Traveling light and packing perfectly for a Christmas away.

I feel cramped and stiff after a transatlantic flight to London every Christmas and I am 5" 3 and 3/4' tall. I'm also lucky enough, and single enough, to be bumped up to business class on what seems like every other flight.

The truth is that it is more comfortable and the conditions are better in business class. Not luxurious but better. My comparative study that favors comfortable travel, for so many reasons other than the real plates and better food, ` including how much better you feel getting off the plane and me

It's a conflict of interest but airlines priorities are different from that of a passenger. A passenger wants room and comfort and an airline wants as many passengers as possible in seats. A passenger wants delay free travel and an airline wants to overbook seats during the holidays to make money on "no shows" and canceled reservations.

See the potential for problems? So as a holiday traveler what do you do to make traveling less traumatizing aside from renewing a highly addictive prescription for Xanex?

1. Arrive at the airport as early as possible, most airports have restaurants, spa's, shopping and gym facilitates to entertain visitors waiting for flights.
2. Remember these numbers 22 x 9 x 14, that's what you can carry on a plane.
3. One personal item means: a lap top and carrier case, a purse, a briefcase, a diaper bag.
4. Don't wrap gifts; security screenings mean they will be unwrapped. If you can ship presents ahead of time.
5. 3oz. that's it! 3oz of liquid, gel, fragrance - expensive face cream only. it will be taken from you otherwise.
6. Get a pedicure for vanities sake, you have to clear security x-rays barefoot or in socks.
7. Hint to anyone who has intimate piercings, take them off for travels sake. Explaining that the problem is your cockring to a customers officer is not as cool as it is in the bedroom.
8. Pack all your clothes into a carry on by rolling clothes, packing small things like socks and underwear into shoes and by using my favorite product "space bags" to shrink wrap clothes.
9. Fill the pockets of the clothes you are wearing with stuff you need
10. Be prepared to donate clothes to charity if you buy new things on your trip

Being mindful of the comfort and needs of others is the gift of courtesy, it sounds so pitiful to mention but it isn't always the cramped seats that exhaust the long distance traveler , it can be the chatty person in the seat beside you, the drunk, the snoring person, the crying child, or the person who drops into the reclining position when you are trying to work or worse still trying to finish your meal.

Traveling light means arriving happy. There's an old saying, "Evil is wroght by want of thought as well as by want of heart." So, even if your intentions are not malicious, think before you act.