I'M 8 HOURS AHEAD

Flying to Cape Town last week I started thinking what I do for long haul flights. When I have to spend time at the airport alone or have a long connection somewhere. Chances are, on international flights, you will have some waiting time. I have some long haul tips that I’ve been applying the past few years and I’m going to share them with you. Hopefully you can get some ideas for your next flight.

PRE-BED ROUTINE

It seems like a dumb idea, but the human is a creature of habit. We create routines before going to sleep. Some read a book, some brush their hair or their teeth. Some scroll down every social media account they own. Some drink a glass of wine. Well, I’m sure you got the main idea. We need to maintain our own bed routine in order to get a longer sleep during the flight.

In my case I brush my teeth and then scroll down twitter for a bit before closing my eyes. I’ve tried to do so on long flights and it’s not difficult at all, helps me getting better sleep.

PILLOWS

Almost everyone owns a neck pillow. They are extremely useful when traveling by car, plane or train. I own one that is a frog (cute, right?).

Expert tip: this one I learned by seeing some guy do it on a Flight from Cairns to Melbourne. Use the neck pillow in front of you, hugging your neck from the front. By doing that, when your head is about to go down as you sleep, the neck pillow would act like a support so your head won’t fall.

USING TECHNOLOGY

I am a technology geek I have to admit it. But on planes I use it in two different ways. The first one is creating playlists for my trip. The playlist usually include my latest additions on my phone. It works for me as I create a soundtrack for my future trip. I also have different playlists like relaxing music or white music for when I study, so those ones also help me avoid all the noise in a plane.

Before boarding, I try to not watch movies for at least a couple months. For the ones who know me, I watch tons of tv shows and series but someone has to specifically recommend a film to make me watch it. Good news are, when I’m on a 14 hour plane to somewhere in this wonderful world, I always have new films to watch.

COZY CLOTHES

This one seems logical, right? Well then tell me why too many people fly with their heels, and other complements that make getting cozy an impossible thing. The truth is I was one of those people travelling with boots that took minutes to take off, jeans and hoodies. My reason was to save place on the suitcase and pack more.

Took me some time to learn how to pack light. But now, my flying outfit has radically changed. First of all, I always fly with trainers and warm socks, because the blanket usually leaves my feet out of it. Second, I try to fly with tracksuits, sports bottom or anything that doesn’t make me feel like I’m trapped. Allows me to sleep in the weirdest positions with my feet up the seat.

COLOURING BOOKS

I haven’t tried this one yet, but after reading in so many blogs that colouring is relaxing for adults too, and helps your mind unwind while doing something productive, I’ll have my colouring book ready for my next long haul flight!

What do you do when you are on a long haul flight? Please comment your tips!