For many passengers, closing your eyes and dozing off until
you touch down at your exciting, long haul destination is the ‘impossible dream’. There
are many different reasons as to why some people find it challenging to sleep on
a flight, but not all of them as obvious as you may think.
There are steps you can take to change your run of a
sleepless flights before your holiday with the main aim being to get as close
as you can to re-creating the same environment that your experience when you
sleep at home.
Below are our Top 5 'Sleep Stoppers' and how you can defeat them.
Noise
Engine noise, flight announcements and chatty passengers are
some of the most difficult sleep repellents. At home, unless you live by an
airport or football stadium you won’t have to listen to roaring jet engines or
crowds of people outside your window as you try to drift off, so block out as
much noise as you can when you fly.
Tip: Bring and
wear earplugs (either silicone or foam with a decibel reduction rating of 30 or
more). They won't block out all the noise but enough to make a difference.
Light
This is one of main sleep loss factors, especially when
facing a morning or afternoon start on a long haul flight. Window shades being
left up, glaring video screens and reading lights are huge distractions throughout
a flight that unfortunately you do not have a lot of control over.
Tip: Wear eye shades/mask, when flying at night, as you look
around there are surprisingly few people that wear them…no wonder no one is
sleeping! You are often given them on a flight kit on international flights,
even in economy class but they are not the best quality so we would advise
buying your own to guarantee light blocking.
Turbulence
There is nothing
worse than having miraculously fallen asleep, only to be woken up thinking you
are in the middle of what feels like an earthquake.
Tip: Choose a
seat over the wing as these are most stable than the front and the rear of the
plane (imagine a seesaw effect, sat in the middle you will move up and down
less). Also flying on a larger plane such as an Airbus A380 will move less than
a smaller model.
Alcohol
Enjoying during your flight (especially if it’s free!) can
seem to help you relax and fee drowsy…at first. But then you will find there are
repercussions mid-flight as you find yourself dehydrated and restless as
alcohol also limits the depth of your sleep.
Tip: Simply limit
yourself to one glass, because who can’t resist a free drink to celebrate the
start your holiday?
Restrictive clothing
We would all like to walk off a plane looking fresh off the
fashion runway and ready to receive sunshine but this is not always practical
attire to sleep in. What do you sleep in at home? Wearing loose clothing in the
air will help you sleep better and that doesn’t mean you have to compromise
your style.
Tip: You can
still look presentable while dressing comfortably. Choose loose-fitting clothes
made of natural fibres and if you can’t part with your new sandals or flip
flops, bring a pair of warm socks on board as cold feet will keep you awake
too. Alternatively you can bring sleep/casual wear to change into when you want
to catch some winks and out of before you land.
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