How do you deal with long boring flights?..
 

I don't know about you but after the flight's at cruising altitude and a couple of hours go by I always wish I could just push a fast forward button and time warp through the flight.. I get REALLLY bored, and just sitting and reading or listening to an ipod doesn't do it for me.. I also have a real hard time sleeping on planes. I always try and sleep deprive myself the night before thinking that it'll make me conk out on the plane, but it always backfires when I DONT conk out and instead just end up being an irritable zombie for the duration of the trip...

Also I should mention that the longest flight I take is from Chicago to the west coast (4 hours at most). And usually I'm just about to lose my mind by the time we're on final. I don't know how you 10 hour+ flyers do it, especially in economy..

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on some full proof sleep aids? I'm looking for something that will make me comatose, yet allow me to wake up and not feel like crap because I usually have a 3 hour drive ahead of me when I land..

You can shell out $7 for booze and drink yourself into oblivion.

You could always play with yourself, cards that is.

Re/ something to put you to sleep. None of the prescription sleep agents, not even non-Rx Benadryl) currently available should be used in the circumstances you described (couple of hours flight - then driving 3 hours after arrival).

Try some natural strategies like eating a hot Turkey sandwich (contains L-Tryptophan) and drinking something that might relax you just before you board your flight (warm milk, sleepy time tea, alcoholic beverage).

When you sit down on the plane, try to get as comfortable as you can (noise cancelling headphones, eye shades, comfortable neck pillow and light blanket) and recline your seat (see thread on knee defender and one titled something like "man reclined seat so I kicked and shook it often" for an alternative viewpoint).

One day the powers that be will allow conscious sedation and quick reversal on flights, but until then you have some other options.

Liquor? Spill a bit, have someone clean it up, then spill some more. ;)

Yeah thats another one of my shortcomings. I'm a super considerate person, and as such I NEVER recline my own seat..

Are you sure there isn't some sort of pill that would work? It seems like there's 400 commercials for all of these different new sleep products. Surely the technology has advanced some in the recent years on these products.

I find watching films, reading books and general spudding out with a snack or ice cream can work wonders. In June I had my longest flight to date, SYD-LAX just over 13hrs, I chose not to sleep and really wasn't bored at all.

I thought that was urban myth. The amounts of L-Trytophan in turkey were too low to cause sleepiness.

I find benadryl works to help me sleep on shorter flights. It gets you just sleepy enough to take a nap and not feel like you have been drugged when you wake up.

Yeah it sounds like I need to just bring more stuff with me to occupy myself.. Maybe I should invest in one of those pocket sized video players with large capacity hard drives and use it to watch movies..

The problem is that your total flight time is about 4 hours. The traditional class of sleep medications, benzodiazepines (Restoril, Prosom, etc) shouldn't be experimented with in these circumstances. As a rule of thumb, you really want a minimum of 8-9 hours between the time you take one of these medications and the time you wake up.

There are non-benzodiazepine sleep medications available (Ambien, Lunesta, etc), which are preferrable to benzodiazepines for many reasons but still have a similar side effects profile to benzo's. These should also be avoided unless you have a good 8-9 hours of downtime ahead of you.

I suppose non-prescriptions antihistamines (Benadryl, Doxylamine, etc) could be tried in small doses but they do tend to dry you out, creating considerable discomfort in the air. If you did try one of these drugs, you would want to take a low dose before you board your flight to the west coast. You'd also want to test your tolerance and the effectiveness of antihistamines a couple of times before trying it on a flight.

There's also melatonin, which might be useful in falling asleep but won't help you stay asleep.

My personal preference in the circumstances you described is still what would be considered to be natural remedies... L-Tryptophan, chamomile, lavendar, aromatherapy, relaxed mood, etc.

Now if you were flying on trans pac or on transatlantic (beyond west Europe) flights, I'd say consider a non-benzodiazepine med like Ambien.

Hope you find something that works for you.

Ambien, alcohol, a pashmina and I'm out. But then again almost the only flight I take these days is SEA-CDG. More than enough time to recover.

You are technically right.

If you are a "big guy" traveling for long periods in coach, you should be very careful about taking anything that will cause you to stay unmoving in one, cramped postion for hours. That is a real invitation to DVT, which is nothing to mess with. Get up and walk around every so often, stretch out - particularly your legs and ankles. Business or first class seats are much better for napping but eight hours unconscious, crammed into a tiny coach seat is just asking for trouble. I'd avoid sleep medications.

As for keeping yourself from going crazy, I find that having a range of things to do helps me. I always have a paperback and a magazine or two, a book of sudoku or crossword puzzles, some movies and TV shows on my laptop, my journal to write in, etc. Also, remember that the longer flights will have in-flight entertainment options. Most will have different music selections, movies and TV shows throughout the longer parts of the flight.

Wow, I treasure the relaxing. lengthy time aloft.
Granted, with my upgrades and mileage I usually can get into at least BIZ class.
1. Reading a good book about the place I'm visiting or returning from.
2. Music via Bose.
3. Napping (esp for the likes of NRT-DFW, ORD/DEL)
4. MAYBE a movie or some sitcoms if there's an IFE, but not to waste too much time.

It's a different world back in econ. Ambien helps.

I don't do sleep aides, even on long hauls. Here's how I deal with the tedium:

- my laptop is always fully stocked with ebooks, movies, and games (I have a few widgets installed for solitaire and sudoku). Air Canada has power outlets in nearly every seat nowadays so keeping even my powerhungry macbook pro going is easy.
- a couple of paperbacks for take off, landing, and other times when having the laptop out is a nuisance.
- good headphones. I can't emphasise how important a decent set of headphones is for enjoying movies and music.

That's enough to keep me occupied for hours.

Get addicted to Football Manager. No flight is long enough when you're immersed in that!!