I just finished a 16 hour flight from Doha to Dallas, which has been my longest flight in the last couple of years. I was reminded of how bad I am at sleeping on planes, even on a flight that leaves at 2AM, where I have a comfortable seat.
When I book flights like this, I think it will be a long day, but I will get eight hours of sleep when I board at 2AM.
I'm curious what tips readers have, or if I'm just a lost cause.
I sleep really well on the ground
Let's start with a positive note. I sleep on the ground.
Ford is always jealous of how well I sleep at home — I get a solid seven to eight hours of interrupted sleep every night; I almost never wake up in the middle of the night, and I don’t really suffer from jetlag when I return home
The catch is that I only sleep well under ideal conditions; it needs to be cold and dark, and I need to be tired and have a white noise app on in the background (being tired is rarely an issue, since we get up very early)
All that being said, I’m not a good napper (I struggle to fall asleep and am then groggy for hours), and I’m also not the type of person who just dozes off while sitting up
Ford says I’m a fantastic person to sleep next to, except when I (very rarely) randomly talk in my sleep, but that’s a different story
I can go a couple of nights with little sleep and make up for it without feeling terrible. I'm not a complete disaster when I'm running on little sleep and I'm good at getting over jet lag.
I’ve never been a good airplane sleeper
I am terrible at sleeping on planes even though I have flown millions of miles. I don't think I've ever had a full night of sleep on a plane, even on a 16 hour flight.
I struggled to sleep on planes when I was a kid simply because I was so excited to fly, and I think on some level I still have that excitement
I think the bigger issue is that I don’t sleep well if conditions aren’t perfect, and they’re almost never perfect when flying, between other passengers making noise, turbulence, announcements about the seatbelt sign, etc.; on top of that, once I wake up I struggle to fall asleep again, which is a problem if you’re trying to rest on a plane
Often I have a few drinks on a plane, partly because that helps me fall asleep for a few hours; of course I don’t feel great when I wake up, as I’m dehydrated and sometimes a bit hung over, but at least it allows me to get some rest
My most common long haul flights are from the US East Coast to Europe, so that strategy works; I enjoy a meal for a couple of hours, I nap for a few hours (thanks in part to having a few drinks), and then before I know it we’re landing
The strategy doesn't scale. I usually only get one nap on an ultra long haul flight. I slept for two hours on the flight from Doha to Dallas due to exhaustion and not alcohol.
Even with a comfortable seat, I don’t sleep well on planes
I was not able to sleep for the rest of the flight. After 30 minutes, I gave up on trying multiple times. The entertainment system had a season of Curb Your Enthusiasm that I binge watched.
Larry makes everything better!
Should I start taking meds when flying?
I am curious if there are any strategies I can use to sleep better on planes. The most obvious solution would be to get some sort of medication.
I've never taken a prescription for sleep medication since I've never struggled with sleeping at home. It seems like the obvious trick people use to sleep more on planes. I am not opposed to trying this, but I have a few general thoughts and concerns.
At the end of the day I think this would only be useful for ultra long haul flights, and I don’t take that many ultra long haul flights; if I understand things correctly, it’s best not to take meds if you just want to sleep for a few hours
Since I’m good with sleeping on the ground, I don’t want to take anything that would get in the way of me “naturally” sleeping well on the ground
Also, while I was traveling from Doha in this case, it’s probably worth mentioning Dubai’s laws against many prescription meds, so these options wouldn’t even work across the board
As mentioned above, I ultimately function just fine even when I have a 48 hour period with very little sleep, even if it’s not ideal, so I’m not sure if this is even a problem that needs a solution
Is there some other strategy or solution I’m missing?
This felt like a never-ending flight
Bottom line
I'm fortunate to be able to fly in comfort, but rarely do I sleep well. I have no issues sleeping on the ground since it is something others struggle with a lot.
No matter how long a flight is, I get at most one nap in, and rarely stay asleep for more than a few hours.
I sleep on planes the way I do. Do you have any tips for those who don't?
