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Comment by mcv | Hacker News Reader

Somehow I'm completely unable to sleep in a plane. Even when it's a 10-hour trip to the other side of the world. Train is by far the most comfortable way to travel. Maybe ship too; I don't have a lot of experience with that for long trips.

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I've slept on the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry a few times. It is very comfortable, and much quieter than a sleeper train -- it was like being in a slowly rocking "cabin hotel", where you don't have a window and the room is tiny.

(You can get a room with a window, but for an overnight trip it seemed a bit pointless.)

I find it difficult to sleep on sleeper trains, and usually arrive tired at the destination. Where there is the option I will use a night train out of principle (it's still usually more comfortable than a plane) but, if I have time, a daytime rail journey is much nicer.

That ferry is cool! Last time I was on it, there was a gang of bikers on board, returning from their Eurotrip. Then there's all the lorry drivers drinking lager in the bar. They wake you up at 6 am with a cheesy chime to sell you their overpriced breakfasts, though.

Melatonin patches. Just be aware it's going to start shifting your sleep cycle so don't apply it until you're aligned to bedtime at your destination. I recommend wearing an analog watch and aligning to destination time as soon as you get seated on the plane. These are also great for dealing with jet lag.

Eye mask, you want the kind that looks like a bra and puts no pressure on your eyes. "Nidra" is the brand I usually get, they're cheap, I replace mine regularly.

Noise canceling headphones. I go for cheap sets but get what works for you, something wireless. I have found history podcasts and music both work well for me.

I have a neck pillow that basically looks like a cervical collar and is made from memory foam. Works really well for me but was pretty expensive, and it takes up a bunch of space so it's a tradeoff to consider. And wear a zipped sweatshirt on the plane, use it as a blanket - after turning the air vent on max.

Noise cancelling headphones, a small amount of alcohol(1-2 find), (and preferably a lie flat bed) combined with staying up the night before travel (if going west) has a fairly high success rate for me.

>Noise cancelling headphones

Any particular you know that in fact do cancel noise and really work?

The big thing is how much noise canceling you're after. A $50 set of Anker Soundcore's will remove engine noise but not a noisy neighbor - I like them for travel because the battery is solid and I won't cry if I lose them.

On the other hand, a $400 set of Sony's will basically put you in audio isolation - to the point that some people genuinely don't like them. A friend had me put his pair on in the middle of a busy restaurant at lunch time and I'm not kidding when I say it felt pin drop quiet.

Bose QC35s have been my flying companion for over four years now. Basically indistinguishable from magic.

I use noise cancelling in-ear headphones and on top of that I wear ear muffs intended for operating heavy machinery. I've never found a single pair of noise cancelling headphones that actually cancel all noise, so I layer them.

Out of curiosity, what noise cancelling headphones do you have that lets you sleep through the night on a long haul?

My Airpods Pro are great but they only have a battery life of 4-5 hours per charge (20 hours in case, but you have to wake up to charge them).

My Bose QC 15 over ear headphones can stay on much longer (> 20 hours of battery life) and have great noise cancellation, but as soon as I lean my head to either of the side headrests on the seat, the noise cancellation "leaks". I've never been able to sleep on a plane with my Bose QCs.

The best solution I've found so far have been plain-old ear plugs ($5).

I have the same problem with sleeping in over-the-ear headsets. The best I've found for sleeping on long flights are the Bose QC20 - the noise cancelling is as good as their over-the-ear headsets but the in-ear design makes them much more comfortable if you happen to rest your head on one side while sleeping, and doing so doesn't interrupt the noise cancellation.

Since they're cabled to an external battery box they can easily last through any flight, and you can leave the USB charge cable connected to an in-flight power socket while you use them to keep the battery full.

Thanks for the tip! Maybe I'll try the QC20 next time I'm at Best Buy -- the noise cancellation interruption might be a design limitation of the QC15.

Ear plugs and a sleeping mask is key. Neck rest recommended. Skip sleeping the night before boarding. Works for me anyway.

Those certainly help but I have yet to find the right neck pillow for me. I am a side-sleeper at home, almost exclusively on my left side FWIW. I'm not willing to pay for a lie-flat seat when it's my money but I would pay dearly for the pillow that will allow me more than 15-30 minute cat naps on a 10 hour redeye flight.

Would advise against that. One time our flight got delayed for six hours (ugh) at a lay over - some technical glitch so they were not sure when the plane is going to actually depart. My partner didn’t sleep the night before because of anxiety and she was extremely sleep deprived - would have easily hmissed the flight without me being there with most of my faculties intact.

And Aeroflot are not known for their hospitality and understanding to foreign travelers...

Neither are KLM in my experience.

Fly business or first, problem solved

How are you flying to the other side of the world in 10 hours? Obviously not on a passenger airline, do you own some kind of supersonic aircraft?

You win the I-take-every-statement-literally award for the day! Congrats!

I just checked, and there’s no such award.

And you get an Uplevelled-the-joke medal.

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