Miranda Cosgrove Shares Her Packing Tips—And Her One Nightmare Travel Experience

The first time I ever went on a plane, I went to Hawaii when I was seven or eight. I’d always wanted to go and I went with my mom and dad on a family trip. We rented a Jeep, we drove all around, and I swam with dolphins for the first time. When I was nine, I went to New York to film School of Rock and that was my second time on a plane. That was four or five months in New York and it was the longest I’d been away from home. My mom and I basically lived in a hotel in Manhattan and I’d never done anything remotely like that in my life. It made me fall in love with New York.

I’d never been to Thailand before, and we were there for almost two months [for Mother of the Bride]. It was the furthest I’d ever been away for the longest amount of time, so I didn’t really know how to pack. I’m the type of person that even if I fly somewhere for two nights, I bring a gigantic suitcase and I check it. So it was a little challenging. I remember being really stressed because I also usually pack in the morning before I leave somewhere. I just throw everything in the suitcase really fast. When you go somewhere for two months, you can’t really do that. But it was really beautiful there. I had gone through a breakup not that long before this opportunity came up, and just getting to be in a whole new place like that with all new people, experiencing something like that, and just having fun was the perfect moment.

The ocean in Thailand is not like the ocean in LA. The water is really clear and blue and beautiful and people are constantly scuba diving. Getting to go to different islands was really fun and not something I’ve ever really done in my life. Being able to take a boat to an island and just swim and jump in the ocean was awesome.

I was surprised by the amount of bugs in Thailand. There were cicadas there that were so loud at night that sometimes it was hard to sleep. I’m not afraid of the bugs here. The hotel room I was in was really pretty, but the shower was completely made out of glass and all when I’d go to take a shower in the morning, there’d just be these little lizards everywhere, all around the shower on the outside of the glass. I got used to all that, but I’ve never really been a huge bug lover. When I got back to LA, I was like, I’m so strong now.

Rapid fire

Window, middle, or aisle seat?

I like the window seat for sure, because it’s just nice being able to look out whenever you want. I also feel like it’s easier to fall asleep and have your own little space. I feel like most people are window, right? But some people pick an aisle if they want to be able to get to the bathroom without climbing over anyone.

Favorite way to pass time on a plane

I always sleep on planes. One of my best qualities is that when I’m on a plane, I fall asleep before it takes off and basically I wake up when it lands. So for the Thailand trip, everybody kept saying to me that it was not going to work like that because it’s so many hours. But I slept the entire time. I slept the whole way there and the whole way back. I proved them wrong.

Biggest travel fear

It was bugs but not anymore. Losing my luggage. I went to Japan years ago to meet a friend of mine who’d been in Japan for three weeks. It was kind of her dream to go there and she wanted to do it on her own. When it got to the last week of the trip, she messaged me and she was like, “I take it back. I don’t want to be by myself.” I, spur of the moment, jumped on a plane, and when I got to LAX I got through security and my bag just disappeared. Somebody stole my bag. I had my purse, so I still had my ID and my wallet, but I didn’t have any of my things. They tried to track the person down and they looked at the airport security footage, but they were never able to get it. So I went to Japan without anything. That was my worst nightmare and it happened.

I met my friend at Disneyland in Japan and I ended up having to buy all this underwear and stuff just at the Disneyland gift shop. It was so bad because I couldn’t find underwear for adults. I had to cut the elastic with scissors so that they would fit. We were laughing at least.

Best tip for fighting jet lag

When I first got to Thailand, it was cool because we had two days before we had to actually start rehearsals or anything. The first entire day I pretty much slept again. So, I slept the 17 hours on the plane and then I slept so much when I got there, so I felt really good. I think a lot of people don’t get to fly in somewhere and just do nothing for so long, but I would say if you’re lucky enough that you have a whole day off, just don’t feel bad that you have to sleep for a little while and get it together. It makes the whole rest of the trip more fun when you get that initial rest.

Favorite travel snack

I eat pretty badly and I love sweets, so I would say any kind of candy. I like sour gummy worms. I got some barbecue chips a week ago when I was on my way back from New York and I ate them on and off during the flight back. Every time I’d wake up I’d have a couple of barbecue chips. Every time I go to the airport the first thing I go for is a pack of Peanut M&M’S to eat on the flight.

Go-to drink order on a plane

I always get really dehydrated when I travel, so I’ll usually buy a really big water at the airport before I get on the plane. Normally I just drink water on the plane, which is kind of boring, but that helps with the jet lag, too.

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