Flying can be very exciting if you’re going somewhere you’ve never been before or planning an awesome vacation, the first couple of times. The take off and landing is exhilarating the first time around, all the clouds you can see from your illuminator window are fascinating, and seeing countries and cities look all tiny from the bird’s view can be quite fun. But pretty soon after the novelty wears off, you start noticing the screaming children, the awful food, the dry air, the lac of personal space and every single person who’s sneezing or coughing and spreading their icky germs around this closed metal tube you’re stuck in for a couple of hours. This is when flying has become a necessary evil that takes you from point A to point B, you just want to get it over with, and preferably not be conscious for the duration of the flight. “I wish” – I hear you say, – “like sleeping on a plane is easy, pffft”. You know what? It is! You just need to prepare ahead. In fact, with these tips you’ll be able to get the best sleep of your life, on a plane.
1. Dress Comfortably
Unless you’re taking a 1 hour flight – dress comfy. Nobody cares about how cool you look in your super skinny jeans and how glamorous your high heels are. Just wear some leggings and an oversized top. You’ll be way more comfortable in it. Comfy, and easy to take off shoes are a must too. First of all – you might have to take them off to make airport security happy, and secondly – you might wanna take them off to curl up in your seat – think sandals here if weather permits.
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2. Wireless Bra
For the love of God and all that is holy, don’t bother with one of those push-up bras. In fact, any wired bra will just become a torture device about 30 minutes into your flight. Go for the comfiest t-shirt bra you have, wear a bralette, or just wear one of those comfy yoga sports bras. You can wire up your boobs later to impress the guys.
3. Warm Socks
If you notice that your legs and feet tend to swell on flights – compression socks are a lifesaver. Don’t even question it. But if you don’t have that problem, wearing a nice pair of warm socks is still a good idea. It can get chilly on a plane and you want to stay toasty to fall asleep easier.
4. Bring A Hoodie
Speaking of getting cold on a plane, bring a hoodie or a cardigan too. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is or how warm it is outside. It’s better to have it and not need it than not have it and regret it as you’re freezing on the plane. This is the point at which you might bring up the fact that they do give out blankets on planes sometimes. Yes, the key word being “sometimes”, depending on the airline and the class. Low budget airlines might not give those out, and even if they do, have you ever thought about how many people touched that blanket before you? Exactly. Stay away from them and bring a hoodie.
5. Cover Your Eyes
For a lot of people the key to falling asleep is blocking out the light. Bring along a sleep mask to block out the light and throw in a baseball cap for good measure. Why the baseball cap? Because you can use it to shield your face from other passengers, therefore giving you some privacy and also preventing everyone from seeing your sleeping face. Plus, you can lightly spritz the inside of it with your favorite essential oil, to shield you from icky smells from some dowager who has bathed in her perfume before takeoff.
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6. Block Out The Sounds
Bring some good, noise cancelling headphones and put on some relaxing music to fall asleep to. Or, if you’re not a fan of falling asleep to music, and need silence – get some good quality earplugs. You know, ones that will cancel out the crying babies – crying babies need to be cancelled!
7. Don’t Drink Alcohol
A lot of people tend to think that having a cheeky little drink on a plane will make them more relaxed and therefore they’ll fall asleep easier. Yeah, sure you might fall asleep, but will it be a good, restful kind of sleep? No. Because when have you ever woken up rested and refreshed after having alcohol?
8. Bring Melatonin
Another popular option for falling asleep is sleeping pills. Don’t take those either. More often than not they’re too strong, last too long and they’ll make you feel loopy and groggy – not a great way to be when going through customs. Instead bring melatonin, it’s the most natural thing you can take for sleep, and it won’t make you feel weird.
9. Don’t Hate On Neck Pillows
Yes, they’re not the most inconspicuous things in the world and can look a bit extra, but hey, if you want to sleep comfortably on the plane – get one. The trick is to get one of those long ones that you can rest on the side of the plane. If you have a regular one – there’s a trick to making that work too. You know that putting in behind your neck won’t make you comfy. Instead, wear it backwards. This way it’ll keep your head in place and you can rest your chin on it, preventing the oh so embarrassing situation of tipping forward and constantly jerking your head back.
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Have a nice snooze and a great flight!
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