Ask HN: What do you do on long-haul flights?
44 comments
I watch all the bad action movies I'd otherwise never take the time to watch, and thoroughly enjoy the relaxation that comes from having 10+ hours to myself in which no other person can have a reasonable expectation that I'm available to interact or respond reliably.
It is truly one of my most enjoyable guilty pleasures.
It is truly one of my most enjoyable guilty pleasures.
I hate watching movies on the plane. They are edited to remove all violence and nudity. The Shape of Water was missing huge chunks when I peered at my wife’s scree.
I prefer to watch Netflix offline. Although Altered Carbon had me cradling my iPad mini so my fellow passenger couldn’t see all of the erotic scenes.
I’m wondering what the legality of the situation above is.
I prefer to watch Netflix offline. Although Altered Carbon had me cradling my iPad mini so my fellow passenger couldn’t see all of the erotic scenes.
I’m wondering what the legality of the situation above is.
Heavy flier here (100K Kms in 2017 for example). In addition to the suggestions below, I would like to add:
1. On 8-12hour flights there is a zone of about 2 hours, where the mind is clutter free. I usually use this time (use paints a intent, but usually this auto-flow) to contemplate about things that need sorting in life, and write it down. On re-read it has a texture that is different than how I think when I am on ground.
2. Since I do not have time to recuperate from jet lag (I work on both ends of the flight), one recent habit that has helped me is starvation in-flight (I drink lots of water). Some of my flights are 15-hours non-stop. Same rule. I find this to have helped my jet lag the most. There is some evidence this works for others too (1). Since my company flies me business, it is tempting to say know when the cheese and dessert cart rolls in, but I would rather skip it than suffer a few days of being a zombie :)
(1) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brain-clock/skip-the-pret...
1. On 8-12hour flights there is a zone of about 2 hours, where the mind is clutter free. I usually use this time (use paints a intent, but usually this auto-flow) to contemplate about things that need sorting in life, and write it down. On re-read it has a texture that is different than how I think when I am on ground.
2. Since I do not have time to recuperate from jet lag (I work on both ends of the flight), one recent habit that has helped me is starvation in-flight (I drink lots of water). Some of my flights are 15-hours non-stop. Same rule. I find this to have helped my jet lag the most. There is some evidence this works for others too (1). Since my company flies me business, it is tempting to say know when the cheese and dessert cart rolls in, but I would rather skip it than suffer a few days of being a zombie :)
(1) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brain-clock/skip-the-pret...
Switch to your destination's clock when you board the plane. Then sleep or wake according to your destination - this supposedly helps prevent jet lag (another one is apparently fasting - don't eat on the plane - but I haven't personally tried it)
I usually find anything that involves too much thinking pretty hard on a plane; instead, watch movies, read, or listen to some music - really listen to it - undistracted by the other things that often relegate it to background noise (hopefully you have some good noise cancelling/isolating headphones)
I usually find anything that involves too much thinking pretty hard on a plane; instead, watch movies, read, or listen to some music - really listen to it - undistracted by the other things that often relegate it to background noise (hopefully you have some good noise cancelling/isolating headphones)
I find the best way when going to reversed time zones;
1) Fly in a couple days early where possible. Sightsee or work remotely before you hit the meetings etc you're over for.
2) If you have to hit the ground running, sleeping tablets. I use short action ones so it gives 4hrs sleep (and usually more naturally once you are asleep) which is a game changer for my brain function getting a >3hr which can happen without. Obviously speak with your Dr etc. And probably not best if your a frequent traveler.
1) Fly in a couple days early where possible. Sightsee or work remotely before you hit the meetings etc you're over for.
2) If you have to hit the ground running, sleeping tablets. I use short action ones so it gives 4hrs sleep (and usually more naturally once you are asleep) which is a game changer for my brain function getting a >3hr which can happen without. Obviously speak with your Dr etc. And probably not best if your a frequent traveler.
I'll do about 3 hours of coding. Completely offline. I don't bother connecting to wifi at all.
Other than that, Sleep or Read. I've a ton of books on my Kindle to read.
And when not sleeping, I try and get up and walk around. It's quite nice to hang around either at the bar, or at the back of the plane if in economy.
My trick for sleeping though, is to plug in and listen to Orbital on my shuffle. Works really well.
Other than that, Sleep or Read. I've a ton of books on my Kindle to read.
And when not sleeping, I try and get up and walk around. It's quite nice to hang around either at the bar, or at the back of the plane if in economy.
My trick for sleeping though, is to plug in and listen to Orbital on my shuffle. Works really well.
