Tracee Ellis Ross Reveals Her Surprising Plane ‘Game’—and Why She Never Eats on a Flight

Tracee Ellis Ross describes herself as a “child of the world”—and the description fits. She’s held a passport since birth, accompanied her mother on global work trips, and once called glamorous locales like Rome home. Now, she’s generously sharing a few of her hard-earned travel insights.

“Travel’s just a regular part of my life,” Ross shared at the Travel + Leisure 2025 World’s Best Summit in New York City. “Being on an airplane is regular for me.” 

As Ross shared, on her global journeys with family, living in Paris and later in Switzerland for school, she “really learned how to find home inside myself,” adding that travel “allowed me to see the similarities between human beings no matter where we are.”

All those trips around the globe have served her well, especially now as she kicks off her new Roku original series, “Solo, Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross.” According to Ross, who stars and executive produces the show, this is the culmination of decades of solo travel, which began with her first solo trip at age 25, which she says, completely reshaped her world view. 

“Something clicked. I’m responsible for my own happiness,” Ross shared in an exclusive clip from the show. “So much of what solo traveling is, is about not waiting for something in order to experience my life.”

Though Ross is also honest that the way she travels isn’t in some willy-nilly fashion. For her, it’s all about the tight schedule.

“I am not the adventurer, solo traveler. That is not what I go traveling to do,” she said, adding that she prefers calm, beauty, and lots of structure. “Every day is filled with military precision in order for me to do the many things that I have on my plate … so the luxury of being is really what travel is about for me.”

Ross also said she knows herself well enough never to pack light and always be prepared for whatever happens on the road. “I pack for beauty and disaster,” Ross admitted. “I have the medical kit, and then I have all the choices of clothes depending on whom I might encounter.”

And while she may dream of romantic run-ins and has the impeccable clothing to match, she doesn’t leave logistics to chance, ensuring her bag is also filled with practical items, too. “Bring your wipes, guys … bring your own pillow, bring your medical kit,” she said. “Wipe that bathroom sink down, wipe off that remote.”

While you’re more likely to run into Ross on a plane than you are terra firma, just know you’ll never catch her chowing down on whatever they’re serving for lunch at 35,000 feet. “I do not eat on the plane,” she said flatly. “You flush the toilet, it goes, everything comes everywhere. I noticed during the pandemic, I’m like, they prepare your food next to the toilet. Get outta here.” Instead, she’s starting to pack her food, or, “I’ll just starve on the plane.” 

The one thing she will do, however, is chug as much water as possible. “I play a game with myself on the plane: how much water can I drink?” she joked, adding, “You do not want to sit next to me.”

As for jet lag? She’s never heard of it. “I don’t believe in jet lag,” Ross said. “My body is where it is. When I arrive at a location, I love a bath, it settles my body … and then I like to sit outside and allow this part of my body to face the sun.”

Beyond the routines and travel hacks, Ross’s message about travel is clear: it’s all about choosing yourself. “The show for me is really about not waiting to live your life,” Ross said. Now, the only thing we need to wait for is the first episode to drop on July 25.