So. I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, I’m sorry, I know, but that was because the preparations for my two-week-across-the-world-mega-trip were approaching the home stretch and in serious crunch mode, making my regular stress levels soar to round the clock fight or flight type freak-out mode, and something had to give. Happily, all those efforts paid off, and the trip was amazing. Apart from the fantastic ruins, fast foreign cars, delicious food, glorious sunsets, sun-soaked beaches and many other captivating sights, I also came away with several interesting travel insights. The first? How to get the first tray of food on an airplane.

In my opinion, air travel — while singularly incredible in that you can fly halfway around the world and arrive only “four hours” after you took off — is stressful in the best of times and a nightmare in the worst. And one of the nastiest ways that can manifest is thirst and hunger at inconvenient times. Airplanes, those glorious school buses of the sky, have grown somewhat stingier on food and beverage offerings over the years, but when they do start circulating with those little plastic trays of freshly nuked fare, it can be agonizing for a hungry traveler to watch the flight attendants slowly edge their way down suddenly endless aisles.

But there is a solution! Order special meals. Me being a vegetarian and my fiancé being gluten intolerant, it was my idea while we were booking our flights to go ahead and simplify whatever food offerings we were provided by setting up meal requirements. Mainly, I didn’t want him grumbling about this and that wheat roll or me being stuck with the scent of chicken wafting up from my tray if the veg-friendly meals were already claimed. But as it turns out, flight attendants happen to be particularly keen on getting those special trays out to the passengers who have dibs on them, before they even kick the brakes off those big boxy carts. During six flights, we were served first every single time. And boy let me tell you, there were questioning envious eyes all around.

Nobody ever actually came out and asked us, but the jealousy was more than palpable at times. So while you may not be vegetarian, gluten-intolerant, or a follower of one of the handful of other off-standard dietary options often offered by airlines, if you want your food first, go for it. We aren’t talking fine cuisine here, after all, just a sampling of odd dishes that can help fill the bellies of hungry travelers.

You can find Jessika on Twitter at @HowtoStuffHSW and on Facebook at How-to Stuff.