Tips to Save Your Sanity & Backside on Long Haul Flights

Hey there, fellow long-haul travelers. Mark here with Vaulter's Worms. Today we're here in Paris, and I actually flew in yesterday on a long-haul flight from Atlanta. And today I want to talk about are some of the ways that you can help yourself survive a long-haul flight. Because those 8, 10, 12, 16-hour flights, going to Dubai, going to Sydney, coming to Paris, it can take a lot out of you and really wipe you out on your first couple days of your vacation. So I want to give you a few pointers to make it a little bit better, because I do a lot of these flights, and these are things that I do, so I can hit the ground running and start filming videos and exploring cities right away. And I think the first thing when you're looking at, you know, surviving long-haul flights, it's really important to choose your flight wisely. When I say choose your flight wisely, I'm looking at the time frame of your flight. If you're flying out, maybe you want to look for a night flight or an overnight flight or a red-eye flight that's going to help you kind of sleep on the way there, because it's your normal sleeping time. So then you can sleep and get a little bit of rest, so you get in the city, you can just start going, versus one of those ones where you're traveling all during the day, and you're like, what do I do? What do I do? That might be something you want to think about, okay, is when you're going to be flying, okay? So pick the flight that gives you a chance to sleep on the plane, that's gonna be a lot helpful, okay? Now, once you have your flight, the next important thing you have to remember is, um, choose your seat wisely, because getting stuck in the middle seat is never good on a long-haul flight, because you'll be miserable, no one lets you have the middle arm rest, and you're just kind of SOL, all right? So you want to be careful with this. Now, one thing I would say, if you are able to pay up on a long-haul flight, that's when you want to upgrade, get those comfort pluses, or the first class, the business class, whatever, because two inches might not seem a lot, but after 10 hours, two inches makes a big difference with your leg room, because honestly, if you're smooshed up like this, and you're so uncomfortable, you're not gonna be able to sleep very well, you're gonna be very restless, and therefore you're gonna land and be kind of discombobulated, so if you have the miles, this is a great way to use your miles. That's actually how I use my miles, is I use my miles to upgrade instead of buying the upgrades, because I feel I get better bang for the miles than the bucks, and that's the way I can actually use my miles, so that might be something you want to think about. Also, if you can't do that, then maybe make sure you can get an aisle seat, because in an aisle seat, you get a little more space, yeah, you might get hit by the cart occasionally, but on long haul flights, they're not coming around that often, so you can get some sleep in and have a little space there, or if you get the window seat, and you can sleep on that, that's nice, but yeah, being in the middle seat for 16 hours, like my first flight, when I went LA to Sydney, or actually with Chicago to LA to Sydney on one flight, oh, it is not fun, and you just get there, just discombobulated, okay? And I think when we start to also think about choosing wisely, I think you also need to think about choosing your clothing wisely for your trip as well. Look, if you wear tight, restrictive clothes, you might look fantastic, but you're going to feel horrible because you can't move around, you can't adjust in your seat to get comfortable, have looser fitting clothes. If you've got your kids, let them be in their pajamas, so they're comfortable, so they can sleep, and you, yeah, I mean, you're probably not gonna wear your pajamas, I don't recommend wearing your pajamas on the plane, but maybe wear layers, because sometimes the planes are freezing cold, and sometimes they're really hot. The fact that you could unzip and go from one to the other can be very helpful. So kind of think about that with your clothing, because I won't lie to you, sometimes Jocelyn forgets about this and wears a turtleneck for a long haul flight, literally within an hour, she's like, get this off of me, get this off of me. Luckily, we bring multiple clothes for her so she can do that, but it's one of those things you have to think about. But if I'm going to say one of the most important things that I wear every single time I take a long haul flight, because it feels great, and it's actually a healthier way to fly, is compression socks. Get those, you know, those really long socks that go up to your knees that really compress down on your legs. You want to have those because deep vein thrombosis is real. People have died from it. So you have those socks, it really helps the circulation keep going in your legs, in your feet. And I'll be honest with you, if you get into town, like you get into Paris, like I got in here like 1.15, 2 o'clock, I have my compression socks on, I just kept them on, and I was walking around town, and my feet felt fantastic. So compression socks are a must, and that's for old people or young people. Now, if you know your