4: GET MINDFUL
Become hyper-aware of all five senses. Notice what it feels like to inhabit your body, all the way to your fingers and toes. Notice your breath flowing in and out, notice even the pauses between breaths. “When you’re beginning, the mind tends to be very agitated – one moment you’re in awareness, the next moment you’re having some kind of fantasy and ten minutes later you realize you were supposed to be meditating. It is very helpful to stabilize your awareness by focussing on one thing – your breath.”
5: STAY, DON’T STRAY
If your thoughts wander, don’t worry. This is guaranteed to happen. “Every time, what you do is notice what’s on your mind – perhaps you’re imagining a fight you’re going to have with your boss – and then you just bring your thoughts back to your belly and to your breathing. You do that a million times if necessary, and don’t give yourself a hard time about it.”
ON THE MOVE
A few years ago, GQ ’s deputy editor Bill Prince showed me how to fold a suit so that it didn’t crease in my suitcase. Having learned the required origami, I found myself using it so often that I ended up junking my suit carrier altogether. You’ll find the method in this chapter alongside a wealth of advice from external experts, plus an array of other travel hacks long-valued by the editors at GQ . The tips for sleeping on a night flight or upgrading your hotel experience, for instance, have been passed through generations of staffers – and now to you…
OPTIMIZE YOUR HOTEL EXPERIENCE
Keep this in mind: while the hotel is ostensibly there to serve you, it’s really there to serve itself. If the staff think they can get away with providing the bare minimum, even if the bare minimum is nonetheless extremely luxurious, or adding a charge to your bill – no matter how overpriced – they won’t bat an eyelid. Nothing personal, just business. So you need to approach your stay like booking a flight: aim to get the very best for your money, and stay wise to the industry’s ploys…
1: LOYALTY GOES A LONG WAY
Hotels care about repeat business, so you’ll get treated better if you opt for a place that knows you. Join the loyalty programme, obviously, and make sure you book directly – not least because guests for whom the hotel does not have to pay a third-party commission are looked upon favourably.
2: BOOK THE ROOM, NOT THE HOTEL
If you’re hoping for an upgrade, book at least a middle-tier room and make sure you know its full specs and location within the building. Haggle over the price – there will always be special rates available, particularly if you’re a regular, a business traveller or staying for any length of time.
3: USE CHECK-IN TO SET THE TONE
If you’re working, tell the check-in desk you’re going to be using the hotel as a base, hosting meetings and dinners. They will take care of you as you’re bringing in business. Similarly, if it’s a special occasion, make them aware. Finally, turn on the charm and request an upgrade. You may have greater success with that if checking in later in the day.
4: SEE THE ROOM BEFORE YOU UNPACK
Make sure it’s exactly what you expected. If it’s by the elevator or above the restaurant, ask them to do better. Even if you only have a small niggle, it’s worth voicing it: the hotel might offer you a gift such as a spa treatment by way of compensation.
5: DON’T BE AN IN-ROOM ROOKIE
There are two things that will rack up charges beyond all reasonable expectations: the phone and the minibar. This new era of cheap mobile-phone roaming charges means you should never use the former, and the local convenience store means you should never use the latter – especially for bottled water.
TRACK STAND LIKE A CHAMPION CYCLIST
Balancing on a bike while it’s not moving (a “track stand”) is famously difficult. “I’ve been riding a bike since I was five years old, and I still struggle with it sometimes,” says Chris Akrigg. “If I can pull off a perfect track stand at a set of traffic lights, I feel good about it.”
That’s saying something coming from him. The Yorkshireman is one of the greatest trials riders in the world and has won the British Trials Championship on six occasions. It’s his astonishing bike-handling skills, however, that have won him an audience well beyond cycling nuts. Online videos of Akrigg riding daring lines and pulling stunts have been watched by millions.
Track standing is vital to what Akrigg does. “If you’re doing any sort of skill on the bike, everything starts from a track stand. And certainly, if you’re trying to tackle obstacles, it’s all about slowing down, balancing and sizing up what’s ahead of you.” That said, the technique itself was born worlds away from the great outdoors, on the boards of the velodrome. Riders would use it to balance on the pedals behind the start line, so as soon as the start gun fired, they could be off. Subsequently it was adopted by road cyclists, because it let them hold themselves at a standstill – at traffic lights, say – without unclipping their shoes from the pedals.
It’s easiest to do on a fixed gear bike, where pedalling backwards moves the bike backwards – this helps centre your balance. On a standard bike (one with gears), you don’t have the option of backpedalling, which makes it considerably trickier. This is for a bike with gears…
1: FIND YOUR LEVEL
Shift into a middle gear and slow to almost stationary. Centre your balance and get your feet into position. “Your crank arms should be level,” says Akrigg. “You want your best foot forward – that’s the one you’d have in front if you were freewheeling down a hill.”
2: GIVE IT A BRAKE
Lift yourself off the saddle, moving your weight slightly forwards. Put a fair amount of weight on your handlebars and through the front of the bike. Feather the front brake, so if you’re losing your balance, you can gently pedal against the resistance to recentre.
