Advice for Long-Haul Air Travel
For the long haul flight you must consider your physical health, boredom threshold, personal hygiene, dietary needs, and travel logistics and find a way to address each with nothing more than one small carry-on bag. If this sounds like a horrible game show challenge, that’s because it should be.
My first and most important piece of advice is if you are changing planes at any point on your journey, do not check in for your flight too early. I realize that when you’ve spent over $1,000 on an airline ticket for an exciting trip and you’re worried about airport security hassels that you want to get there early, but if you check in too early, that means your luggage goes to the back of the cargo hold, and when you change planes, your luggage won’t. Imagine, arriving in the city of your dreams for the trip of a lifetime, but you’ve been on a plane for 22 hours and you’re dirty, sweaty and you have no clean clothes. It happened to me, and it’s beyond horrible. Don’t check in too early.
With the possibility of lost luggage in mind, you should consider including clean socks, underwear and a shirt as non-negotiable contents of your carry-on bag. Your carry-on should also include everything you need for in-flight hygiene including a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash (make sure it’s got no alcohol content, which will only exacerbate the drying effects of airplane cabin air), deoderant, handiwipes, moisturizer and lip balm. Even if you are a manly man, you want the moisturizer and lip balm, or you’ll look like you’ve aged ten years when you get off the flight. Both should be applied at least every 4 hours. For a moisturizer I recommend something thin and non-greasy so as not to clog pores (I’m particularly fond of Jurlique’s Herbal Recovery Gel for this purpose, and its light herbal scent makes it a good choice for men, but it’s not cheap).
It is also important that you realize that long-haul air travel creates the risk of blood clots developing in your legs, which can be highly dangerous. For a long-haul flight you should buy pressure socks (easily found at any online travel mart and also anywhere that sells supplies for diabetics), that encourage active blood flow in the legs. These socks are not comfortable for those with normal circulation while on the ground. Bring them with you and slip them on at the airport. Remove them as soon as you can after you deplane. Also be sure to get up and walk around and stretch your legs every hour while you are awake on your flight. Low-dose aspirin can also be used to address this issue, but discuss it with your doctor first.
Long-haul international flights are some of the last to have good food service. On my trip to Australia I confess to being pleasantly surprised. That said we all have quirks about when and what we like to eat. Bring snacks with you, but realize you will probably have to dispose of any leftovers when entering your destination country (Australia in particular has very strict quarantine). You want to avoid any food that has a tendency to give you gas, which is far more uncomfortable on an airplane because of the pressurized cabin. Drink water and juice often on the flight. If you have sinus problems avoid citrus juices as they can increase mucous production and make sinus pain and pressure during landing more significant. Even if you are not thirty, always accept water from the flight attendents.
One of the most difficult aspects of long-haul air travel is how incredibly boring it is. Even with five movies (yes, five!) on some flights, the inability to have multiple distraction choices can be very challenging. I recommend you bring reading material, but not one big book. An 800 page book will keep you busy for a long-haul flight, but it won’t allow you to vary your entertainment. It’s also unweildy in cramped coach, and I say this from personal experience. Bring several shorter books, so that you can switch between topics and stories as you get fidgetty. If you have any preference for puzzles (crossword, sodoku) bring those as well. Be sure to bring blank paper and pens (always more than one, as pens will always cease working at the most inopportune time). If you bring a personal music player, bring enough CDs (or pogram it) with enough albums that you can make your progress towards your destination by album. For example, the flight from New York to LA is 7 CDs, then on to Australia is another 17. It’s a slightly more pleasant way to pass the time than looking at your watch every five minutes.
Do try to sleep, but don’t take sleeping pills if you can’t. They will only make jetlag worse. Also avoid alcohol and caffeine. Personally, I like to get as little sleep the night before my flight as possible – it allows you to be asleep, or at least semi-conscious, for the most annoying parts of the travel experience. This doesn’t work for everyone though, and here you should trust your instincts.
When booking your flight, try to travel on a less busy aircraft. I know this gets harder and harder as airlines do everything they can to maximize how full their flights are, but an empty long-haul flight means you can lie down over three seats and get some solid rest. For me, this meant leaving the States on December 30th and arriving in Sydney on January 1. Thanks to the international date line, New Year’s Eve ceased to exist entirely. Not a popular day for flying, but it made for a cheaper, and more pleasant, flight.
I’m not going to lie. Long haul air-travel is proof of punishment for man’s hubris in taking to the skies. But with preplanning, you can avoid most annoyances and arrive at your destination relatively rested, healthy and happy.
