Not to brag, but I've been around an airplane cabin a few times. Flying is great - it's an exciting, but taxing experience from take-off to touch-down, on both your mind and body. And after the few dozen flights I've taken in my life, I've gotten a pretty solid survival kit nailed down.

I always find little tips and tricks helpful. And one hot-topic in the travel world is carry-on essentials, so I thought I'd share mine.

By the time this post goes live, I'll have already landed, but here's a list of the key items in my international flight carry-on bag.

1. Magazines - I can't live without them on flights, long or short. I used to make it habit of stopping off at the airport bookstore to buy them, but I've since learned that there are MUCH cheaper ways to acquire them, like monthly subscriptions, so now I bring my own. Either way, I can't take a flight without my travel and lifestyle mags to get me through.

2. Entertainment - This changes for me as I get older. I wouldn't have ever dreamed of bringing a book on a flight a few years ago. But this time around I'm bringing my current reading obsession by Jeremy Clarkson and my iPad complete with games, Netflix, and Spotify. I get bored in record time and I've never managed to successfully sleep on a plane, so I have to come well-armed with things to keep me busy.

3. Self-Care Items - You hear this a lot, but flying takes a toll on your body. I ALWAYS bring tissues, Chapstick, lotion, a fingernail file, and a small first-aid kit complete with headache, nausea, and allergy medication, band-aids, and New Skin in my purse. But these things are especially important on long jaunts like this. You never know what might happen between security on one end and border control on the other. It's always important to be prepared! I also have a couple of hair ties and a Tangle Teaser along with me, too, for a last-minute hair touch-up to get the plane-frizzies out once I've landed.

4. Chargers (and Converters) - Most things these days have an abysmal battery life, lasting only a few hours to half a day, so chargers are essential. I bring a portable charger as well as a wall charger and then chargers for my camera and for my charger! I’m also bringing the converters for the U.K. wall sockets, too, so that no matter what, I should never have a dead battery.

5. Camera - I bring my Nikon with me on the plane for 2 reasons. First, it’s much safer with me than in my checked bag, obviously. And second, photo-worthy moments are everywhere and you won’t want to miss them when they come.

Those are my must-haves, in addition to the obvious - wallet, sunglasses, headphones, passport, etc. Hopefully, I’ve shared a tid-bit of wisdom in there somewhere. If you have any additional brilliant travel-essential ideas, feel free to drop them in the comments below. Thanks as always for reading, friends.

Bon voyage!