When I was three years old, my family moved from our home in Northampton all the way across the world to live in New Zealand. I grew up on the other side of the world, but with all of my extended family still living in England, I got very used to travelling the 24 hours on a plane to visit the UK.
We used to undertake this massive journey every four years until I moved back to England last year. Now, I work as a travel reporter and frequently find myself jetting off to explore the world; and the knowledge gained from doing so has been invaluable to my career.
There’s nothing fun about a long-haul economy class flight – especially as I am nearly six foot tall now. It’s cramped, dry, dirty and a lot of the time it’s dark, but there are a couple of things I always take with me to make the horror a little more palatable.
Silk scarf
My first must-have is a silk scarf. This might seem like a weird luxury item to bring on an economy flight but it serves a very important purpose.
The air on these long-haul flights can be extremely dry and that can irritate your nose, mouth and eyes. If I am trying to catch a few winks on one of these flights, I’ll put the scarf over my face and it works as an eye mask and face mask all in one.
Breathing through the silk moistens the air which makes it less irritating to breathe, and it also stops the delicate skin around my nose from drying out. You might get a couple of odd looks, but it is absolutely worth it.
Headphones
The other thing I always make sure to bring is good quality headphones. The ones that airlines give out do the job – just about. I much prefer to have my proper noise-cancelling headphones as the noise of the plane engines can be extremely loud.
My headphones are Bluetooth, but they also have a connecting cable that can turn them into wired ones, and this works with most seatback entertainment units, meaning I can watch movies with the comfort of good sound quality.
This is an absolute essential as sometimes I have sat on flights for as long as 16 hours, and trying to use the cheap headphones given to you at takeoff can get really painful as they’re not very padded.
Earplugs
My third must-have is earplugs. When you’re trying to sleep, you want as little distraction as possible and these flights can get noisy. Not only is there constant rumbling from the engine, but frequently people are coughing, sneezing, chatting or wandering past your seat, so comfortable earplugs are a must.
I swear by Loop earplugs for this because they’re comfortable, stay in my ears and actually manage to block out most of the noise of air travel, making sleeping a little easier.
Toiletries
When you are travelling for that long, you can start to feel pretty gross pretty quickly. To try and combat this, I always make sure I have a couple of essential toiletries in my carry-on bag.
Wet wipes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant and some moisturiser can go a long way to making you feel somewhat human.
Just make sure if you’re brushing your teeth to never use the water in the airplane bathroom – that stuff is nasty. I usually wait until my layover and then head to the airport bathrooms for a quick refresh.
It makes the second leg of the flight way more pleasant knowing I am somewhat clean. I also always make sure I have a spare pair of underwear and socks to change out of and if I have space, I bring a spare shirt too, because you never know what you might spill on yourself.
Slippers
When you’re on a flight for up to 16 hours, it’s inevitable your feet will swell a bit, so I always make sure I have some comfortable slip-on shoes with me that I can change into.
This means going to the bathroom or getting up to stretch your legs is much easier and cleaner. Never, ever go to an airplane barefoot or in socks. That is utterly nasty and wholly unnecessary.
Flying on long-haul flights is never pleasant, but you don’t have to be completely miserable. These items are small changes that can make the difference between a horrible trip and a manageable one, and personally, I’d never be without them.