It's not possible to bring enough of anything to keep me entertained for that long, so I basically just fidget, fuss, watch bad TV, flip around to watch some other bit of bad TV, pretend I'm going to try to sleep but never actually sleep because I'm too tall to fit the seats comfortably, read every word of the airline magazine, read every word of the book I brought for the flight, read every word of the other book I brought for the flight home, read the magazine I impulsively bought in the airport, then watch some more bad TV and keep fidgeting, until the ordeal ends.
I also rarely sleep on flights but find the best chance is putting on a movie I wont like (and even better if I've already seen it) and attempting to watch it.
Watch everything on the entertainment system, especially foreign films that you might not watch otherwise. I look forward to my trans pacific flights to catch up on my Japanese art house films, but I avoid the Korean ones as too melodramatic.
If you score business class, then it’s easier to just sleep and even get some work done.
If you score business class, then it’s easier to just sleep and even get some work done.
Agreed, always go for the foreign films. They can subvert your expectations in a way Western films won't.
Deploy to production the minute before you take off. If it breaks things, you'll have entertainment for the rest of the flight trying to get it fixed with the crappy WiFi.
As someone who does quite a lot of long haul flying (maybe 24 trips in the last 3 years that are usually 20-30 hours each) -- I generally try to sleep as much as possible because it passes the time and gives me a good chance to be setup for avoiding jetlag.
The ideal situation for these long hauls for me is to leave the evening local time - sleep a fair bit of the flights (maybe half at least) but then you still arrive tired enough in the afternoon-evening of the destination time that you can sleep most of the night. That seems to work the best for timezone reset for me.
If you arrive at your destination in the morning to early afternoon - leave the hotel and walk around preferably outdoors in the Sun as much as possible until at least about 5PM preferably 7PM. If you didn't sleep much (or even if you did) and you have a bed nearby there's a good chance you'll end up sleeping until about midnight and then you're double jetlagged :)
The ideal situation for these long hauls for me is to leave the evening local time - sleep a fair bit of the flights (maybe half at least) but then you still arrive tired enough in the afternoon-evening of the destination time that you can sleep most of the night. That seems to work the best for timezone reset for me.
If you arrive at your destination in the morning to early afternoon - leave the hotel and walk around preferably outdoors in the Sun as much as possible until at least about 5PM preferably 7PM. If you didn't sleep much (or even if you did) and you have a bed nearby there's a good chance you'll end up sleeping until about midnight and then you're double jetlagged :)
This worked really well for me recently, though that first day on almost no sleep was a form of low grade torture.
Got in around dawn; walked around until about 4pm; fast asleep by 6; woke naturally around 8am. Slept 10 hours again the second night, but was comfortably on local time for the rest of the trip.
Got in around dawn; walked around until about 4pm; fast asleep by 6; woke naturally around 8am. Slept 10 hours again the second night, but was comfortably on local time for the rest of the trip.
I did this for a 12 hour flight I just had. Arrived in the afternoon and went to bed at midnight like i do at home. I left the curtains open so i woke up from the sun in the morning. Not feeling the jet lag yet, but we'll see how it goes
I've burned a whole day as a "calibration day". Slept for 16 hours straight when I landed in Osaka. When I awoke, it was morning and I was good to go for the rest of my trip.
Sleep. If not sleep, some combination of podcasts, downloaded entertainment and more recently Switch games. I'll also download a few things to read for study, but I generally find that it's a poor quality environment for that.
One time I learned a fair bit of Android programming while in-flight. Of course that does require beforehand preparation -- you gotta snarf down documentation, etc. before you get on the plane because the in-flight wifi doesn't cut it. It's a great time to pull out the laptop and just mess around with coding stuff -- not necessarily work related. Try learning a new language or framework and see how far you get.
I also like to watch movies or TV on the little entertainment center (which, 90% of the time, is running some version of Linux -- I know this because of all the crashes I see) or play video or cellphone games.
I also like to watch movies or TV on the little entertainment center (which, 90% of the time, is running some version of Linux -- I know this because of all the crashes I see) or play video or cellphone games.
Most of my long-haul flights in life were in college, so my answer is 'get over hangovers', and I cannot strongly enough discourage this irresponsibility. It's preparation in reverse.
If it is a nighttime flight: If you like to drink, you can bring a bunch of the small 1.5 OZ liquor bottles in your liquid baggy (which you can buy at liquor stores and bring thru security and are much cheaper than buying drinks at the airport/on the plane). I then watch in-flight entertainment on the plane while drinking which makes time fly pretty fast and I usually end up sleeping half the time.
