What to wear on the airplane?

I always dress in layers so I can handle everything from cold airplanes to carrying luggage across hot parking lots.

In the past couple weeks, I’ve taken 2 flights in Peru, 2 international flights and 2 flights in the US.

It reminded me what to wear – and what not to wear on a plane.

Tops: Wear something with a front zip so it’s easy to get on and off. You might be asked to take off your jacket or sweater for security. You might be running through the airport for a tight connection and need to take off a layer on the go. You might need to just unzip a jacket while seated if you’re at the gate for a while and the plane’s air conditioning is turned off. There’s just not enough elbow room on planes to take off something that doesn’t zip or button in the front.

Pants: Wear something with as few pockets as possible. It’s such a pain to have to go back through security because you thought you emptied all your pockets – but you missed one. For overnight flights and flights more than 10 hours long, wear something you can sleep in.

Shoes: In the US wear slip-on shoes unless you have pre-check or some other service that gives you special security clearance. In South America you never have to take your shoes off. Wear whatever’s comfortable or too bulky to fit in your luggage. I’ve walked through security in Peru, Argentina and Chile with heavy hiking boots, and nobody asked me to take them off.

Recent article

An Unexpected Destination Inspired a Beloved Children’s Book

Did you know that The Little Prince was inspired in Argentina? When I was in Concordia, I found out that the author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry had stayed at a mansion there in 1930. It’s now a museum, and I had to see it for myself. I’ve loved The Little Prince since I first read it over 30 years ago but had no idea there was a connection in South America. Click on the link above to find out just how much of The Little Prince was inspired in Argentina.

Extra article

The 25 Best Things To Do in Argentina 

Rather than a blog, I have an extra article for you today, which inspired the article about The Little Prince. I wrote this top 25 Argentina list for Fodor’s Travel and the Concordia hot springs were number nineteen on my list. After the hot springs, I added: “in Concordia is the ruins of a castle where French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry found the inspiration for his book The Little Prince.” The editors wanted to know: could I write more about that?

You already know the answer.