Long-Distance Flights: 5 Tips To Stay Sane
I love traveling and especially like to venture far beyond my known borders. I usually don’t mind long-distance flights but multiple connections, annoying passengers and bad food can get on anyone’s nerves. Having to sit in a tiny seat for 10-12 hours at a time is a pure nightmare for most of us. Dry air, insomnia and boredom are some of the nasty side effects.
However, it doesn’t need to be that horrible if you follow a few simple steps. Before my next long-distance flight, I searched the Internet for pro tips on how to make the trip a lot more comfortable and tested the tips during my overnight flight from
Here are my top 5 tips to stay sane during a long-distance flight!
Moisturize Like Crazy!
I never used to remove my make-up when flying because I wanted to look neat. However, nothing makes me feel worse than not feeling fresh and clean when taking long-distance flights. I read that it’s way better for your skin to remove the makeup and moisturize your skin due to dry air on board. A little bit after boarding, I began to remove my make-up and put on a light moisturizing mask. A mask you ask? I had the same reaction when I read about this tip online but trust me, your skin will thank you later! Pick a light mask without any color, since you don’t want to walk around with a blue mask on your face, and apply it thoroughly on your skin! Let it soak in and apply a night cream or normal moisturizer afterwards.
Vitamins!
Before taking a nap on the plane, make sure you have enough vitamins in your body. I read that vitamin tablets work best and so I brought my multivitamin tablets onto the plane and drank it with water. The vitamin helps you stay hydrated and fit even if you missed a meal on board or you didn’t like what the airline served you.
Plan Your Entertainment!
Never board an airplane without planning your entertainment. I took planes without any or with defect TV screens and on-board entertainment before and it’s not pleasant. Download music, TV shows, podcasts or audio books onto your phone or tablet. Don’t forget to get yourself a good extra charger for your device to avoid an empty battery! I love my Xiaomi extra charger as it is super reliable and affordable! For language learners like myself, I like to study during long flights, too. I use phone apps or books to keep me busy and refresh my language skills!
by Calgary Reviews
Relaxation Pure!
Besides the usual toiletries in my hand luggage, I also like to bring socks and a big scarf with me to stay warm and cozy. This time, I also got myself a convenient sleeping pillow that you can fold into a tiny piece and blow up when needed. I also bring along earplugs as well as a sleeping blindfold to keep bright lights out of sight for flights during the day or when the cabin lights are turned on. In case you still cannot fall asleep on board, bring along some sleeping pills to help you find your way to dreamland.
Before Landing
The hour before landing is usually the most important time period during a long-distance flight. This is your opportunity to shine and look radiant! All the moisturizing and vitamins as well as relaxation helpers will truly reveal their magic now. I like to change into some new clothes, brush my teeth and put my make-up back on. Don’t wait too long as the captain turns on the seat belt signs 30 minutes before landing and you cannot leave your seat any more after that. I also like to bring along my Lush dry shampoo to give my hair some volume back.
by Thomas Wenz
Have a safe flight!
Following these tips helped me arrive more relaxed in Munich! I definitely recommend these easy five tips and found them really easy to follow. Thanks to this routine, I was able to relax and sleep most of the time during the flight.
I hope you can use some of these tips for your next long-distance flight as well! If you found this post useful, why not pin it to your travel board on Pinterest?
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These are good tips and I completely agree the most on plan your entertainment. I find it so much better to watch what I want, when I want and not have to reply on the in-flight entertainment which as you also said, may not work. The thing I do not like about re-applying make-up in flight is the horrible bathroom light. Can’t stand it and too shy to do make-up in my seat.
I would add a noise cancellation headphone – makes you forget you are even flying when
listening to music or watching your movie
Add to that red wine and you are good
Although Planning entertainment was a
great tip in case flight entertainment does not work !
Hmmm, interesting routine! 🙂 I never really plan when taking a long flight, and eventually always get bored, so maybe next time I should really think of bringing a book or something. The only thing I ALWAYS think of is taking out my contact lenses. My eyes get really dry with the air condition if I wear them, besides it’s impossible to rest your eyes with the lenses in.
I am a very restless traveller. i will have to peek out of the window and see the scenary and take snaps and move around a bit. Cant sit at one place for a long time. thus i absolutely hate long flights. the longest I have taken was of 7 hrs from dubai to Manchester and it wasnt a great one for me . Nevertheless, your tips have helped me prepare for my flight back to Dubai 🙂
What great tips! For me, who’s been travelling quite a lot for the past months, I coudln’t be sane without squadelling perfectly my routine, and the first one is one of the precious advice I’ve been given. My skin is going nuts otherwise.
Agree long distance flights are tough that if you had to travel with a kid then needs even more preplanning. Entertainment is definitely a must for olders as well as the youngsters, we carry a book or a laptop both of which are great company 🙂
the fully loaded tablet with entertainment and back up battery portable charger and ear plugs are MUST HAVES! long flights are absolute torture without entertainment, or with a super loud snorer or baby nearby unless you have good soundproof headphones (I’d recommend something stronger than just earplugs:))
Great tips! My last long flight, my seat back screen kept crashing! Luckily there was an empty seat next to me, so i ended up watching movies on that screen instead! Definitely wish I’d had downloaded more stuff of my own before hand!
My fav list of activities to break the monotony of a long haul flight are sleep(as much as possible), read and catch up on the latest block buster movies available in flight.
That’s good advice, especially about downloading entertainment to your phone. On my last flight from Tokyo to NYC the inflight entertainment broke and I couldn’t watch a movie. At least I had my Kindle!
Oh true a tablet or ebook is great in that case! I need to get myself one!
Planning your own entertainment is such an essential thing on these flight that have no in-flight entertainment. Also the sleeping bag is a real comfort
For sure! thanks for your feedback!
GREAT tips here for long haul flights, and I am with you on the moisturising too……it’s absolutely essential! A brilliant post with lots of handy tips to help you shine when you land! Karen
Thank you for the kind words Karen! happy flying!
The moisturize tip is KEY! Dry skin and dry eyes are the worst 😀 Also always plan my entertainment – would hate to board a long-haul flight and a broken entertainment system (or like you mention, none at all… haha).
Thanks for the tips, Linda! A long-distance flight can be maddening! This is really helpful, especially for me who is preparing long-term trip outside my homecountry!
Great tips!! It’s funny how all attempts to look put-together goes out the window on long haul flights. What really works for me on long hauls is meditation. I have an app or preload my phone with guided meditation so that my body and mind can relax. On my last long haul (14 hours) I did yoga nidra and it helped with really calming my mind and helping with deep sleep. Totes refreshed when I got off the plane! I also always travel with Vitamin C soluble tablets to keep my hydration up. My mum takes it to a new level with those Korean style masks lol!