Everything I Use to Survive My Annual 24-Hour Flight to Western Australia

The physical discomforts of plane seats and circadian-rhythm disruptions are real, but mental strength can absolutely help overcome them. You’ve got tobelievethat you’re capable of sleeping for eight hours in a cramped position with your arm weirdly touching a stranger’s, rather than boarding the plane full of dread and bad airport food.

A helpful first step is to draw up a sleep schedule and channel all energies into sticking to it. To do this I use the biohacking app Timeshifter, which analyzes my flight itinerary then tells me when to sleep, expose my eyes to bright light, drink caffeine, and take melatonin. It’s a strict regimen that begins a couple of days before takeoff and tends to gets in the way of in-flight movie-watching (sadly, even after taking like ten flights this year, Istillhaven’t seenSinners), but the results are worth it.

I discovered these mysterious anti-jet-lag pills at church, which is what I call theSoho REIlocation, the year that I moved to New York and was going back-and-forth to Australia a lot. They’re probably snake oil, but beating jet-lag requires having faith in both yourself and homeopathic “medicine.” I’ll pop one every few hours. Why not?

Ingesting large volumes of water while up in the air is absolutely essential, annoying as it is to get up and pee a lot. I’ll head to the galley and politely ask the flight attendants for a refill every two hours during the periods that I’m awake. Electrolytes don’t go astray, either, and I always travel with a number of single-serve sachets. In general, anything that can help beat a hangover tends to double as a jet-lag preventative and cure.

Long-haul air travel puts one’s immune system at enormous risk of common colds or worse, so I’ll usually also add these sachets of vitamin C, echinacea, and zinc to my Hydro Flask full of potentially placebo-effect powders.

Airlines generally only offer caffeinated black tea, so I always pack a few herbal options into my carry-on, in case I desire a soothing hot drink during the hours that Timeshifter advises against imbibing stimulants.

I find compression socks to be unbearably uncomfortable, even when they’re cute patterned ones from trendy brands. I prefer to wearwarm woolen socksfor coziness. If you don’t suffer from circulation issues and are prepared to take a walk toward the first-class curtains and back every few hours, I suggest you do the same. Slip-on sandals and clogs are also good to wear, because feet swell at altitude, which makes wearing tight laced shoes rather unpleasant after a while.

I’ll board the plane wearing everyday clothes, usually jeans and a big sweater. Then, when it’s time to sleep, I’ll take off my bra and put on a pair of leggings. The street clothes go back on when I wake up, and that process basically repeats until the final leg of my journey ends. It’s all about enforcing separate periods of rest and wakefulness.

Reusable earplugs are a must, but the small separate ones from brands like Loop always fall out of my ears and get lost in the no-man’s-land beneath my plane seat. Which is why I purchased a corded pair.

I’ll also sometimes drift off to a podcast while wearing these noise-canceling Bose earbuds. It is actually shocking how much engine-clanking these can block out; they reduce the cacophony of the plane cabin to mere “poorly situated Brooklyn apartment” levels, and are more compatible with mysleep maskandpillowthan over-ear headphones (although theBose versions of thoseare also great). I bring anAirflyto pair them with the in-flight entertainment system, as well as a back-up pair of wired headphones in case of battery issues.

Ornithologically inclined readers will be familiar with the practice of covering a bird’s cage with a blanket and forcing it to sleep. On a plane, you are the bird. Sensory deprivation is theonlyway to survive. And this lightweight and breathable blackout mask from Manta is better than any eye cover I’ve ever tried. The adjustable cups are deep enough that I can open and shut my eyes without ever touching fabric, yet not a ray of light seeps in. And the padded strap adjusts easily and remains in place without ever feeling too tight.

Airlines usually provide blankets on long-haul flights, but I’ve taken to bringing a backup. It gets cold up there, and how often do those things really get laundered? Trtl’s blanket is plush and warm yet highly packable.

I’ve had plenty of sky-sleep success withTrtl’s neck-brace-like pillow, as well as Cabeau’s more traditional U-shapedmemory-foam one. On my most recent flight to Australia, though, I opted for the personal sensory deprivation chamber that is this Pluto Pod. It offers a complete in-flight sleep experience, bracing the neck while also blocking out light and sound. Embarrassing to wear at first, but I try and tell myself that it basically just resembles a big hoodie.

I’ve never been able to bring myself to use beauty products on the plane, but after landing I’m a fan of applying eye gels and face masks to moisturize and de-puff in private. These Patchology ones are especially refreshing if you stick them in the fridge for a few minutes first.