In-Flight Comfort!? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?
Is there really such a thing as being comfortable on an airplane anymore?
Well, short of pumping myself full of enough alcohol, Ambien and Valium, so that I arrive foggy brained at my destination in a drooling, drunken, drugged stupor…Uhh, where was I going with this?
Oh, yeah, right…. I’ll never be comfortable on a plane!
But I have a few helpful hints that can at least make it tolerable.
- Wear a pashmina. It multi-tasks as a scarf, a blanket or a lumbar support. It’s clean and it’s free!
- Support your curves. Lord knows airplane seats were not desgined by a chiropractor! Bring an inflatable neck collar, a lumbar pillow and an inflatable seat cushion on board and turn your seat into a treat for your spine. Or go for the First-Class Sleeper, designed by a pilot, that takes you from coach to 1st class.
- Exercise. Get up, walk around. If you can’t, do some exercise in your seat, roll your ankles and your shoulders, run in place, raise and lower your heels on your tip-toes. Get that blood pumping!
- Speaking of blood-flow. It’s important. You don’t want a blood clot at 15,000 feet! Put your compression socks on. Yeah, they’re ugly. I know. Get over it! Your legs will feel energized!
- Hydrate. Airplane air is recycled and dries you out. Drink plenty of water on board. Lay off the coffee and the alcohol.
- Your skin dries out too. Take lip balm, hand cream and mineral water spray on board with you and use them continuously throughout your flight. Your skin will thank you!
- I am most comfortable on overnight flights. But whenever you are flying and it’s time to get some shut eye, don’t forget to don your eye mask. Make sure you get one that is lightweight, comfy and molded to your face so it doesn’t let any light creep in.
- Don’t forget your I-Pod. Load it up with all your favorites before you leave. Music, language lessons, maybe even a book on tape. Anything that relaxes you.
- Keep your mind occupied. Bring some crosswords, Sudoku, a magazine, a book, magnetic scrabble or watch the in-flight movie. Just do something. Chances are if you keep busy, you won’t think about how you can’t feel your ass or that your knees are jammed into your seat tray.
- Invest in noise-cancelling headphones. Drowning out the engine noise, or the toddler wailing two aisles behind you is a must for sanity on a long flight! Sure, Bose are great, but try Sennheiser’s. They work just as well and fold for easy storage, but at less than half the price! They work great with your I-Pod too!
- Plug those ears. Pressure and pain in your ears making you feel like your head’s gonna explode? No worries. Stick a set of Earplanes in your ears and you’ll relieve the pressure and leave your chewing gum home! Add your noise cancelling headphones on top of these…and you won’t feel or hear a thing!
- Pick the aisle seat. I used to think the most comfy seat in the house was the window seat. You can look out and rest your head against the plane. That was until I was forced into a aisle seat..and by golly it was the best-thing-ever!! Now, I stick my whole arm and leg in the aisle and relax like nobody’s business.
Hopefully you can use some of the tips and products I have mentioned here to help make your flight as comfortable as possible. You can also see more rcommended travel products in the Carry-On Queen’s Travel Essentials section of my Amazon store.
Now, if I could only devise a sinister plan to take-out one of the first-class passengers and assume their identity on my next flight, then these tips would be a mute point.
Ahh, wishful thinking. Guess I’ve watched too many in-flight Bond movies.