long haul flights the next day, another thing I want to talk about is hydration. Being hydrated before your flight, on your flight, after your flight is very helpful to help you kind of adjust for the jet lag, but also help your body adjust with the flight. Because when you're in the air, the air in the plane is very dry. Okay, so every time they come by and offer you water, say yes, please, and drink it. Okay, before you're going the day before, double your water intake, like just drink a bunch of water the day before to keep that hydrated. Yes, you have to get up and go pee, but that's going to help you feel better on your flight. And the thing is that hydration isn't just drinking, you might also make sure you have some lip balm, some moisturizer, because your hands get all dry as well. And that makes you uncomfortable. When you're uncomfortable, you can't rest on the plane. Now, something I want you to do on the plane is move around. And what I do in those flights is I actually get up a few times, and I'll walk back and forth. I'll go back to the bathroom, and then actually, if it's one of those ones that the bathrooms are kind of hidden, I'll actually sit there and do some like yoga poses, and some stretches, and some deep knee bends, and some bend over stuff to get the blood flowing in my legs, so there's at least something there. Now, I know some people don't feel comfortable doing that, or they can't get out of their seat, or like, well, I'm in the middle seat, I want to wake the person up next to me. So what I recommend you do is with your feet, like spell the alphabet with your feet up, down, around, all those kind of things to get the feet moving, get the blood flowing, that's going to help you like reduce like the, the cramping and stuff and, you know, just making you feel better, because that and the compression socks, I really do like every single flight when I fly, even that the long haul ones, because it really does help. Now, another thing is when you fly, it's important to be smart with your food options, not just on the flight, but before you fly, try to avoid like really heavy, fatty foods that make you feel, yeah, like make you feel like you look like me, like, wait, make you feel like I look, in terms of the build this, you don't want to have that because that makes you feel worse than the plane. So go for something lighter, okay? And if you're going to be seeing what the options are on the plane, go for the lighter option, and get the extra water too, to help you feel a bit better because that heavy food, it really just sits in you when you're on the plane, and it's very uncomfortable. Now, another thing that's going to help you when you're gonna be doing these long haul flights is to pack some things that will help you relax. If you are one of those people that likes to have the white noise, have those white noise headphones, those noise canceling headphones to help you sleep, the eye masks to make it dark so you can sleep, especially if you're flying during the day, but you do want to sleep, those eye masks, oh, they can be a lifesaver sometimes. Also, earplugs, because you might be sitting next to me, and if I fall asleep like this, I'm sorry, I don't mean to snore. I'm just a fat guy that snores a lot, so I'm sorry, but those earplugs can actually help too. The thing is, it's not just that, maybe you're one of the people that like the neck pillows. I'm not a neck pillow person, it doesn't help me, but some people it does help, so you could look at that. I know Jocelyn actually has this little, when you see it, you think it's a deflated beach ball, but when she blows it up, it makes it into this square, and she puts it down on the floor, because she's not very tall. So it helps her put her feet up, so then she can kind of, like, sleep in her seat, even in economy. So that's something that she does to help her sleep. So a few things that I kind of can't live without on a long haul flight. One, if you have anxiety like I do, you should probably talk to your doctor. They'll be able to recommend some things to help you with that. Also, if you don't sleep well on flights, they may be able to help you with that, with whatever, you know, doctors do. Noise-canceling headphones are also really great, and if you have little ones, over-the-ear headphones are really important because those little plugs they give you on the airplane, they don't fit in their ears. So we always would buy those over-the-head ones, but not the ones for kids, because those have this volume control thing, and it never gets loud enough to actually be able to hear things. If you watch any of our videos, you know I don't like to overpack. So instead of doubling up on things, know that many airlines, all the ones I've ever been on for a long haul flight, will give you earplugs, an eye mask, a pillow, blanket. It's not the best pillow in the world, but you're, you know, on a giant tube, flying at 40,000, so they're very helpful, and it allows you to pack. So if there are some of those little gadgety kind of things that help you sleep or help you relax, maybe bring them with you, okay? Now, another thing that I've learned the hard way over the years is, uh, on long haul flights, don't trust the entertainment system. Now, we've come a long way from