I guess I fly so often that it means about as much to me as going to put gas in my car. Lately, I've gotten back to my pre 9/11 ways of showing up at the airport at the last minute. I find I can get through security significantly faster now than ever before since they've added more concurrent baggage scanners and they no longer insist that you turn on your laptop to make sure it's real.

I'm not sure whether statistics will comfort you, but you're far more likely to die while you're driving to the airport than once you walk in the door. Yeah, the ride can be bumpy, but roller coasters are far worse. My recommendation is to get a pair of noise-damping headphones like the Etymotics and the portable MP3 player of your choice. That, and I always go for a window seat. You can pile a sweater, and the airline pillow and blanket against the wall and it's almost comfortable enough to fall asleep. Particularly if you follow my next trick.

How to sleep on long international flights and wake up refreshed. It's important that, when you walk onto the plane, regardless of whether you're flying east or west, that you be tired. Force yourself to go to bed late and get up early. Whatever it takes. By the time your flight lifts off, you're beat. Wolf down the meal and take a nap. If you're tired enough, you'll be out like a light. Window seats help significantly (see above). If you can't sleep, there's a lot to be said for a traditional paperback book.