Food Network star, Cat Cora, on the packing, the best seat on the plane and layovers

Cat Cora, the famous Iron Chef, has been chatting with us this week on cooking, traveling and how she survives when her schedule is insane. If you've ever wondered how seasoned travelers do it, read on...

Hotel LivingGoGirlfriend: Does packing get easier the more you travel?

Cat Cora: Being a chef, I need to pack all my chef gear, clothes I need for meetings and lunches, clothes I need for evening wear, my clogs, my knives. It's very challenging, but I've gotten really good at it over the years. For a trip I recently took to Nicaragua, I packed everything I needed into one small backpack - for 2 weeks. And I had plenty of things to wear.

I look at my itinerary and looking at exactly what I need for each minute and each day. If I'm doing morning shows I need a lot of different tops and it's very tempting to throw in a few extra of this or that.

I have sweaty clothes because I work out every day, so I do a lot of sink washes and hang them in the shower. I actually wash a lot of clothes in the sink because it's fast and cheap. But I love New York because I can send my stuff to the small laundries on the street and the markets.

GoGirlfriend: Where do you like to sit on the plane?

Cat Cora: I like the aisle seat. I drink plenty of liquids and I don't like to crawl over people to go to the bathroom. People fall asleep or they're working on the computer and you're over at the window seat strategizing... when's the best time to move? When is someone going to get up so I can get up?

Some people say sitting at the back is the best place to sit if something happens, but I'm more about when the plane lands how long is going to take me to get off it.

Middle or closer to the front is good, but I don't really care for that very first seat because I can't put my stuff under my seat and I like having it close by me. It sucks being right beside the bathrooms way in the back.

GoGirlfriend: How do you survive long layovers?

Cat Cora: I always have plenty of work to do, and I always carry my laptop. I'm an avid reader, so I always have a book as well - I love thrillers. Sometimes I'll walk around to try and keep active - especially if I'm going to be on the plane for another few hours.

I use noise cancelling headphones so I can just zone everyone else out and concentrate on what I want to concentrate on.

See other posts in this series!

• Cat Cora on Traveler or Tourist?
• Cat Cora on Food & Travel