the one TV in the middle of the plane showing some movie in a language you don't understand. Now, we've come a long way from that. There's lots of options, but sometimes, sometimes there's just nothing good on TV, right? And so what I recommend is bring some entertainment for you. Grab a book when you're in the airport, like an actual book kind of thing, or if you have a Kindle, or, or charge up your phone, your Switch, your whatever, have those things available for you. And what I do is I actually download a bunch of YouTube videos before I get on the plane, so I can watch all these YouTube videos I haven't had a chance to. If you got Netflix or Disney Plus, they have that option as well, that you can download onto your phone, so that can be nice, but I will tell you, if you're going to be using your devices, don't forget to pack a USB plug, so you can charge it on the plane, because a lot of them have the USB charging ports, or if you're not sure they're gonna have that, bring a backup battery charger, so you can charge your phone up, so when you get to your destination, you can call to let them know, hey, I'm here, my Airbnb, let me in, because your phone's dead, you got a problem, right? So think about those things to help you pass the time. The thing is, when you're getting on the plane, there's something you can do to make it easier for yourself when you're there, and that is put your stuff away and forget about it. Look, if you know you want to get your book, or you might want to get your earbuds, or your headphones, or your work thing, or your laptop out later, look, if it's things you can get out and put in the front, like little pouch there, your book, your notebook, your phone, already have those out, put those in there, then put your luggage away, put your carry on away, your backpack under the seat, and don't get it out anymore, because you don't need it, because what sucks if you're on a long haul flight, nobody likes that person that gets up six hours into the flight, pulls out one suitcase, puts it down on the seat, tries to find something to go, oh, it's not on this one, they zip it back up, they put that back up there, they forget to close that, that bed, open another bed, look in there, rustle, rustle, rustle, drop something on the person behind them, which has been me before, sorry, a little bitter, and then finally get your stuff, have it all ready. What I do is like, look, I know things I will use, like I have my notebook that I have all my scripts on, I actually write my scripts while I'm traveling, so I have that with me, I put that in the seat in front of me, the seat back in front of me, but then I'm like, well, if I want some more of my notes, if I do need it, where do I do it, I put it at the very front of my backpack, so I can just zip it real quick, pull it out and zip it back close, and I'm done, I don't actually have to even get it out of the bin, that can make your life so much more simple, and so less stressful, when it's all dark, and all the lights are off in the cabin, you're trying to find stuff, it's not fun, okay, and think about if you got to take medicine as well, have that on you instead of hidden up in there, all right, and then I think one of the best things you can do to help kind of survive a long haul flight is just sleep, I know, it's crazy, sleeping on an overnight flight, sleeping on a long haul flight, who would think of such a thing? Well, some people can't, like a lot of times I can't sleep, like I was so happy with myself on this trip to Paris, I actually got almost two hours of sleep, which is like a record for me, like Jas was like, oh, good for you, honey, it was like I was a little kid, and I potted for the- by myself for the first time, you're like, you was a big boy, you did it, but if you can sleep, do do that, don't stay up, you're like, but I want to watch this new movie, look, watch it on the way back, because on your way there, you want to make sure you're fresh and ready to go, all right, so do be aware of that, so if you need sleep aids, maybe you want to talk to your doctor about that, there's things you can do to help you sleep, you want to do that, but do be careful, because mixing sleeping helpers with alcohol, like that's how people get in trouble, like health wise and legal reasons why, so do have a heads up for it, but there might be something that can help you sleep, so do be aware of that, and honestly, if you're doing the overnight flight, sleep on the way there, so when you get in in the morning, when it's there, and it's morning there, you can enjoy the day, and if you're going to take a day flight, I recommend, and you're going to get there in the evening that your destination you're going to go to, I recommend not sleeping on the plane, because then when you get your destination, you can just go to bed when you get there, and then sleep and then be on that cycle in the new country you're in. Alright, so what are things that you do to help survive those long haul flights? Let us know in the comments below, so we can have other travelers survive these long haul flights and come enjoy beautiful cities like Paris, you know, and Dubai and Tokyo and New York, wherever they're flying from. Anyway, wish y'all the best, I'll say au revoir from here in Paris.