Tips for staying sane on long haul flights

Dogbreath

Dogbreath

Dogbreath

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
16,661
Location
Devon
I'm off to Shenzhen/China tomorrow for work, and I am absolutely dreading the flight. For some reason I start to get quite claustrophobic if I'm in a plane for more than a couple of hours; I suffered a bit going to New York but this is a 12/13 hour flight. I've never felt claustrophobic anywhere else though.

Probably sounds daft but I have been having sleepless nights worrying about this, which isn't really helping things much. I can't get rat faced as I tried a few drinks last time and it made me very sick. Anyone else suffer from this?
 
POB said:
Noise cancelling headphones are a major help when flying.
Click to expand...

Yep, bought a pair of them a few days back...they seem to work pretty well blocking out my wifes snoring anyway :D

Sukh said:
Just stay up as long as possible the night/day before and sleep all the way there :)
Click to expand...


I have to drive to Heathrow (from Paignton) so might not be a good plan. Would probably mean I miss the flight whilst the fire brigade extract me from a barrier on the M5 though....
 
Last edited:
Dogbreath said:
Probably sounds daft but I have been having sleepless nights worrying about this, which isn't really helping things much. I can't get rat faced as I tried a few drinks last time and it made me very sick. Anyone else suffer from this?
Click to expand...

getting ****faced on a plane is never a good idea as you get quite dehydrated on a long haul flight anyway. alcohol exacerbates this problem.
if you drink plenty of water and get up and stretch your legs every now and again you should still neck a few ;)
might help you sleep better too :p
 
Keep yourself occupied with an iPod or something. Does your flight have TV's in the headrests in front? If it does, make an effort to watch every film they have :p
 
Yea, agreed on the stay up the day before and then sleep on the plane.

I am scared of flying so every time it feels like the plane drops a bit/turbulence I panic! :p
Anyway I usually cope with it by listening to music and falling asleep. If you got a laptop you can watch some films.

Cant really recommend anything but the usual like read a book etc. Are you travelling with someone? Buy some games to play together. Keeps you busy and keeps your mind off the time.

I know a friend of mine who got some stuff to take from her doctors. Kept her calm and also made her fall asleep easily. But if you are going tomorrow then it's too late :) But maybe you can try to get something like that for next time?
 
A few good ipod playlists, diary to write in, a good book, some knock out pills - one diazepam and Im out... try speaking to your doc

Also, may be worth phoning the airline ahead and asking for a bulkhead due to "medical reasons" - most dont release them prior to the day of the flight so rock up at the airport extra early to get a bulkhead seat..bit of extra leg room and no one sitting in front of you might make you feel a bit better... maybe say you just got your leg out of a cast after breaking it and its impossible to keep it bent for long period of time so you need a bulkhead seat..has worked for me before ;)
 
When I went to Australia I stocked up on laptop batteries and loaded my laptop with TV series and films etc.

Worked really well :) Once I'd exhuasted the inflight entertainment I got the laptop out.

You have it easy - once I'd got through the 12 hour flight I had... another 7 hour flight :eek:
 
Hang around the back and chat up the air hostesses(and steal drinks when they're not looking). That's what I usually do.
 
[TW]Fox;15760684 said:
c.

Worked really well :) Once I'd exhuasted the inflight entertainment I got the laptop out.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan

Watch The Wire seasons 1,3,4,5 if you haven't seen them if you have a long flight :)
 
FatBoyObese said:
SLEEP!!!
Click to expand...

I'd love to, but it doesn't tend to happen whilst feeling rather panicky about being trapped in an aluminium tube at 30,000 feet! I know I should have seen the docs last week but I've been working stupid long days getting stuff sorted for the trip so wasn't really practical. Hoping the headphones will help a bit though. Hmm, I guess I could stop in Boots at the airport and get some non-prescription sleep tablets?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom