After BlogHer in San Francisco last month, I flew home on a red-eye flight that left at 9:50 PM and arrived at 5:20 AM. As we boarded the plane we each took a pillow out of a big cardboard box, and there was a blanket on each seat. Now, my blanket was folded and wrapped in plastic, so it may have been new, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I slid the pillow into a special airline-pillow-sized pillowcase that I bought online, and took out the CHILD’S TRAVEL PILLOW and INFANT SIZED FLEECE BLANKET I had bought at Walgreen’s before I left and had packed in my suitcase. My Winnie The Pooh (oh YES it was!) blanket might not have been much larger than the airline blanket, but at least I knew I was the only person to use it. Because if you think that airlines WASH those blankets between flights, well, yeah, they don’t.

I was comfortable enough sleeping with my head against the window, propped up with my pillow, the airline pillow in the pillowcase, with the folded and still-in-the-plastic blanket under that, and I covered as much of myself as I could with my little blanket, but I was still so COLD. Why is there a stream of ice-cold air running along the floor of airplanes? My feet felt like ice cubes when I woke up!

So yeah, it worked out okay, but then I come across the Cabin Cuddler and I’m all OMG, I SO could have used that instead!

Check this out-US Airways Express captain Jim Levings saw people on his flights struggling to get comfortable and stay warm while traveling in the summer, wearing shorts and t-shirts, while their seatmate had the cold air blasting straight down. Standard airline blankets are not only too small for most people anyway, they don’t even come close to covering your feet. Captain Levings thought, why not make a travel blanket that covers the whole body AND keeps the feet warm, AND is easy to carry?

He felt so strongly about wanting to fill that particular airline traveler’s need that he QUIT HIS JOB and invented the Cabin Cuddler with the help of his wife and sister! Now, how cool is that?!? He also saw it as a way for people to get some sleep if their flight has a long delay and they have to hang out in the airport. And the BEST reason to invent this product? For those of you who are squeamish, I just want to warn you, this is going to be REALLY GROSS:

There was another reason for creating a personal travel blanket. Levings says, “Blankets are reused on airlines no matter how sick people may have been who used them, no matter how wet, moldy, or germy the blankets were.” To complement the germ-free environment he envisioned, Levings includes an inflatable pillow in the soft travel pack, which can also double as a pillow case.

GAH! So this is why you need to BUY A CABIN CUDDLER travel blanket before your next flight-not only will it keep your entire body warm including your feet which are tucked nicely into a patented foot-pocket, BUT, it covers the SEAT OF THE PLANE, which I’m now envisioning as a festering pool of previous traveler’s germs and filth. You just lay it on the seat, sit down, put your feet in the pocket, wrap it around your shoulders, then buckle the seat belt around it. Your hands stay free and you stay warm!

Oh, and it comes in it’s own tote bag, which you can use as a carry-on item or slip inside a larger tote or backpack until you get on the plane. Some people even use the tote with the blanket inside as a comfortable seat cushion at sporting events! It also comes with an inflatable pillow which is as easy to blow up as a balloon, according to the website. I’m telling you, if I’m going to continue to fly every few months or so, especially flights at night, I need a Cabin Cuddler! I won’t even mind answering the inevitable “OMG, where can I get one of those?” questions I would be sure to get. I may have to switch to train travel unless I can get one!