Usually can't sleep on planes. The only time I'd fall asleep is during take-off, only because taxi mostly takes too long and I get impatient and tired. The rest of the flight is agony and uncomfortable restlessness.
Reply to this Put on iPod playing easy-listening tunes (no hip-hop, jazz or rock!), cut out the light with a comfortable eye mask - try the Pure Comfort sleeping mask £12.95 from Amazon, recline your seat as far as it'll go and add a little pillow under your neck. Works every time for me!
Reply to this I will put Ali's advice to the test, as I have a 22 hr flight to Thailand.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #142453
Absolutely comfort. I can't sleep sitting up and am wildly envious of those who can sleep anywhere, anytime. I have tried just about everything and now like Jo, go prepared to read, watch movies and not sleep. If I manage to doze off for a couple of hours I take that as a bonus.
Reply to this Last time I took ear plugs. They were disposable, so I threw a bunch in and shared w/ those around me.
Reply to this Most travel stores carry a variety of pillows designed for sleeping in an upright position. Budget travelers find the inflatable U-shaped vinyl pillows satisfactory and compact; a small buckwheat-filled pillow is a higher-end option.
Reply to this Personally, we have no problem sleeping on any form of transport - at first when we started travelling it was difficult but not now. Trains are the best, that rocking motion is great for rocking you to sleep! We have had plenty of practice though and are thoroughly prepared when we go on a long haul flight which is not that often now, it's only what we think of as short hops of 5 hours or less within Asia. We've never had to take drugs to knock us out.
Our last long haul was with Air Asia X to London, we had our hoodies, laptop with films on and our ipod fully charged. We watched films for a while and then got all snug in our hoodies, put the soothing music on the ipod (with noise cancelling earphones!) and then fell asleep. You definitely aren't going to sleep when you are cold and the air con on those planes are FREEZING, so take a jumper/jacket/hoodie to keep you warm, especially if you are like me and really feel the cold! Sometimes we end up with a stiff neck, but that's usually from the cold.
We were fine when we arrived in London, had to get to Liverpool on the train after that and didn't really feel the effects (we fell asleep on the train too!) - our families were amazed we didn't feel the effects of travelling that far (apart from waking up at stupid o'clock which my Mum wasn't too happy with!). Jet lag doesn't really affect us either, so I guess we are quite lucky in that respect.
Maybe those of you who can't sleep, try exhausting yourself during the day, eat a big meal before you get on the plane and get nice and warm. That combined with soothing music may be enough to put you to sleep?
Reply to this We are beginning to think about our October trip and have purchased new travel pillows as the old ones were too flat from over use. I'm going to pick up a couple of eye masks and try the melatonin. Can't hurt to try these additional efforts even though we go to sleep rather quickly. We'll see if we are more refreshed on the other side.
Reply to this I sleep on nearly anything pretty well....three weeks ago, Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Tokyo-Bangkok in one go...we party all night long before our 7am flight, and I slept the all way through.
I have do have few tricks. On long-haul, I fly in pyjamas! For info, if you ever fly first, they give them to you...so why not do the same thing in the back of the plane, I just bring my owns with me. It is more comfortable to sleep, but it's even better once you reach your destination.
I also fly few days ago Shanghai-Hong Kong-Joburg-middle of Africa...in a single go...same thing, slept most of the time. But it was cold, and I hate the freezing feeling on those flights.
Reply to this It's never been too difficult for me. Throw some music on the ipod, wrap myself in a blanket, then toss and turn for 20 minutes trying to find a good spot for my head...Ok not super easy, but I can generally fall asleep at least a few hours on a long flight.
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