Earlier this week we started talking about bad travel experiences. I mentioned that I try to look at the bright-side in all situations because having a bad attitude is not going to help anyone. Today’s subject is one that I feel very strongly about. One subject so offensive that it overrules the crying babies, unruly children, and the overly talkative neighbor. This subject makes me nauseous just thinking about it: I’m talking about Body Odor, folks!
If I ruled the world, I would require everyone who boards a flight to have showered and put on deodorant in the last 12-24 hours. Let’s face it, if you are flying somewhere, more than likely you are in a financial situation where you are able to shower. I tend to show a more patient side when it comes to misbehaving children and crying babies because they don’t always understand what’s going on or realize the consequences of their actions. Adults, however, should be held to the up-most standard when traveling. I believe that three rules should always apply: patience, consideration, and empathy (oh, and a SHOWER!). 😉
On our flight to Florida last January, we had to suffer for four long hours sitting next to a man with some of the most offensive body odor that I’ve ever encountered. (I’m trying to not gag, just thinking about it). I am very conscious of not wearing too much perfume or lotion in order to avoid having a smell follow me like an odor image in a cartoon. You know what I’m talking about:
Two words for all of those poor travelers who have to suffer through a long flight due to the offensive odor of a fellow travel: BURT’S BEES.
Lucky enough for my husband and I, I had my Burt’s Bees lip balm in my pocket. We turned our air flow up to full blast and made sure it was blowing right in front of our faces. We then used our fingers to dab a little Burt’s Bees on to the end of our nose in order to cancel out the smell as much as we possibly could. The hint of peppermint oil within the balm masked the smell and I’ll never travel without Burt’s Bees again. 😉
Please tell me that you’ve been lucky enough to avoid this horrible encounter. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Does this bother you as much as it bothers me or am I just hyper-sensitive to smells?
Pictures and Plane Tickets 
I’ve sat with a screaming baby from Thailand to London. I think that I would take that over the body odour, your certainly not being over-sensitive. Nice tips though, taking notes as it might come in handy for the London Underground – ode to sunny weather!
Good luck! 🙂 You’re right, at least with a baby you can put headphones in and try to tune out the noise. If it were appropriate I would have sprayed some air freshener in his direction 😉
Had a couple sitting in front of us on a flight from Rome to London that must have bathed in garlic. Unreal, even the flight attendants avoided the area. I was hoping beyond hope that they weren’t connecting onto our 9 hour flight to Calgary from London, and they didn’t. i did note from being behind them that they were connecting to California somewhere, which means someone had it way worse than we did.
It makes me wonder if some people have any sense of self-awareness?? I love eating a garlic burger from time to time, but I don’t eat them before meetings, or when I travel 😉
I couldn’t even imagine having to sit through a flight next to someone with extreme body odor. I’m cringing just thinking about it.
Worst.Thing.Ever. 😦