Why Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith Won’t Sleep on Planes

Hall of Fame football player from the Dallas Cowboys Emmitt Smith spends a lot of nights in hotels and a lot of time on planes — and he’s developed a process to make flying and staying in hotels the easiest on him, his body, and his family as possible. Check out some of his best tips for traveling.

 Emmitt Smith of Dallas Cowboys fame travels a lot. The Hall of Famer spends about 100 nights in hotels per year and flies more than 300,000 miles annually. As you can imagine, he’s developed quite the travel routine—one that doesn’t include sleeping on planes.

 “The best thing for jet lag is to get a workout in before or after—you get your body back to normalcy,” Smith told Bloomberg. “What I try not to do on a plane is go to sleep. I wake up drowsy, and I can’t get back to my regular energy, so instead, I try to keep myself at my usual level. I’ll get on my laptop or do some reading, but it depends on how long the flight is. I mean, if I’m going to Tokyo, I’m definitely sleeping, but if it’s to New York, I may do some work, I may build a spreadsheet or link into the internet and take care of some emails, just to keep my mind stimulated, and so my sleep is not off. You have to learn your body.”

Aside from that, he packs light—you’ll never see him checking a bag—and only carries one pair of shoes that multiple outfits can match. He also suggests treating the hotel room like it’s your home and order room service.

What are your tactics for making travel less stressful? Let us know in the FlyerTalk forums.