Richard Branson

Special for USA TODAY

This article excerpt by Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, is part of an ongoing series by LinkedIn Influencers in the travel industry. Here, Branson provides insights into his travel experiences.



My biggest travel disaster was flying anywhere from my first flight as a child up to the time we launched Virgin Atlantic 30 years ago.

For anyone too young to remember, flying used to be one of the most arduous, unglamorous, boring tasks imaginable. The service was terrible, you were lucky if a frowning cabin crew member dumped a lump of cold chicken on your lap, and the entertainment was non-existent.

Frequent flying was a necessary evil of running a record company; I used to fly across the world scouting bands, meeting label bosses and signing bands. I've always believed in using every second to do something useful, so I spent a lot of time learning about the aviation industry while I flew.

Innovation is often borne out of frustration. When we launched Virgin Atlantic, many of the ideas we introduced were to solve problems I had experienced with other airlines. I always wondered why passengers didn't interact more, and hated being confined to one upright chair for long-haul flights. So we brought in the first full-length bar on planes. Everyone thought we were mad, but it was a huge success, and made flights much more fun and sociable.

Entertainment on planes used to be very limited. We immediately began developing in-seat video, and have continued innovating across Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and Virgin Australia with improvements like in-flight WiFi and personalized seat-back entertainment.

It is crucial to find time to rest during business travel, so we created the best flat beds in the skies. Again, our rivals thought we were barmy as they would take up too much room – now many of them have copied the idea.

Now when I'm flying Virgin, the only thing I have to worry about is whether I've forgotten my passport. I forgot it on our inaugural flight to New York in 1984, but thankfully the mayor let me into the country. I forgot it again years later and a kindly officer recognized my face from a book and smoothed the path. When I forgot it in Spain recently, I had to wait for one of the team to fly out after me!

Tip: Once you get into a new country, make sure you get out and about. Don't fall into the business traveler trap and get confined to airports, taxis and hotels. Go and see the sights, soak up the flavor of the destination. You'll create some memories to make the trip worthwhile.

Read the full Linkedin Influencer post here .