Advice for Traveling Alone
- Traveling alone can be an intimidating experience, especially for those who don't do it often. Knowing what to expect and thinking about the challenges solo air travel throws at you ahead of time can make it an easy and efficient experience.
Avoid checking a bag. This is true of any air travel really, but I find it's much easier to be a self-contained entity when alone, leaving as little responsibility to the airline as possible. There's nobody to search for the right baggage claim with you or to help you talk to the agent if a bag gets lost. By keeping everything with you, there's less chance of error.
Along those same lines, don't be afraid to gate check a bag (usually signified by yellow tags put on the bag as you board). This works differently from normal bag checking, as any gate checked bag is only given to the airline as you board the plane, and is retrieved right as you exit the plane. The bag never actually goes through the whole luggage system - that invariably ends misplacing things.
Traveling alone seems to increase the chance of you being searched at security, particularly if one is not obviously on a business trip. Just assume you will be searched and pack accordingly.

Air Quality
- The air that you breathe inside an airline cabin isn't nearly as good as what you will find most other places. The cabin is pressurized, since the air is so thin at altitude. However, they don't pressurize it to sea level; it is substantially weaker. (This is part of why air travel can be so draining; you can end up with mild altitude sickness!). Furthermore, the air is very very dry. This can lead to dehydration, which can also make you feel lousy. I strongly advise bringing a liter or two of water with you, and guzzling that non-stop throughout the trip. Finally, the air is filled with the exhaust products of your fellow travelers. One of these can be cigarette smoke; while smoking has been banned on domestic US flights, such rules are not followed around the globe. Although it might horrify some Americans, not all countries even mandate separate smoking sections!

Air Sickness
- If you get motion sick easily, you may be more comfortable if you take some sort of motion sickness drug before you fly. Note that you must take the drugs before you get sick; there is unfortunately nothing that I know of that will relieve motion sickness once it has started. My personal drug of choice is Dramamine, a readily-obtained over-the-counter medication. Unlike Bonine, another over-the-counter drug, it tends to make one drowsy. I feel that this is a benefit on a long plane ride! Another motion sickness treatment (usually used for boating) is Scopolamine patches. These patches go behind the ear, and usually have no noticeable side effects. I believe that in the USA, a prescription is required. Furthermore, there can be unpleasant side effects, such as dry mouth, blurry vision, and one other one that I forget. (Oh yeah - loss of memory.)
Motion sickness is caused in part by a discrepancy between what the eye sees and what the inner ear feels. (This is why the driver of a car gets sick much less frequently than a passenger: the driver is continuously watching the road, getting a good idea of what is coming next.) It may help to close your eyes the moment you start to consider thinking about getting airsick.

- The internet has wonderful maps of airports available. I have printed up copies and taken them along, making changing airplanes much easier. I have also looked at the lay-out of the planes to see where my seat was located.

What kind of shots should I get before going?
I received four shots, all at once, for the following diseases:

• Tetanus
• Polio (the childhood vaccine we all took weakens after a while)
• Meningitus
• Hepatitus A

I also took an oral vaccine for Typhoid

It is a good idea to check various websites to determine if there are any outbreaks of diseases in the areas to which you plan to travel