3: TURN INTO THE FALL
Turn your front wheel 45 degrees either left or right. This will help you prop yourself up. “Then, to keep your balance, you just make little adjustments left and right on the wheel.” Twitch left if you’re falling to the left and right if you’re falling to the right.
4: LEAN IN, LEAN OUT
As you improve, try to minimise the amount you need to move the wheel by leaning to one side or the other to maintain balance. An alternative is to use your leg as a counterweight. “When your feet are clipped in, you can swing your front knee in and out to stay steady.”
5: WHAT IF YOU EDGE TOO FAR FORWARD?
It’s best to track stand against a slight incline (try turning your wheel up into the camber of the road) so you can roll backwards. If that’s not possible – and you’ve moved too far – lock the front brake and throw your weight forwards, raising your back wheel. As it falls, release the brake and you’ll roll back.
START A FIRE IN THE RAIN
Charles Darwin considered humanity’s mastery of fire to be its greatest achievement after language. Our ability to create and sustain a flame stretches back hundreds of thousands of years. And yet, today, it’s becoming a marginalized skill. That’s unfortunate, because being able to start a fire might just save your life if you’re stranded while out trekking. Jason Ingamells, an award-winning bushcraft expert who has worked widely in Africa and the Arctic, laments how “having a connection back to the natural world is something that’s so dramatically lacking both in adults’ and children’s lives”. Hence his UK-based company Woodland Ways, which offers instruction on outdoor survival. Fire-building is the linchpin of much of what he teaches…
1: CARRY THE RIGHT GEAR
You could hope to start your fire by rubbing sticks together or striking stones, but that’s tricky and, if you’re a beginner, unreliable. “Why would you do that if you can carry something with you that would give you that heat source in the first place?” says Ingamells. Aside from obvious heat sources, such as matches or a lighter, you could also consider carrying a firesteel or a ferrocerium rod. The latter creates sparks of up to 3,000ºC (5,430ºF) and is not only durable but also works in
high winds.
2: COLLECT THREE TYPES OF WOOD
The first thing you want to collect is tinder. This is material that will ignite in a few seconds and get the fire going. Birch bark works well, as do fine shavings from larger pieces of wood. The second type of wood you need is kindling – smaller pieces of wood to ignite the larger pieces – varying from the width of a matchstick to the width of your little finger. The final ingredient is your main pieces of fuel. Collect as much as possible before it rains, but if it’s wet already…
3: PREPARE THE WOOD
For fuel and kindling, select pieces that don’t feel soft when you press them with your thumb. You will need to split the fuel to expose the dry material. Place a knife across its diameter. Strike the back of the knife repeatedly with another piece of wood. “The shock waves split it straight down through the weak point.” Keep splitting it until it is just bigger than your wrist. Check the wood really is dry by placing it against your lower lip and seeing if it pulls at the skin when you lift it away (wet wood won’t).
4: BUILD THE FIRE
Head to a sheltered site. Woodland with a broadleaf or coniferous canopy would work, but scrape away all organic material nearby to reduce the risk of fire-spread, and don’t cook next to a tree. Dig a depression about the size of a wok. Place some small pieces of wood across the bottom, running in the same direction. Add two handfuls of tinder, and use your heat source to get an initial flame. Now start to build a pyramid on top using kindling, beginning with matchstick-size pieces and working up to knee height.
5: ONCE THE KINDLING IS ROARING
It’s now time to add fuel. If you keep creating a pyramid, “you’re going to end up with a fire that’s unsafe because it will collapse”. Instead, carefully flatten the pyramid and lay fuel horizontally. How you do this is determined by the kind of fire you want to create. For a fast-burning, bright fire, lay the fuel in a crisscross pattern. For a slower burn, lay all the fuel in the same direction; this can also provide a stable platform to cook on. Once the fire is well-established, stash the rest of your wood on the far side to bounce the heat back at you.
FOLD A SUIT FOR CREASE-FREE TRAVEL
We’ve all been guilty of it at some point or another, but dragging your suit around in its protective zip-up cover is definitely a “don’t”. That’s partly down to style snobbery (well, do you think it’s a good look?) and partly to bad experiences (it’s actually not a great way to keep your precious cargo free from wrinkles) – but mostly because it’s a pain to carry. You could buy luggage with a dedicated suit compartment, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t just pack your suit in your case with everything else. All you need is a little sartorial origami…
1: MAKE THE JACKET WORK FOR YOU
Use the jacket as a packing tool to keep pocket squares flat (load them into the breast pocket) and cufflinks safe (drop them into a side pocket) in transit. Then put one hand inside each shoulder and press your palms together, folding the shoulders back against themselves.
2: NEST THE SHOULDERS
With your right hand, grip the armhole of the other shoulder through the fabric. Remove your left hand, and use it to raise and grip the jacket’s collar. Uncross your hands, pulling carefully in opposite directions to turn the jacket inside out. One shoulder will now be tucked into the other.
3: THE FINISHING MOVE
Adjust the jacket so the lapels align, and then push the shoulders back through the other way. The jacket is now precisely folded, and its structure will hold it in place. It is also inside out, so if any damage is done to your bag, the lining should take the hit. Release your left hand from the lapels and lay the jacket on your bed.
