Confessions of a Frequent Traveler

Because of my job, I find myself on planes on a fairly regular basis – I'm no road warrior, but I travel enough to rack up some frequent flyer miles that I can actually put to use. 

One of my dirty little secrets though is that I don't like to do work on a plane.  Sure, I'll review a presentation or read through something and make a few notes, but when I'm crammed into a plane seat, I really don't feel like doing much more than reading. 

Usually I'll read a book I've brought along, or if it is a longer flight, a stack of magazines I've been meaning to catch up on.   However, every once in a while, when I want a laugh, I pick up the ubiquitous SkyMall catalog.   There always seem to be waves of product categories that crop up from time to time.  A few years ago it was devices for catching/killing bugs – there were vacuums, vacuum attachments, guns that shot nets, electronic devices, etc. etc.  Back in 2006, it was hot dog cookers.

Just when I thought I was alone in enjoying the silliness of the Skymall Catalog, along comes this great blog featuring face-offs of the stupidest SkyMall items.  I'm not sure if the dayclock should have beat the large travel pillow though.  I've never seen anyone actually USE the large travel pillow even though I've seen it in several catalogs and have personally thought that it seems to make sense.  I'd never use it though – I'm afraid that the person next to me would punch me in the throat for just considering blowing it up, which is pretty much what I would to do to anyone who pulled out a large pool toy-like device and started blowing it up for five minutes on a plane.