Full disclosure: I’ve been a fan of Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) since his days as Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993). I’m not saying I’m a super fangirl or anything. But I’ve almost always enjoyed his performances and if I see an interview with him, chances are I’ll read/watch it.
Anyway, the other day I was surfing the ‘net and found an interview with NPH that I had never seen before. It was from Thrillist, from 2017, and lo and behold, it was all about little travel hacks he uses when he’s flying. You KNOW there was no way I wasn’t going to share it with you.
This is the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of the interview – for the full interview, go to this page of Thrillist.
How to pack smarter
NPH apparently would love to travel with just a carry-on bag, but admits he just isn’t that good. That being said, he does cut corners and is a great proponent of washing clothes in the sink ;-).
“Look, you only need one gym outfit. Just pack a thing of laundry detergent and hand wash your gym clothes in the hotel sink. The other option is packing nine things, or spending an F-ton of money on dry cleaning gym clothes at the hotel. And, really, dry cleaning your gym clothes? That’s crossing the line.”
How to dress for the plane
NPH says he and his family dress up, but not too much. That way they don’t look like slobs, but aren’t necessarily wearing formal wear, either. They go somewhere in between. Be comfortable, but look presentable.
“We try and dress like a half step up from normal when we’re on airplanes,” he says.
How to prevent getting sick from being on a plane
To open his sinuses, NPH does a snort of Afrin before take off and landing. Then he dabs the inside of his nostrils with Neosporin, “…so the recirculating air filled with coughs (Note from Sharon: Remember, this was originally posted years before covid) dies when it gets to your nose.”
(Note from Sharon: be careful with the Afrin. Overuse can cause rebound congestion. And if you’re particularly sensitive to the chemicals in nasal decongestants [hello, I am!], you could get the rebound after just one use [I’ve only used Afrin once, but I will never, ever use it again. As soon as it wore off, I had a stuffy nose for a week]).
How to handle obnoxious seatmates
Obviously, NPH probably has to deal with people wanting to talk to him much more than most of us. He’s figured out a way to sort of screen out the ones he doesn’t want to have to deal with.
“I use noise-canceling headphones. I don’t actually listen to anything but it keeps overly nervous or chatty people from talking incessantly,” Harris told Thrillist. “It’s not to be rude — it’s just that’s the big questionable variable when you’re on a flight. That person next to you might be nice, or they might be angry, or chatty. When I have headphones on, the rules are mine to make.”
How to keep your kids from annoying everyone on the plane
Three words: unlimited screen time. 😉
How to poop in the lavatory & not stink it up
OMG, this one was hysterical…and something of a multi-step process. So go to the Thrillist article to see what he said (heads up that there’s an S-bomb in there).
Feature Photo (cropped): vagueonthehow / flickr / CC BY 2.0
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
