i'm planning a trip to Australia next spring. total travel time will be more than 24 hrs, and i'll be flying in the poor people's section. i'm mildly claustrophobic--11 hours to Japan this spring was enough to make me go mental.

how do you keep from going insane on such a journey?

Fly business or first class. Without that, there is no escaping the insanity.

Reading, music, movies, conversation then sleep keeps me from going nutty. I don't mind long haul flights either and flying premium makes a difference.

I hate long flights they drive me INSANE even a four hour flight is tooooo long

The trouble is on a long flight you can't even get drunk cos you end up with a hangover before you arrive which is a total freakin nightmare

We need concorde to come back (but cheaper of course )

It takes me a long time, first of all, trying 2 figure out how 2 use the remote control on the in-flight entertainment console, like the ones on Northwest Airlines where the screen is in the back of the seat in front of u and u have the remote attached 2 YOUR seat!!!!! Then u just get it all figured out, then the drinks cart comes round!!!!

whistle said:

I've flown from Australia to to NY it wasn't too bad. I was in economy and all I did was read and sleep.

So see you soon!

Drugs!

If you can bring yourself to strike up a convo with your seatmate, do it. Getting to know all about the person next to you takes a long time, and can be very rewarding (people who travel are often more interesting than average). Video entertainment and podcasts are great. They eat up time better than just listening to music. Take some overdue organizational task, or catch up on email/letters. Masturbate in the bathroom, or take your brand-new best friend that you made earlier and join the mile-high club.

But really, just take lots of drugs.

Ambien with a Vodka chaser.

tackam said:

I love you.

tackam said:

I was gonna say the same damn thing. There's nothing better than being drunk or high in first class.
[Edited 9/7/09 9:54am]

I flew from the UK to Australia about a year ago and it really was no problem try and sleep alot it helps the time pass and with the jetlag and also watch films instead of tv shows as they are longer so you dont feel like you have been sat there watching loads. Make the most of the stop over walk around stretch your legs, have a wash, change clothes. Work out what time it will be when you arrive in Australia and if its going to be morning try and sleep and if it will be evening stay awake again i found it helped with the Jet lag.

Where about are you going out there? I landed in Perth and did the Northern Territory and the West Coast both were amazing

Also flying with a good airline helps loads I flew from UK to Australia with Emirates and it was amazing, I flew from London to LA with a different airline and it felt like it took longer.

Pot-fuckin'-Brownies!!

The flight attendants always give me this great quizzical look when I ask for two boxes of milk when the drink cart goes around...

Download audiobooks to Ipod--funny ones make time fly by very quickly. Also bring a book, and sudoku. Strike up a conversation with the person beside you--I've had plenty of really great ones on long flights.

Finally, although the novelty wears off after a couple of hours, stare at somebody on the other side of the plane to make them nervous. Use your best Charlie Manson face. It's hilarious.

i thought the flight from baltimore to cleveland was too long. it was 40 minutes and i was ready to go

I am so happy every time a long flight is over. The next one will be over in 2 weeks .

Stay up all night the day before you're going, then you'll wanna pass out on the plane for about half of the trip lol. That's the only way i can sleep on a plane, not willingly because they're so bloody uncomfortable. Then take a laptop with some games and movies for when you wake up.

NightwalkerDNB said:

The flights themselves don't bother me nearly as much as the layovers. Processing through London Heathrow is enough to make anyone slit their wrists, especially if you're just connecting to another flight. Same with Tokyo's Mareita(sp?) airport.

I sure hope more planes like the 787 Dreamliner are produced so there can be more direct flights between far reaches of the world. I swear I've spent 22 hours in transit before between connections and flights. It's exhausting.

The flights themselves are actually 'breaks' from the airport madness.

I've always wondered about this: does anyone snore on long flights?

That's kind of a fear of mine...I'm told I snore like a bear

whistle said:

I be really nice to the flight attendants. It makes for a pleasant trip.

I once spent most of a 24 hour flight home crying. Hope that helps!

abigail05 said:

don't fly on an A380, they are very quiet planes!!!!

SCNDLS said:

this is some relevent advice

I don't want to talk to strangers. I am sooooo thankful I have never been seated next to any of you "talk to your neighbor" types. If that makes me an asshole, so be it.

Dramamine (sp?)

...and an ipod

It can be very tough. I remember this one time, I was sitting beside this cute girl on a flight from Minneapolis. She had really cool red hair, and a fondness for cats (which I was able to discern from watching her thumb through her iPod).

I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she just peered at me through her chic reading glasses and rolled her eyes. She was quite an asshole towards me. Her friend, Dennis or Denny or something to that effect who was on the other side asked her if she was ok as she seemed a bit annoyed. I tried to pretend to be nodding off during a nap but I overheard her saying to him, "I hate sitting bedside these 'talk to your neighbor types'.

I held back tears.

Imago said:

ZombieKitten said:

what makes one cry for the better part of 24 hours?
(i mean, if it's something you feel like sharing. i don't mean to pry.)

For that duration of flight take some time to get up and walk around, go to the bathroom etc. Sitting for that long is not good. Moving around helps prevent blood clots. You can read about stuff like that online.

Strike up a conversation with the person next to you in the waiting area prior to boarding the plane or people watch.
Take a good book to read
Make friends with the person next to you for stimulating conversation.
Watch inflight movies
Take your ipod/mp3 player with lots of your fave music (incl. Prince).
Sleep
Plan out your sight seeing trip
Oh and bring some snacks. Some airlines don't provide pretzels and shit anymore. You're down to free pepsi (free at the moment), and or alcoholic drinks (not free).
Enjoy the meals provided. Some are pretty good.

I flew from SF to England twice (10 hour flight), and it wasn't as bad as I thought, altho the 2nd time we had a layover in Queens, NY due to toilet issues. I didn't arrive until 24 hours later, so that wasn't cool. At least the airline covered hotel and food for the day.
Dramamine - 1-3 hours before leaving (if you have motion sickness issues, but it also keeps you relaxed) and Benadryl - 1 hour before flight (double the relaxation but also if you have allergies or a cold so you won't land with stabbing earpain). Due to medications, dehyrdration kicks in so always drink water or fruit juice when offered or needed. Take two or three books, puzzles, notebook (if you like to write), buy a magazine at the airport, bring a few snacks, Ipod and take full advantage of the airplane entertainment. As for sleep, how do folks sleep longer than 20 mins at a time? My head always bobs to the sides, waking me up in spite of the dramamine/benadryl stupor.

I've never been on a plane

good question _ i haven't flown in 13 years- my next flight ( fingers crossed) will be from MEL to NYC ( Newark or JFK)
[Edited 9/7/09 22:46pm]