4: ROLL DON’T FOLD
Stuff the shoulder cavity with soft items, such as underwear or rolled-up T-shirts. Next, carefully roll the jacket up, starting from the shoulders. This approach will reduce the overall volume as well as minimize creases.
5: FINALLY, THE TROUSERS
Place your trousers flat on the bed. Layer any other pairs of trousers on top in alternating directions and – crucially – add one or two soft items such as jumpers for padding. Starting from the trouser hems on the bottom layer, fold upward (two to three folds is about right) to form a neat package. Place this and the jacket in your case. You’re ready to hit the road.
GET QUALITY SLEEP ON A NIGHT FLIGHT
Overnight flights are a necessary evil (and if you’re flying economy, they’re arguably just evil). No matter how much airlines invest in trying to make them more like a living-room experience and less like an enhanced interrogation, getting quality shuteye in a stuffy, crowded cabin might seem impossible. Except: talk to someone who flies frequently, and they’ll almost certainly have sleep-inducing rituals and routines that they swear by. The writers and editors here at GQ are an itinerant bunch, often flying around the world for stories, photoshoots and fashion shows. Here are our collective, hard-won tips…
1: UNDER PRESSURE
At the booking stage, try to fly on a plane with higher cabin pressure, such as a Boeing 787. This artificially lowers the altitude, in turn boosting oxygen levels in your bloodstream and improving your comfort. If you are flying in economy, try to book the exit row – this may come at a small premium but the extra leg room will pay dividends.
2: GET BUSY
You might have the final hours of a business trip to yourself, but don’t give in to temptation and spend them by the pool. Organize a packed day prior to flying and try to tire yourself out. Before boarding, eat a light dinner so you don’t have to wait for the in-flight meal service.
3: KEEP WATCH
On the plane, set your watch to the arrival time zone. This will help you work out your sleep schedule and focus your mind on the need to get some rest.
4: THE SECRET INGREDIENTS
Avoid looking at screens – the light will make you feel awake. Instead, read a book and drink two glasses of red wine (any less won’t help; any more will give you a hangover). Others like to take a mild, over-the-counter sedative, though only use as directed.
5: BLOCK OUT STIMULI
Sleep mask, earplugs – they’re provided for a reason. Sitting in economy? Place a travel pillow around the front of your neck for a nod-free flight (looks strange but it’s worth it). Make sure your seatbelt is fastened and visible, and tell the flight attendant you don’t wish to be disturbed. See you on the other side.
DRIVE LIKE A “HEEL-AND-TOE” PRO
When performance drivers shift down a gear to take a tight corner, they often call on a trick from the golden age of motoring: heel-and-toe. “It’s for when you want a seamless downchange,” says Ben Collins, the former Stig on BBC’s Top Gear and author of How to Drive (2014). Without heel-and-toe, you risk sudden deceleration and skidding. While the technique is only necessary for everyday driving if you’re behind the wheel of a classic, such as an Aston Martin DB5, it remains useful in modern cars in bad conditions or at high speeds. “If you find yourself in a hot pursuit in the Alps, then heel-and-toe is on.”
1: COME OFF THE GAS
A technique for manual cars, heel-and-toe is used to match the engine speed to that of the wheels during braking. This can be vital when you’ve downshifted for a corner, because on clutch release, a mismatched engine speed can cause problems. First, apply the brake.
2: GO NEUTRAL
Push down on the clutch with your left foot, move the stick out of gear – and keep braking. “Once you start braking, you ideally don’t come off the brake until you turn into the corner,” says Collins. Amateurs often brake multiple times – that’s inefficient.
3: BLIP THE THROTTLE
While still squeezing the clutch and brake, use the brake foot to simultaneously “blip” the accelerator. “All cars are different. If the pedals are too far apart to easily overlap them with the front of your foot, keep the ball of your foot on the brake and stretch across with your heel to work the accelerator.” This is the “heel-and-toe” acti
on.
4: ENGAGE GEAR
Once the engine is up to speed, put the stick into gear and take your foot off the clutch. Note that diesel engines may take a while to respond to the blip, whereas “with a V10 monster, you just give it a snap of the throttle, the revs will fly up, and at that point you can declutch”.
5: PICK UP SPEED
Get off the brake, take the corner and, as your steering straightens on the way out, drive off. Oh, and why not make like Collins and use heel-and-toe for hill starts, too? “It’s a cheat really: I put my foot on the footbrake, cover the accelerator with the same foot, and pull away without using the handbrake.”
SPEED-LEARN ANY LANGUAGE
The Foreign Service Institute is tasked with getting American diplomats fluent in foreign languages within a matter of months. One of the keys to its approach is to focus on teaching what staff actually need to know – there’s no point in a diplomat memorizing arcane musical terms if they want to negotiate trade deals. “We don’t teach Russian,” says James Bernhardt, the FSI’s Director of Curriculum, “we teach people to use Russian.” Here, Bernhardt and his colleague Catherine Doughty, Director for Romance Languages, explain how to turbo-charge the process…
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