Flights: Comfortable Flying

Comfortable flights are not hard to accomplish depending on the amount of anxiety you personally have during flight. There are hundreds of ways to make a flight more comfortable, all you have to do is try. Anything that you do at home to get comfortable, you can usually do on a plane as well, including propping your feet up, laying on a pillow, or even covering up to keep warm. All of these things and more will allow a comfortable flight, especially if you are traveling far.

A head (airplane) pillow is a wonderful way to help make a long flight or even a short one feel more comfortable. There are a couple of things to be careful of though. First, try to bring your own pillow if you can. There are many flights a day and I do not believe there is enough time for the pillows to be washed, or even the pillow cases to be changed, between every flight. Bringing your own will make you feel more comfortable, because you know where it has been and who has been sleeping on it. And you will know the last time that it was washed.

Secondly, your body goes into a sort of shock when you change a lot of things to quickly, that is why so many people are not able to sleep on airplanes. They are used to sleeping in their own bed, with their own pillows, and with their own night sounds. An airplane is nothing like their home. There are different sounds, different pillows, and usually not beds. Therefore, if you get used to sleeping on the head (airplane) pillow a week before your flight, you are able to reduce some of the discomfort. The body will not have as much shock to it, especially since it smells like you and you have grown accustomed to this pillow.

There are also body pillows, which could be used in the same manor allowing the same relaxation level once you are in flight. Sleep with it for a week before flight and you will probably have a more comfortable flight. Another way to help reduce discomfort is to bring a blanket from home. Once again, it will smell like home and if you are cold, it will allow you to stay warm. Even if the flight is not cold, try putting it across your upper body or just under your nose, just to allow the smell into your nose. This will not work for every person who attempts it, but there have been studies showing that it does work for most people who have trouble sleeping or getting comfortable during flight.

Hard covered carry on luggage is a plus for a comfortable flight. Hard covered carry on luggage can act as a foot stool to prop up your feet. You can place a blanket or a pillow on top of it, prop your feet on it, and picture your lazy boy at home. Once again the body goes into a little bit of shock from the amount of change between where you normally sleep or where you normally get comfortable and the plane seats. So, by trying to make it more like home, where your legs are able to be propped up, you have a tendency to become more relaxed allowing a more comfortable flight. The main thing to remember with this method is that if you normally do not prop your feet up when you are relaxing at home, you might cause your body more shock by doing this on an airplane. Depending on how afraid you get during flight, you may cause more harm than good. But for most people, they will quickly become comfortable and some will quickly fall asleep.

Most of the problems with people getting comfortable during flight are their own mental blocks. People fear plane crashes and often, even if they will not admit it, have anxiety toward flight. The easiest way to control or forget about this anxiety is to imagine yourself somewhere comfortable. So, by bringing things from home, like pillows, blankets, and a footstool, you are allowing yourself to close your eyes and picture your home. The place you have to relax when you get home from work or after the children go to bed. So, next time you are trying to have a comfortable flight, try picturing you couch or anything that you use to get comfortable at home. It should help.

There are some people that it will not matter what they do, they are to afraid of flight and that is fine. There are hundreds of people daily that get sick during flights or have a very high anxiety level until the flight touches down in the destination spot. But you can try to ease some of this anxiety, making it a more comfortable flight, by figuring out what you need from home to make it happen. The methods above have helped hundreds, but not everyone. You will just have to try it yourself to see if it will help at all.