BuckDanny

Lots of great information. Mine would be to leave contacts off while flying and wear eye glasses if possible. The air in the plane dry mine out terribly.

 

Hope this helps,

Sharon

Good point Sharon! The air inside airplane is always extremely dry in comparison to ground level; this goes beyond just contacts. Any sensitivity to dry air should be addressed, such as bringing lotion for dry skin, and chopstick from dry lips.

Great advice from everyone. I fly across regularly too. I'd like to add a couple of things:

If you are going to check in a luggage, make sure to also have your essentials in your carry-on: toiletry, clothes for a 2-3 days, etc. Just in case your luggage doesn't make it to BCN, that way you are set with the bare minimum for a few days if you have to.

Another important thing is sleep management and jetlag, since you have never been there it is important. Unfortunately going across eastbound is the most fatiguing. Here's the technique I use every time I go, which is the same most flight crews follow as well for fatigue management:

As soon as you arrive to your hotel, take a nap no more than 4 hours. Then go outside and take as much sun as possible (the body's internal clock adjusts with sun light). Have some dinner, and go back to sleep at a normal around 10pm. You will wake early morning, and shouldn't feel too tired. Then follow a normal sleep schedule.

If you take too long of a nap, you will not sleep at night and never adapt. If you skip the nap, you could wake up at some odd times and not be able to go back to sleep.

Have fun! :D