I take a small nasal spray (sterimar) with me which helps with the air as it keeps my sinuses (I hate to use this word) moist. And then mostly I sleep. I have a travel pillow that makes me look ridiculous but it hooks around the back of the seat and means I can lean forward rather then back. Then I just have to wake up properly for snacks/meals
On Virgin it never seems that long to me, watch a couple of films, they never stop interrupting you with food and drink (I never drink alcohol on flights myself) and maybe a bit of reading and you’re there.
I’m not good with reading whilst travelling, but I do bring a book.
One thing you could try is what I did with my boys. Have a treat bag. One thing per hour, like a favourite snack, a puzzle book if you’re into that, even maps of WDW from a previous trip if you’ve saved them. Allow yourself one thing out of the bag each hour. Not quite the same since you’ll know what’s in it though.
So start off with say the menus for the restaurants you’ve booked, or the F&W booths (you will have printed them off earlier, with pictures).
Then a snack.
Then get out the maps, walk around a park in your head.
Edit: oooh, better idea. Have you seen any of Josh Nelson’s videos of resorts, or just real-time walk throughs of a “land” in a park? Try ResortTV1.
I have a cozy blanket, two pillows and I wear the same outfit, and I tend to be asleep before we even take off.
I do stop in the lounge at LAX and grab a quick white wine spritzer…that seems to knock me out. I tend to wake up at the initial descent into MCO…ready to hit the ground running.
My key is timing, so I don’t have to get up and go to the bathroom. I seem to have worked it out. I also prefer the red eye out of LAX, but JetBlue seems to be changing their schedule.
I know that alcohol is a bad idea when flying, but I still never turn down the glass of sparkling before takeoff, and have wine with my meals. I also drink lots of water, but I always do anyway so that’s just normal for me.
As for what to do onboard, I make sure my Kindle is well stocked up beforehand, and check out what movies will be onboard before we leave, so I can make sure there is something on I haven’t seen before (and don’t watch it on Sky).
Like @missoverexcited said,it feels like the Virgin cabin crew are constantly serving food, drinks or snacks which helps. Oh, not to mention the plethora of in-flight announcements which drive me crazy.
We do travel with a 4 year old, so a small amount of time is spent helping her with various things, but she’s a seasoned traveler (60 flights so far according to TripIt) so she’s very independent.
If you’re in Upper you can always hang out at the bar and chat to fellow travelers, if that appeals to you.
We fly to Gatwick the night before, don’t want to risk being fogged in on the day (happens fairly often over here). Makes for quite a relaxing start to the trip, nice hotel breakfast in the morning and then we hang out in the No1 lounge until it’s time to board.
I flew from Frankfurt to Denver nonstop in coach, and it was such terrible experience I swore I’d never fly economy again. If I have to beg borrow or steal- I now only fly business or first. It has actually put the fun back in travel for me- much of the benefit isn’t even in the seating but in the other perks that make flying pleasant again.
Fortunately, the kids are old enough to sit in coach by themselves.
I discovered passion flower as an herbal remedy to help with anxiety. It just takes the edge off and I find it most valuable while flying. It is liquid and comes with a dropper, and I always fly with it. My anxiety on flights is “I’m stuck on this plane, now what am I going to do?” fidgety anxious. The passion flower helps me settle in, read a book, watch a movie, or with a glass of wine, sleep.
I watch movies, read, nap, a few drinks, play cards with my kids. DH and I flew to New York earlier this year without the kids, I’d been so busy beforehand that I was actually looking forward to the flight because there would be nothing I had to do. I’m only 5’4 so I can get comfortable, it’s a different story when you don’t fit in the space provided.
I’m the titch of the family, at 5’8. The others are all well over 6ft, and have been since the boys were around 14.
We always book seats two in front and two behind. I sit in the front and usually the youngest sits with me, so the two tallest know we won’t recline the seats! The flying part really isn’t fun.
