Surviving A Long Haul Flight

Lets be honest, does anyone really like to fly long haul? If we could magically transport ourselves Star Trek style to our destination wouldn't we much prefer it? If we could skip the airport stress and the 9 hour boredom fest and just arrive refreshed and hydrated? Of course we would! However until someone invents a 'beam me up Scotty' command that actually works we are stuck with the stress and boredom so unfortunately we've just got to make the best of it!

After many years of long haul flying, predominantly to the USA, we believe that we have (through trial and error) finally cracked it! No, we have not found a way to enjoy a long haul flight but we have a few tips to make it a bit less of a stressful experience and to arrive at your destination feeling almost human.

What To Wear

Comfort is key. Forget the airport shots of Victoria Beckham in her stylish attire and skyscraper heels. We have it on good authority that she actually changes into pyjamas once she is on board and then re-glams up before landing. So our advice would be, unless the paparazzi are photographing you at the airport, go for comfort every time! Comfy leggings, a big t-shirt, a cosy warm cardigan, flats and a pair of socks - we prefer slipper socks so that we can wear them when walking around the plane and visiting the dreaded airplane toilets! Once we get on board the shoes come off, slipper socks go on and the cardigan is wrapped around us to shield us from that draughty air-conditioning.

What To Do

This is always a tricky one! Its so easy to over pack your carry on with a ton of things that you believe will be 'essential' at 30,000 feet, however in actuality you'll find that you really didn't need 14 magazines and 6 of the top 10 bestselling novels of that week! It is important to a least take something to occupy your mind for 9 hours just in case the other passengers are not quite as entertaining as you had hoped. We usually pack the following items in our carry on to amuse our minds in the periods that the cabin crew are not feeding us.

• IPad with a few episodes of our current favourite shows: Its always comforting to be able to watch familiar shows while travelling and this is now even easier with the invention of the Netflix downloading option. Our current must watch shows are Once Upon A Time and the entire series of Mad Men from the start!
• IPhone with favourite tunes and podcasts downloaded: We have a family subscription to Apple Music and prior to travelling we like to make sure that we download our favourite music and podcasts so that we can access them on the plane.
• Kindle with a book we have already started: It might seem strange to some but we always like to take a book that we are already enjoying when we travel as starting a new book tends to take concentration levels that we do not always have when on an airplane!
• In Flight Entertainment options: We like to check out the in flight entertainment to see if the airline are offering any interesting viewing options. We usually go for comedies or kids movies. Anything that doesn't take a lot of concentration as we often struggle to follow complicated plots in flight! Too many distractions!
• Puzzles: Mr P (the other half and father of this blogging duo) likes nothing more that some inflight Sudoku (or as we like to refer to it SADO-ku) to keep him busy during our travels. If you are partial to a puzzle or two then it might be worth picking up a book in the airport newsagent to help make the time pass more quickly.

Don't Forget Your Beauty Products!

We are ladies who love our beauty products, however we are not afraid to travel makeup-less! That being said, we do like to take a few products on the plane with us to ensure that our skin does not become too dehydrated on our 9 hour flight.

• Facial Oil: Our favourite skincare product to ensure that we do not arrive looking like a dried up prune is the amazing Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil, its so nourishing that it's all we need to keep our skin hydrated.
• Lip Balm: Holy grail lip balm for us is Lanolips 101 Ointment - the original and best! This ointment not only serves as a lip balm it can also be used on dry skin patches, insect bites - you name it!
• Eye Cream: I am currently working my way though a tube of Trilogy Eye Contour Cream so this will be coming on the flight with me. Its great to travel with as it is small and lightweight.
• Hand Lotion: Keep your hands and those dry patches moisturised with a good land cream. We love the Lano Rose Hand Cream Intense! 

Finally.....but possibly most importantly

Hydrate: By this we don't mean have several gin and tonics and a bottle of wine! We are referring to water and plenty of it! We like to buy a HUGE bottle in the airport lounge and keep drinking throughout the flight. Yes, this means many trips to the tiny and cramped toilets but its a small price to pay!

Move Around The Plane: We are obsessed with standing up and moving around during a long haul flight to keep that circulation going and if the seat belt signs are on we are firm believers in stretching out our legs and twirling those feet around!(yes we are those people!) You might look crazy but those tip toe stretches might just prevent DVT!

Do you have any recommendations for surviving a long haul flight? We'd love to hear them! 

Love Elle and Mimi x