Chief Macaroni Mom Joyce Shulman finds herself in the air a lot between travel writing for Macaroni Kid Family Travel, meeting with local Macaroni Kid publishers, checking in with partners and sponsors, and visiting family.
“I’m on a plane at least once a month and often more,” she says.
A compulsive planner, Joyce has flying down to a science. Register for TSA pre-check. Arrive early. Pack light. And tucked in her carry on? These are the five things Joyce won’t board a plane without:
1. A warm black scarf
“When I travel, I pack mostly black and white, so the scarf goes with everything and doubles as a blanket when the plane gets too cold," she says. "Which is usually.”
2. A Hydro Flask water bottle
“More and more airports have at least a few bottle refill stations. I figure my Hydro Flask has saved more than $300 and kept more than 75 plastic bottles out of landfills in the past two years," she says.
3. Lip balm
“I recently boarded a flight from New York to Denver and realized I had forgotten my current favorite lip balm," she says. "I was licking my lips – even though I know that only makes it worse – for 1,700 miles.”
4. Kind Bars
“Note that I said 'bars' not 'bar,'" she says with a laugh. "A minimum of two because even if the flight is supposed to be a quick one, with the weather, air traffic, and everything else, you just don’t know when a 90-minute flight will become four hours on a plane. Especially if you are flying in or out of NYC.”
5. Thule Subterra Carry-On
“I was like Goldilocks with carry-ons. Every carry-on I tried was either too big or too small or had too few pockets or too many pockets. Then Thule sent me their Subterra to check out," she says. "It’s a perfect size, looks great, and keeps my clothes packed perfectly.”
Check out this fun video of Joyce showing off her Thule Subterra Carry-On:
Wishing you all safe -- and extremely comfortable -- travel adventures of your own!
