5 ways to make long-haul flights bearable
<p>Ever since October 2018, Singapore Airlines has operated the longest flight in the world with its 19-hour service from Singapore to Newark (New York).</p><p>This flight dethroned the Qantas service from Perth, Australia, to Heathrow, London, that now takes about 17 hours.</p><p>If you’ve ever been on a long-haul flight, you’ll know that it can be challenging to keep yourself rested and occupied for that many hours, especially if you’re not flying first-class.</p><p>If you’re not careful, you might step off the flight looking like you’ve just wrestled a bear.</p><p>While some people revel in the thought that they have all those uninterrupted hours to catch up on sleep, work, a book or movies, others dread the idea of being cooped up for so long.</p><p>If you’re the latter, check out these 5 tips on how to make your flight more bearable.</p><p><strong>1. Wear a comfortable outfit</strong></p><p>Since you’ll be in those clothes for over 24 hours – from the time you leave your home till you reach your destination – you’ll want to make sure that you’re wearing a comfortable outfit.</p><p>The goal is comfortably casual chic with loose-fitting tops and bottoms, and have a jacket with you in case it gets cold.</p><p>Loose-fitting clothes aren’t only for your comfort, they also don’t restrict blood flow, which could be an issue when you’re sitting for so long.</p><p><strong>2. Bring along some creature comforts</strong></p><p>These include a travel pillow, an eye mask and ear plugs to help you sleep.</p><p>Also bring along your own earphones as the ones provided by the airline may not fit comfortably or have great sound.</p><p>This is also so you can start watching movies earlier in case the flight attendants don’t pass around the earphones until the plane reaches cruising altitude, which can take almost an hour.</p><p><strong>3. Keep to the time zone of your destination </strong></p><p>Once you board, find out the time at your destination and keep track of it.</p><p>Try to keep to those hours by staying awake during the day and sleeping at night.</p><p>This may require some discipline on your part especially if there are lots of good options on the in-flight entertainment system.</p><p>Sticking to this routine will pay off later and it will help with the jetlag that will surely come.</p><p><strong>4. Drink a lot of water and try to avoid alcohol</strong></p><p>The air in the cabin is very dry so you should be drinking a lot of water – about a glass every hour – to stay hydrated.</p><p>Bring an empty water bottle with you on the plane and once you’re comfortably seated and before the plane takes off, ask a flight attendant to help you fill it up.</p><p>This way, you don’t have to keep asking for water throughout the flight.</p><p>And while it may calm your nerves, alcohol has a dehydrating effect so you may want to give it a miss or stick to just one drink at the start of the flight.</p><p><strong>5. Get up and move around</strong></p><p>All that drinking will make you need the toilet, which is a good thing because you should be getting up and walking a lot more during long-haul flights.</p><p>Too much sitting can cause fatigue and swollen limbs so you should get up every couple of hours for a stroll up and down the aisle.</p><p>Or find a little space near the exits to do some simple stretches.</p><p>This will also minimise the risk of deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, which is the formation of blood clots in deep veins.</p><p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/travel/5-ways-make-long-haul-flights-more-bearable">Readers Digest</a>. </p><p><em>Image: Getty </em></p><p> </p>
