i will be returning to beloved paris in 30 days (the official countdown has begun)! the only necessities for my transatlantic flight are: bread, cheese, a bottle of wine smuggled on board, and my most charming traveling companion.

bon voyage to us all!

ONe thing I find necessary, that I have not seen mentioned here, is a shoehorn. I always carry a small plastic shoehorn in an easisly accessable pocket for those times I have to collect myself after the screeners take my shoes away.

I'm usually in sometning of disarray after they have stripped me of belt buckle, keys, etc., and I find myself hopping away in my stocking feet looking for someplace to get myself together again, reload my pockets and, perhaps, regain some dignity.

Being able to simply slip my shoes on again with the shoehorn, rather than finding a bench and untieing and retieng my laces is much more efficient.

I'm surprised at the number of people who don't suggest a journal-even for your daughter.

Both my sister and my mother and myself each kept a journal of our European travels together. It is so much fun 25 years later to go to a specific date and each read the varied perspectives on the moment or event. A psychoanalyst would have a hey-day! ha-ha-ha! Now my mom is too old to travel and we love taking a trip back in time together. Also, it is amazing the details you forget without a little prompting from your notes and pictures/postcards.

A lazy approach is to purchase a whole slew of aérogrammes at the first post office you come to and use them like a journal, mailing them home as they fill up anywhere you come upon a mail box (no further trips to the Post required). You can number them or simply use the post's dated stamp to reference later.

Biggest advice is the saline spray/vicks-mentholatum (insert your brand here) for the nose and Zinc lozenges for the throat. We finally got smart after numerous colds/sinusitis following these long flights. And who wants to not feel their best at such an important time?!

Have a wonderful time!

I love the idea of a journal. My daughter and I have been on so many exciting vacations, and now (must be getting Alzheimers!) I can not even remember details of the Carribean islands we visited. At the end of the trip, they all blended together. Had I written down all the wonderful sites we saw, I would never forget. Thank you all again.

besides all that, am I the only one to carry a camera and maybe a binocular. some of the sights on a transatlantic are great, i.e. if its a day flight...if not then the rest of things mentioned here!

rucrazy - my mother and I have been on several trips together and I pointed out to her that it is the Caribbean one's we can't remember in detail. I think maybe it's because it's a different kind of vacation - even you're brain veggies out. Anyway, sounds better than having Alzheimer's doesn't it?

This is not to say that journals aren't a fabulous idea just a little reassurance. Enjoy your trip!