slips sideways in Italy,” is a great line from Enchanted April, the movie where four British women escape a cold and dreary England to the sunny shores of the Italian Riviera for a month.

We need to spend time doing what we love. A retreat is an opportunity for women to go for what they want – some want to push the envelope, some want to lay back and do nothing. Italy brings something fresh out of me. I’m surrounded with so much loveliness  and history that it seeps into my soul. I revel in the outdoors, flex my heart and my legs to just walk and walk like I’ve never walked before, because what I lay my eyes on takes my breath away. Surrounded by so much outer beauty I love creating more inner beauty, getting the soul tuned up and taking care of myself .

We need to see and learn new things. Retreats are an opportunity to open our hearts and minds to new possibilities – any dream we can imagine. On my Italy retreat we learn what it takes to enjoy our lives, to live la dolce vita – the sweet life. In a retreat that includes workshop we’re learning to break free from old mindsets, unravel tight places, and create a life we love, while all around us the air smells like lemons and basil and the turquoise sea sparkles.

We need to spend time with like-minded people. I especially enjoy the women-only space of a retreat. There’s a sweetness in spending time with a group of like-minded women – shopping for the small blue plates with painted lemons, then eating and sharing a glass of local wine. The pistachio gelato, focaccia bread and pesto pasta draw us into the cafes. The trails connecting the five villages wind us like ribbons up the sides of the mountains laughing and talking as we go. It’s been said that when women connect with each other, they create more serotonin—a neurotransmitter that give us a feeling of well-being.

We need to enjoy our lives. After a soul-satisfying adventure, I return from Italy soaked with love. In Italy my breath slows down, my body relaxes, my heart expands. I remember who I am.

I return recharged, the stresses of the year washed away. The daily chores, standing at my kitchen sink or writing at my desk, are not so mundane now. A satisfying personal retreat leaves me appreciating my life here and now. I’m seeing through fresh eyes and smelling through a fresh nose, just like the women in Enchanted April who noticed, “We could smell the acacia flowers long after we arrived back in London.”

—

Lenora Spatafore Boyle: Life Coach, Speaker, Option Method Teacher, Leader of Transformational Retreats for women in Italy. Next Italy Retreat for women in the Italian Riviera is September 10-18, 2011.

Changelimitingbeliefs.com

For those of us who travel routinely, it can sometimes be mundane things that happen to us along our journey that get us excited. Or we create our own fun with little games we play with ourselves to get through the stress of travel (such as “if I leave this bottle of liquid hand lotion in my purse, will TSA spot it?” or “how many pennies can I leave in my pocket before I’ll ding?”).

In looking back at my countless travel days, there are many events that got me excited or made me smile, some so boring you may wonder if I have a life! So here I share –

Top 10 mundane things (Letterman-style) that make me a very happy traveler:

10. Having a fresh supply of bins brought to my security line just before it’s time to go through the belt.

9. Approaching the line at Starbucks on a Monday morning and I’m the only one in line.

8. Getting through security without having to take off my jacket.

7. Getting seated in my rental car and the mirrors are already at the right adjustment for me.

6. Finding that my rental car is in space 05 rather than space 795.

5. Watching as one of the skinniest people on the plane sits down next to me in the middle seat of coach.

4. Finding hotel slippers when I open the closet.

3. Having a new TSA line open up just as I’m approaching security.

2. Checking into a hotel that has in-room Starbucks coffee.

1. Finding a bathroom stall that actually has room for me and my luggage without the need for me to stand on the toilet seat to close the door. Yes, this one definitely makes me the happiest!

Recommendations of what NOT to do:

• Buy a Christmas card at the last minute from an airport gift shop … and forget to grab an envelope with it. Give the card to your husband in a white plastic bag in lieu of the envelope. Very mortifying.

• Not listen to what he’s saying when talking on the phone at night. Type loud on the computer keyboard without realizing it so he really knows that you’re not listening to him.

• Overlook telling your spouse anything about your trip, including what city you’re in, where you’re staying and what flight you’re on.

• Volunteer to be bumped from a flight on Valentine’s Day. Totally ruin husband’s special ‘surprise’ plans for dinner at a very romantic restaurant.

• Forget your anniversary . . . enough said!

Better recommendations for keeping your relationship strong across the miles:

• Always make time to focus on your partner each day. Call when you’re in a quiet place (no, not the hotel bar!) and ask about their day. Talk about the events going on at home; do not solely talk about your travels and the fun you’re having. Enjoy a long conversation rather than giving the impression that you are rushing out the door to meet friends.

• Call when you say you’re going to call. When out of town for business or pleasure, the days are full and time can escape us. Be cognizant of the time that you agreed to talk. Set an alarm on your watch or a reminder in your email, if needed (although don’t let your partner know that he’s an ‘appointment’ on your calendar!). If your meeting is running late or dinner is lasting long, send a text message. Acknowledge the delay and set a later time to talk.

• Mention names of the people you may be traveling with rather than talk about ‘the guy you travel with.’ Let your husband get familiar with, even across the miles, the names of who you are traveling with.

• Pay attention to details. Email your travel itinerary to your partner; put birthdays, anniversaries and other relationship-saving dates into your calendar.

• Get right back into the routine of things at home once your travels are over. Make travel just an ordinary part of your life together. Keep packing for your next trip low-key and don’t gloat about where you’re going next.

It is very possible to have a great relationship with your partner, even though you may sleep in different beds for many nights.

Share your tips for keeping the bonds of love strong when one or both partners travel. Especially share your tips on what NOT to do! Save the rest of us the heartache and embarrassment!