Also, I recently learned about and used melatonin for sleep aid and found it very effective at getting me to sleep when I am not tired. I plan on bringing some for some flights in the near future to help me sleep through them.
If it is a daytime flight: I just watch movies, read books, and play games. Make sure to plan out battery requirements for your devices.
Note, the few work related flights I have done I was not expected to program or anything during that time I was commuting so I just tried to make it as painless as possible using the processes previously mentioned which I do for all personal flights.
Also, I recently learned about and used melatonin for sleep aid and found it very effective at getting me to sleep when I am not tired. I plan on bringing some for some flights in the near future to help me sleep through them.
If it is a daytime flight: I just watch movies, read books, and play games. Make sure to plan out battery requirements for your devices.
Note, the few work related flights I have done I was not expected to program or anything during that time I was commuting so I just tried to make it as painless as possible using the processes previously mentioned which I do for all personal flights.
I try to get a window seat and look out the window.
The opportunity for this perspective is worth more to me than anything else I might do.
It helps to have had some earth science and geology and to have some sense of geography -- to think about what I'm seeing.
Then, there is the magical feeling of soaring and that perspective -- also on the nature of modern flight.
The opportunity for this perspective is worth more to me than anything else I might do.
It helps to have had some earth science and geology and to have some sense of geography -- to think about what I'm seeing.
Then, there is the magical feeling of soaring and that perspective -- also on the nature of modern flight.
I'm bad at sleeping on planes. For years, I would play the original Legend of Zelda. I'd play half on the trip out, usually thru level 5, and finish it on the trip back. It provided a nice break from email, was a bit of fun, and helped me rest.
Dowoad & watch an entire season of some show.
If you use your laptop on the flight, get an app like redshift, f.lux or similar and force-enable it. I find it much more comfortable in the dim lit cabin.
Also I found podcasts / audiobooks better than reading on long flights.
Also I found podcasts / audiobooks better than reading on long flights.
walk around a lot - get your blood moving - do some exercise and move while you can - get well-hydrated too
Hydration is key. Staying hydrated has the side benefit of forcing you to get up to use the facilities, and in turn force you to move. During layovers I try to walk as much as possible.
I like to try and sleep as much as possible.
One thing I’ve learned recently is the business class lounges are really nice for long layovers. Consider paying for a lounge pass even if you are not flying business class is you have a long layover.
I like to try and sleep as much as possible.
One thing I’ve learned recently is the business class lounges are really nice for long layovers. Consider paying for a lounge pass even if you are not flying business class is you have a long layover.
Make sure to keep moving. DVT is a common thing on long haul flights
Good point. I try to get up and stretch pretty aggressively every 3 or so hours.
Watch cheesy movies, hoping the people next to me won't judge. Followed by a couple hours trying to code while the kid behind me kicks my chair. :)
For me it's some combination of reading books or playing Dungeons & Dragons with myself on the iPad, playing on the Nintendo Switch, watching foreign movies (discovered some good Japanese movies this way), sleeping or when at a window seat, contemplating about the cosmos above and the world below.
Trying to be productive and do work on a plane doesn't work for me.
Trying to be productive and do work on a plane doesn't work for me.
I use to code, but probably a combination of me getting bigger and seats getting smaller, it's really uncomfortable. So what I do 3 possible things.
1) Tackle a difficult problem in my mind or on paper. 2) Sleep 3) Read a book.
1) Tackle a difficult problem in my mind or on paper. 2) Sleep 3) Read a book.
Bring earplugs and sleep/meditate as much as I can.
Get a window seat and listen to beautiful music while looking at the clouds from above.
Sometimes listen to audiobooks or lectures through sound isolating earbuds.
But mostly, try to rest.
Get a window seat and listen to beautiful music while looking at the clouds from above.
Sometimes listen to audiobooks or lectures through sound isolating earbuds.
But mostly, try to rest.
Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup
I put on my eye-mask, earplugs, hoodie, take a double dose of sleeping medication (usually temazepam) and attempt to remain unconscious for as much of the flight as possible.
Download and watch movies and shows on a VR headset, have your own personal cinema theater and forget you're on a plane.
If you take Air NZ, they are generous with the wine. I get amongst that while watching bad action movies.
Ear plugs make a big difference for me. The engine noise stresses me unconsciously.
Think, write about life, read flight magazine, see a movie, sleep
Sleep. Read.
sleep
Podcasts, books, games, movies, repeat.
In the past I've pre-downloaded and read PDF's of topics that interest me, watched films, done programming challenges, connected to the super-slow in flight wifi and tried to work. What do you do?