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Photo: Chieko Kato
The Pack: Tiffany Lighty
The actress-filmmaker on how to bring an extra pair of sneakers and still have room to spare in your carry-on.
by The Glassy | 03.03.2018
The Traveler: Tiffany Lighty, actor and filmmaker
Base: Miami, FL
Destination: New York, NY
The night before a flight I’m up packing until 2 a.m. That’s me: starting to pack at midnight for my 7 a.m. flight [laughs]. If I’m going to New York during the winter—or anywhere that’s cold—I’ll be like, time to pull out that turtleneck I love wearing, time to pull out the leather jacket, time to pull out my favorite sweatshirt. So that stuff’s easy because I know what I want.
If I can’t fit my workout shoes in my bag, I’ll tie them onto my backpack.
Where I run into the issue of not having enough space in my bag is because I want to have cute shoes or boots, but then I have to bring a pair of sneakers so I can work out. That’s the moment of truth: Am I going to work out? Of course—and I’m going to regret it if I don’t bring my sneakers.
If I can’t fit my workout shoes in my bag, I’ll tie them onto my backpack—you’ll normally catch a pair of Adidas sneakers hanging from my backpack—no one [at the airport] has ever said anything to me about that. Also, Converse are very flat, so if I want a pair of casual kicks, those things you can smoosh easily.
All about the roll.
I’m adamant about not wearing my workout clothes twice without washing them—I’ve recently gotten into heated workouts, like hot yoga or Tracy Anderson Method, those two will leave me drenched. I’ll definitely have at least two pairs of leggings, so that if I do have access to a washing machine—which I normally do, since I usually stay with friends and family—I have a pair to alternate.
I’m pretty good with fitting in all of my clothes. I roll up my clothes so that they’re really small and compact; that definitely saves space. Also, I will walk onto the plane sweating because I’m wearing as many articles of clothing as possible. I’ll wear two jackets or my biggest boots—which is ridiculous to wear on the plane, but if that’s going to save room in my suitcase, then so be it.
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- Carry-on essentials.
I definitely take pride in not checking my bag. I’ve gone to Europe for two weeks with just a carry-on and a backpack—I don’t even know how [laughs]. It’s just a pain in the ass, once you get to where you’re going the last thing you want to do is wait for your bag or risk them losing it. I try to get away with having three [carry-on] items instead of two: I have my roller, I have my backpack, and then I want to have a purse as well; something that I can quickly take my iPhone, ID, and ticket out of and not have to have it in my pocket or worry about losing it. That’s normally the one that gets me in trouble.
I’ll wear two jackets or my biggest boots—which is ridiculous to wear on the plane, but if that’s going to save room in my suitcase, then so be it.
Flights really dry you out, so I’ll hydrate and take an Emergen-C before I walk out the door for that extra boost of vitamins. Also, I take echinacea and turmeric every day. I’m big on preventative [measures]—same with the Green Vibrance; it tastes horrible, it’s disgusting, it’s like drinking dirt, but I take it whenever I’m traveling.
I’m big on packing snacks, I’ll take whatever I can from my fridge so my food doesn’t go bad. Whatever fruit I have, granola, maybe I’ll do an overnight oats. I love oatmeal, so if I can find that in the airport then I’ll buy that—I’m not against buying things in the airport, but I won’t eat crappy airport food or fast food. I’d rather starve a bit and be hungry and wait until I get wherever I’m going.
Fitting it all in.
I get to the airport with just enough time to get through security and walk to the gate—maybe jog to the gate. I’m so bad with that! I normally plan it out so that I know I’m walking up right as they’re announcing that they’re about to board; I’m not timing it to sit [at the gate] and scroll on Instagram or do whatever.
When I get on the plane, the first thing I’ll do is wipe down my area. Yeah, they clean the planes between flights…but do they really? You see people getting off the plane and five minutes later we’re boarding, so it makes me feel better that I wiped it down. Especially if I’m watching a movie and touching the screen or the remote, that has to be wiped down; they definitely did not clean that.
Flights really dry you out, so I’ll hydrate and take an Emergen-C before I walk out the door for that extra boost of vitamins.
I prefer an aisle seat so I can get up and go to the bathroom and not worry about getting enough water. I used to be a window-seat gal because I’d want to lay my head on the window, but now I sacrifice that to get up. I’ll do [stretches] in place when we land, but during the flight I’m not really unless I’m hurting in a particular area or feeling crampy. I don’t always do sheet masks on flights, but if I’m traveling internationally then yeah, why not? It’s fun, it’s good for your skin, and if you’re on a really long flight it helps you hydrate.
Pro tip: Tie your sneakers onto your bag to save space.
When I sleep on flights I really don’t want to be bothered [laughs]. I know some people like to talk and meet the person sitting next to them, which is fine—if someone tries to talk to me I won’t give them the death glare and not talk, but usually I just want to get into my own zone. So I’ll put on my sunglasses, put my scarf over my head so that I’m fully covered, plug in my headphones, start listening to an audiobook, and doze off. Then the stewardesses know when they’re going by that I don’t want anything. If I’m awake, I’ll usually order water and those Biscoff cookies—I love those!
I’ll put on my sunglasses, put my scarf over my head so that I’m fully covered, plug in my headphones, start listening to an audiobook, and doze off.
Right when I land, to fresh up I’ll use Evian spray. If it was one of those flights where I had a lot of layers on me because I’m saving space in my suitcase, or I was running late and had to run to my gate then I might use deodorant wipes. And then I’ll figure out what I’m doing when I reach my destination—normally I want to eat, so it’s probably revolving around that!
—as told to The Glassy
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