Making flying less miserable

We have Bose noise cancelling headsets that really help drown out some of the noise which in turn will help with the jet lag. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (water of course) both before and during the flight. Watching movies or reading books can help pass the time quickly or sleep and get well rested before arrival.

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If you have a tablet, load it up with movies. Do you have Netflix? There are quite a few that can be downloaded. Binge watch some show you’ve been meaning to catch up with.

Read a book. Noise cancelling headphones sound wonderful (not for take off and landing, though, as you need to hear if they want you to evacuate).

Water. Bathroom breaks. Music. Play solitaire. Do adult colouring… on the tablet. Make sure to take a plug, though because that app sucks the power up.

You’re a teacher right? How about grading papers or doing up some lesson plans so you can catch up on sleep when you get back?

People do pretty much whatever they would do if they were home… and couldn’t move around. I once crocheted half an afghan on an overseas flight (there and back).

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My 4-year old has had 47 flights (I just counted them up!) with at least 9 more to come next year, flown 57,000 miles, and been to 11 countries. Some of us get around! :joy:

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I’ll check that out.

I recommend melatonin too for relaxation.

Luckily for me I’m only 3.5 flight hours from WDW but it still seems to go slowly… I always download tv shows and/or movies onto my iPad. I’ve even been known to download an entire football or baseball game. A few episodes of my favorite shows or a three hour football game and the time goes by at least a little faster!!

I also bought a packable down blanket from my local Costco. It works great as either a pillow or a blanket and helps me feel a little more relaxed.

Magazines are also easier than books for me – maybe it’s my short attention span!

Last but not least I like to make lists. That includes Disney lists like things I’ve done at WDW, things I haven’t done but want to, how I’d rank the rides, etc.; plus non-Disney lists like how I’d spend my lotto winnings, famous people I’d like to have lunch with, etc. Weird but kind of fun!

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I make sure my Kindle is fully charged and has a few new books downloaded and ready to go. I will take a crossword puzzle book as well. Those keep me entertained. You might even consider adding some Disney history reading into your flight to get you excited for your trip. Audio books and podcasts can be really enjoyable as well.

It just seemed like an awful lot! I didn’t go on a plane till I was 15 and at the age of 44, I’ve just added them up and I’ve only done 26 in total. So 15 flights a year on average… I can’t imagine it! It’s more than 1 a month!

I’m also counting individual airplanes/flights. So our trip to America in September added four flights for her. That might make it seem a little less crazy?

I can definitely understand it in your case living abroad.

I counted the actual flights, not trips. Hopefully that makes more sense. She’s not flying once a month. :rofl: She’s been abroad six times this year (counting the two Disney trips), which is quite a lot, but her grandparents (my parents) live abroad so we try to see them as much as we can.

I counted it as actual flights! So it’s an average of 7 return journeys a year, or one every other month. Though if they are indirect flights, that would bring the average down.

Yep, looking at TripIt she averages 5-6 trips a year, some of which are indirect (like the 2-3 Orlando trips every year).

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I can’t even imagine that.

Always learning new British-isms on these threads!

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My kids have always traveled that much- the youngest was born on vacation so his first flight was at 5 weeks old!

We travel a lot, but also live in an isolated part of the US so they have all had frequent flier accounts their entire lives. Last couple of years, between looking at colleges, travel and some business travel I probably went on 30 individual flights, probably 20 for the kids. It’s four flights anytime we go anywhere. When we moved back out West, we included it as a cost of living since we want to stay in touch with family. It’s in the budget.

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I have a pretty standard routine for long-haul flights.

After takeoff, I wait for, and consume, the post-takeoff meal. I then proceed to get out my sleep mask and pillow, and take a 4-ish hour nap.

Wake up, use the facilities, and watch the entertainment system until the pre-landing meal is served; eat, and prepare for landing.

Easy trip. Awake for generally less than half of it. And combats Jet Lag, too.

YMMV.

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