My husband and I recently went to Thailand. I was very excited to go, but was terrified of the flight. We left on a Wednesday morning and didn’t arrive in Bangkok until Friday, spending an entire day in the air. For us to get to Thailand from North Carolina, it required three separate flights with the longest leg coming in around 14 hours! My biggest concern was being uncomfortable and getting downright bored. I scoured the internet for the best products, so here is my ultimate guide for how to survive a long flight:

Entertainment

Backpack

First things first, when flying you can only bring one personal item and one carry on luggage. My husband and I brought extra clothes and other necessities in our wheeled carry on luggage, but really everything for our flight was in our backpacks which we easily kept at our fingertips under the seat in front of us.

I bought a North Face Borealis backpack a long time ago when I would travel as a producer on reality television shoots. What I love about this backpack is how comfortable it is to wear for an extended period of time. It has a laptop pocket, two large compartments, two water bottle pockets, and numerous little pockets inside. While it expands significantly, it isn’t too large to fit under the seat in front of you.

Electronics

While our flights abroad had screens built in to the back of the seat in front of us for entertainment purposes, I read somewhere to plan as if it might not be working because you just never know! I can’t imagine being on a long flight without inflight entertainment, so I always bring one of my kid’s devices loaded with movies as a back up plan. With Netflix and Disney+, you can download content to watch offline, which is great when up in the air and you don’t want to pay for WiFi.

You can purchase a Kindle pretty cheap nowadays, which provides you with a lot of entertainment opportunities tailored to you.

Cord Organizer

On our flight I brought my laptop and charger, phone and charger, headphones, and a Kindle and charger. That’s a lot of cords that can easily get in a tangled mess! So, I bought my husband this handy little zipper pouch specifically designed for keeping cords neat and tidy.

Puzzles, Cards, & Magazines

Sometimes you just need a break from staring at a screen and with so many hours to spend in the air, I wanted to make sure I have a number of things to keep my brain busy and my eyes well rested. You can pick up easy crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles near any check out stand at a grocery store, so I stocked up on a few of those. I also love to color so I brought a coloring book and some colored pencils.

Hot Tip: You can easily store crayons in a small travel soap container. Additionally, cards can be a fun thing to play either solitaire or with someone else to help pass the time.

My good friend once told me that a long flight for work is the only place where time slows down and she actually gets time to herself. There are no responsibilities or things to worry about other than just sitting. So, find a way to treat yourself to something special and just focus on yourself for a little while, or in this case, a very long time. My special treat that started when I was in college traveling by myself is to buy myself a People Magazine. I am a sucker for celebrity gossip and all things pop culture, so for me it is something I get to look forward to when on flights.

Books

Many people use their Kindle as a way to read books on flights, which honestly can be great for travel so you are not lugging around extra pounds in books. I, however, am that crazy person that prefers to bring a physical book even if it means adding weight to my backpack. I can somehow concentrate a lot more and it is just another way to give my eyes a rest from staring at the screen. I love going to Barnes & Noble before a trip and buying a lot of new books. My favorite genre is a thriller, which keeps you turning every page, making the time seemingly fly by (no pun intended).

Headphones

Headphones are a must to not annoy all the people around you while watching movies. On our flights we were provided free headphones, but they were extremely uncomfortable. I recommend bringing your own headhpones with a standard jack if you want to access the library of inflight entertainment. If you have one of those nice pairs of noise cancelling, wireless bluetooth headphones like my husband, they also make AirFly, which plugs into the back of your seat and can wirelessly connect to your headphones.

I personally have yet to find the perfect pair of headphones. Every over the ear headphones I have found seem to squish my ears and become very uncomfortable after an extended period of time. For this trip, I resorted back to the old school Apple headphones, wire and all, which worked for me. Leave suggestions below if you have a pair of headphones you absolutely cannot live without!

Headphone splitter

I bought a headphone splitter before when my kids took their first plane flight to Disney World. It is great for when you want to watch something together. Fortunately these are relatively cheap and take up little to no space in your bag.

Toiletries

Travel toothbrush & toothpaste

I was most concerned about sleeping on the long flight as I was nervous about having bad jet lag when we arrived. The best way to avoid this is to try and maintain your typical bedtime routine as best as possible. This helps your body get ready for sleep and therefore decrease your chances of jet lag. Having a toothbrush and toothpaste can be part of your bedtime routine, but can also help you freshen up in the morning. Our flight provided us a cheap toiletries kit, but I definitely preferred using my own supplies.

Expandable wash cloths

My aunt gifted these expandable wash cloths to me before I went on my first travel abroad trip to Europe. These were honestly lifesavers to wipe off all that grime you seem to collect while traveling. You just add water and they expand to the size of a normal wash cloth, and then you can throw them away when you are done. They are no bigger than the size of a quarter so they really don’t take up any space in your carry on.

Deodorant

No one wants to stink on a flight so this is a no brainer! When you can’t take a shower for over 24 hours, this keeps you feeling fresh and smelling great. It also helped me feel less like a zombie and cleaner after hours on the flight.

Lotion, face spritz, & chapstick

It gets dry as heck up in the air, which sucks all the moisture out of your skin. For my husband who has extra dry skin, it is important to pack travel size lotion. I personally also like a mist I can spray on my face to help me feel refreshed. Lastly, chapstick is great to have on hand to prevent chapped lips.

Glasses

As someone who wears contacts, I always bring my glasses on a flight with me even if it is less than an hour. You never know when something is going to get caught in your eye and I certainly don’t enjoy sleeping with my contacts in. As mentioned above, with everything being so dry, I made sure to have my glasses close by when my eyes started to get tired and irritated.

