In my few years of travelling, the shortest time I spent on a plane was 30 minutes, and the longest… a collective 8 + 8 + 2 = 18 hours (+ 6 hours transit + 4 hours being bumped off an overbooked flight)……. basically 30 longest hours of my life.

Having the aircraft as my ‘office’ has its perks. I learn the best way to maximise rest no matter how bright it is outside, how many people are shouting across the aisle with me in the middle, and the constant dings of call bells when people want a glass of water or something.

All you need are 5 simple things. Most of them are available in your airline-issued amenity kits, but in the likely event of you travelling on a no frills, low-cost airline… you might want to consider packing these items.

1 . Neck Pillow

An essential for long-haul flyers if you don’t want to wake up with neck ache. Even though some headrests can bend and support your neck, they aren’t very comfortable. The common U-shaped ones are great, but I find them rather bulky. Mine is the gem I discovered in Muji (as shown in the video above), a pillow that looks like a miniature bolster that supports your back, and doubles up as a neck pillow when clipped. They come in different colours and materials, and are quite pricey (SGD 30+ a piece) but they are worth splurging on. It clips easily to your bag, and if you don’t want to get it dirty and save some space in your carry on, it can be unclipped and tucked in the corner.

2. Eye Mask

credits

I’ve come across two materials of eye masks: synthetic and cloth. The cloth ones are more gentle on your skin and won’t leave any dents or marks after you pull them off hours later. The synthetic ones though are easier to clean, and won’t trap dust. If you wanna go one step up and be fancy schmancy, you can bring the silk ones from your ultimate pampering collection. Just don’t lose ’em.

3. Blanket

credits

All full service airlines provide blankets to passengers on a long haul flight. Some snitch them off the plane as souvenirs. Again, in case you’re travelling low-cost, or on flights that for some reasons don’t provide blankets, pack a thin blanket or a thicker shawl in your carry on. Most people would probably drape the blankets around themselves from shoulders down. Others -like me- would just cover our heads too like a corpse to anyone walking by. It makes me feel safe and warm in the cocoon that I made. ‘How do you even breathe?’ they all ask. Make sure to open the air vent above your head before you completely cover yourself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you don’t pass out due to oxygen deprivation underneath all that material.

4. Headphones

credits

To block out surrounding noise, be it from the plane engines or other human beings around you. The earpieces that come with your phones may be good enough, but I prefer semi noise cancelling over ear headphones. Because better sound and keeps people from talking to you of course. Unfortunately, they are pretty bulky. They shouldn’t be too noise cancelling though. It may not seem important to you, but in the unlikely event of an emergency, you need to snap out of whatever song that’s playing on your portable music device and focus on how to save your lives.

5. Your favourite travel playlist

credits

I miss my iPod Classic that’s sitting in the drawer collecting dust at home. :( Anyway, I learnt that the more you listen to the songs you actually like, the easier you fall asleep. Spotify is one of the few services I subscribe to. When I am connected and come across a song that I like, I’ll save it to my personal playlist that I make available offline. 10-hour flight? No worries. My 88-song playlist could last me a full day non-stop… if I played them twice. My current earworm: Coldplay’s Hymn for the Weekend.

These are the five things I will never, ever forget to bring with me when I travel or I’ll be suffering the entire flight #firstworldproblems. If your list differs from mine, I’d like to hear from you! I’ll try them on my next flight! :)