Atlantica - 01.01.2006, Page 18

16 AT L A N T I CA
Flying coach? Spoil yourself – no one else is going to do it.
Once, several years ago, I had the good fortune to be bumped from
coach to business class on an international flight. The upgrade came
as a complete surprise; one minute, my smooth-talking companion was
exchanging words across the desk at check-in, the next thing I knew we were
soaring from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, accepting glass flutes of champagne
and freshly-squeezed orange juice from flight attendants who called us by
name.
Many economy seats later, the only perk I’m left with is my business
class goody bag, a bundle placed tenderly into our hands as we taxied on
the runway. I tore into mine like a kitten on a ball of yarn, dislodging an
assortment of thoughtful details: a sleep mask, a pair of clean fuzzy socks, a
vial of rose perfume, a toothbrush and paste, good headphones, and a variety
of wonderfully packaged unguents to protect against the drying cabin air.
Barring another act of airline largesse, I won’t be jetting business class
again anytime soon. But the taste of life beyond the privacy curtain spoiled
me. Next time I fly, I’m going to be giving myself white-glove treatment with
a homemade flight kit inspired by the goody-bag of yore.
As do-it-yourself projects go, the flight kit isn’t a hard one. With a little bit
of gathering and planning ahead, you can seriously up your quality of life in
coach. To assemble my own, I started by picking up a simple vinyl case at the
American chain The Container Store. And then I went looking for goodies to
fill it, following the main categories of loot in the original: toiletries, luxuries,
diversions, and foils for stress.
Because air travel wreaks special havoc on the hair and skin, in addition to
inducing the same not-so-fresh feeling as any mode of travel, I made toiletry
items my first priority. For moisturizing purposes, I chose a tin of pure shea
butter from L’Occitane, a drugstore tin of Nivea Crème, and a tube of Kiehl’s
potent Lip Balm #1. A trip to the modernist-luxe travel store Flight 001 (it’s
online) turned up a charming argyle travel toothbrush and a tiny deodorant
crystal. A tin of atomic-strength ‘After Coffee’ mints from Starbucks seemed
like a good idea, as did a spritz of Demeter’s ‘Laundromat’ fragrance – it smells
uncannily like the real thing, and will complete the illusion that one hasn’t
been breathing the same old air for the last seven hours.
on the fly
FULL PRODUCT DETAILS:
• Smartwool running socks, $13.95, at outdoor stores and www.smartwool.com • Marilyn Snooze Mask, Fred Flare, $10, at www.fredflare.com; other masks in series at
www.loopnyc.com • Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1, $5.50, Saks Fifth Avenue and Kiehls stores. www.kiehls.com • Nivea Crème, 1-oz. tin, $0.99 at Walgreens • Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer,
0.5 oz, $1.29 at Walgreens • Laundromat cologne spray by Demeter Fragrance Library, $19 at Sephora. www.sephora.com; www.demeterfragrance.com • After Coffee Mints,
$1.95, Starbucks. www.starbucks.com • Aquafresh Extreme Clean whitening toothpaste, trial size, $1.49 at Walgreens. • L’Occitane Shea Butter, $7 at Sephora. www.sephora.com;
www.loccitane.com • Crystal Stick Body Deodorant, $4 at Flight 001, San Francisco; www.flight001.com; www.thecrystal.com • Argyle toothbrush, Creations by Alan Stuart New
York, $7 at Flight 001, San Francisco; www.creationsbyalanstuart.com • Rodeo Queen pocket notebook, Red Horseshoe, $3 at Cody’s Books, San Francisco. www.redhorseshoe.
com, or buy at www.dafridge.com • Blank ‘Air Food’ notecard, K Monster & Company, $4 at Flight 001 • Bük pamphlets by Bükamerica, Inc., $1.49 each at Flight 001;
www.bukamerica.com • The Gripp Sports and Fitness Hand Trainer, $6.50 at REI, www.rei.com • Origins Sensory Therapy: Peace of Mind, $10.00, at Macy’s department stores,
Origins stores, or www.origins.com • Mack’s Original SafeSound Earplugs, $4.29 for 10 pairs, Walgreens • Emergen-C packet, $0.39, health food stores Expenses = $102.97
Good to Go
Text by Katherine Sharpe
Illustrations by Lilja Gunnarsdóttir
Airmail+OTF ATL106.indd 16 16.12.2005 12:15:13