Sleep Kit

Neck pillow

I did A LOT of research on this one before traveling because I think a neck pillow is essential to getting great sleep on a flight. We certainly weren’t able to fly business class so I anticipated needing to sleep sitting up with very little recline offered. I am an extremely light sleeper so it is important that I felt comfortable.

I found that the Trtl Plus pillow was most highly rated in nearly every review I read. The difference between the original Trtl pillow and the Trtl Plus, is the plus has extra cushion and the size can be adjusted to your height. It took some getting used to, but it did support my head pretty well and prevented my head from bobbing. My husband seemed to have more success with this neck pillow than I did, but I think it was because I had the middle seat which is naturally less comfortable.

Eye mask with white noise

I sleep with an eye mask every night at home so I know I will be bringing one with me on the plane. The other thing that I am used to sleeping with though is a sound machine. Obviously, the people on the plane around me didn’t want to listen to rain sounds and ocean waves. So, I found this amazing eye mask that offers a built in white noise machine. It also can connect via bluetooth to your phone, but I don’t want to drain my phone’s battery so I just stuck to the white noise.

I cannot recommend this eye mask enough! You can choose from numerous different settings from summer sounds, rain, ocean, and even a crackling fire. It is comfortable on the eyes and offers decent sound quality. It will not block out the surrounding noise entirely, but it will help create a peaceful environment for sleep. This was one of my top comfort items for traveling on the plane.

Compression Socks

Everywhere I looked online, they say to travel with compression socks. It helps increase your blood flow in the air, prevent blood clots, and prevent your feet from swelling up. The socks were comfortable for the whole ride and my feet didn’t even swell a little bit. I bought a multipack so I could change into clean socks the next day. Even if you don’t get compression socks, having a normal pair of socks helps your feet feel warm and cozy for the whole ride.

Travel blanket

I get really cold at times so it was important to me to bring a travel blanket to use while sleeping. I found this super cozy one that zips up into a small pouch for travel. My husband and I absolutely loved these for our trip. The handle would easily attach to our carry on luggage making it easy to carry around the airports. He would use his as a pillow and I would wrap up in mine as a blanket. I made sure to get an extra long one so that it could cover me from shoulders all the way down to my toes.

Foot Hammock

My husband got this foot hammock for me for Christmas and I was so excited to try it out! I have short legs so sitting on a plane for an extended period of time puts a lot of strain on my knees, hips, and lower back. At less than $15, this is a must-have for every flight. It was very easy to attach to the tray table in front of me and relieved all the tension on my back. Even the guy sitting next to me thought it was a cool product.

Tennis ball

Before we left for Thailand, my husband was experiencing a lot of back problems. So, I brought a small exercise massage ball or tennis ball. It helps massage and just release some pressure when you are feeling stiff after sitting for so long.

Other

Water bottle

It is important to stay hydrated while in the sky. Yes, that might mean you need to get up to use the bathroom frequently, but it is better than the alternative. In order to save on space, I considered bringing our collapsible water bottles that we use when we travel to Disney. But, I decided to take my water bottle with a time tracker as a way to make sure I was getting plenty to drink throughout the flight. The only downside when traveling abroad was that there weren’t many water fountains in the airport since the water wasn’t safe to drink.

Snacks

Our flights had some amazing food on board, but I still stocked up on plenty of snacks. Sometimes, you just can’t wait for those little pretzels they bring you. We bought a mixture of both salty and sweet snacks to munch on throughout the flights. Just be sure to bring relatively tame treats like granola bars, rather than something that might leave your stomach upset like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Watch

In order to help with jet lag, many people recommend setting your watch to the time of your final destination. This will help your body and mind start to adjust to the new time zone. You can then plan your sleep schedule around what time you would normally be going to sleep. This tip probably worked the best for me in getting my brain wrapped around what time it was going to be when we landed. It helped me figure out when I needed to attempt to fall asleep and when I had to try to be more alert.

Comfy clothes and shoes

On a long flight, it is essential to feel comfortable. I am not one of those people who fly looking stylish at all, but instead opt for leggings and tennis shoes. If you are flying for business and need to look decent stepping off the plane, I recommend just packing something extra and changing into it upon arrival or shortly before landing. The temperature in airplanes can also be all over the place, so definitely fly in lots of layers so you can either bundle up or take layers off as needed.

Extra vacation clothes

When flying abroad, ALWAYS pack extra clothes in your carry on. My husband learned this the hard way after the airlines lost his bag in Poland. We use a roller bag that goes in the overhead compartment, but sometimes the planes can be limited on space and require you to gate check your bag. So, I recommend keeping at least one outfit in your backpack just in case. We use packing cubes in our main suitcase, so it is easy enough to throw in an extra cube in your carry-on bag.

I unfortunately made this cardinal sin on our way home from Thailand and only included our clothes in our carry-on luggage. In some other countries, there is a weight limit for your carry-on that I did not anticipate. Therefore, we were forced to check our bags and just pray that they made it home safely. It wasn’t as big of a deal since we were returning home, but I will definitely remember my own advice next time.

Boarding passes & passports

Lastly, keep your boarding passes and passports nearby! When traveling abroad, you will need to take them out a lot. In Qatar, we were simply transferring flights within the airport and we had to go through security twice and show our passports at least five times. You can use a handy travel case to keep them easily accessible in your backpack.

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My backpack ended up weighing probably 20 pounds with everything I brought, but it definitely made the long plane flight a little more comfortable. Do you have any other travel tips? Let me know below!