life-hacks

my always-expanding list of life hacks

(so far all about flying)

Flying

I've flown almost 200,000 miles in the past 5-ish years (almost all for personal travel/vacations). Here's what I've learned.

All Flights

Sit window, unless you have a small bladder. Look out the window, don't get interrupted, only have a person on one side of you, and this:
Put your backpack next to the window, not under the seat in front of you. Lesser known feature of the window seat, technically you are not blocking the exit path. Keep that space for your legs.
Pack as little as possible in your backpack.
Go to the bathroom at the same time as the people next to you.
Average legroom is fine unless you are > 6 ft tall. Stop complaining.

Day Flights

Bring something real to do. Chances are you sit most of your life. Do whatever you would do while sitting at home or at work. I know it's a little cramped, but it's not all that different.

Redeye (overnight) Flights

All the stuff above applies
Only book the redeye if you are going overseas. The flight is longer and you get food. Sleeping on a 10-12 hour flight (like SF to Tokyo) is glorious. Dinner, wake up, breakfast, land.
If your flight is at a normal sleep time (like taking off at midnight) take a "sleeping pill". If it's too early (like 7 pm) take a "tired pill" (below)
Use the blanket, it will get cold.
Fold the wings of the seat headrest inward so you can lean against it
I have no idea how to properly use a "flying pillow", if you do go for it, otherwise don't bother... pretty sure it's mostly a gimmick.
Bring an eye mask and nice ear plugs
Drink some water, but not a ton. Basically whatever you would drink at home, unless you are someone that wakes up in the middle of the night to pee.

Sleeping Pills

Deep sleep pills: These slow down your body and make you a heavy sleeper. Take this type of thing when you normally would be too fussy to sleep... like when you are sitting in an annoying airplane chair.

Benadryl is for allergies, but is the same active ingredient as sleeping pill ZzzQuil at a fraction of the cost. If it doesn't work, take more. (But don't exceed the max.) Side effect - you will be less allergic to stuff. OTC.
Dramamine is for motion sickness, but it knocks you out hard. Side effect, you won't get sick from turbulence. OTC.
Red Wine makes you calm and tired and buzzed. Don't drink too much because alcohol is a diuretic (it will dehydrate you and make you have to pee)
Ambien never tried it, but heard great things. Get a prescription and try it at home first (some people do crazy stuff on Ambien).

Sleepy pills: For when you could sleep, but you're "just not tired" (maybe because your flight is at 7 pm and you normally go to bed at 2 am.) Making a whole section on this because it's super useful. See Melatonin.

Nonessential Flying Advice / Style Points

Don't stand up to board the plane until your group is called. Unless you're in the last group and the flight is full (no more bin space.)
If you have checked bags, let them check your carry-on for free at the gate. Leave some room for the rest of us that didn't check a bag and don't want to wait for the carousel at the destination.
Travel with just a carry on for trips 10 days or less. You can do it! Just rewear the same shirt a few times. No one will notice.
If you are flexible with your return flight, sit near the counter and be ready to jump up when they ask for volunteers because they overbooked the plane. This can be lucrative.
When the plane parks at the gate, just stay in your seat until the exit train gets to your row.

Changing Time Zones

Traveling East: It's bed time, but I'm not tired!

Melatonin is for resetting your internal clock. It is a hormone your body naturally produces before your normal bed time and while you are asleep. It's the chemical that makes the rest of your body get sleepy: yawning, dry eyes, slow pace, magically not having to pee for 8 hours, etc. Highly recommended.

They sell it in pill form and it's cheap. Check Walgreens/Target/Amazon - usually 1.5-2mg is enough, so cut the pills in half.

It works really quick (5-15 min in my experience), but here's the trick: make sure the lights are off or your eye mask is on. If it's bright when the melatonin hits, you might catch a second-wind! Watching a movie or reading your backlit kindle is not a good idea.

What it's good for:

Jet lag when traveling east. After you fly east across time zones, for the next few days it will be "bed time" at your destination, but you won't be tired (because maybe it's only dinner time where you come from). When it's time to go to bed in that new time zone, turn the lights off, take some melatonin, and fall asleep!
Redeye flights that are too early. Maybe combine with a sleeping pill if you aren't good at staying asleep on planes (above).
Resetting your sleep cycle after EDC. Any ravers out there?
Whenever you aren't tired and need to sleep.

Traveling East Part 2: I'm exhausted at work!

Caffeine is a fine solution for this. It blocks your tired receptors, directly making you less tired. Also increases focus and athletic performance. Works better for non-coffee addicts. Explanation on how it works from ASAPScience (video). One coffee (or 100mg if taken in pill form) should be enough for non-regular caffeine drinkers. But do this instead:

Caffeine + L-Theanine Super bonus! All the effects of caffeine, but without any of the annoying jittery/anxious "on caffeine" feeling. Basically makes you think I must have slept really well last night. L-Theanine is an extract from green tea that causes relaxation. You can find it on Amazon or you can cut to the chase and get these pills, which pre-combine caffeine+L-theanine. Highly recommended.

Don't take every day or you'll gain a tolerance, just like coffee. And don't take it late in the day since it might affect your sleep.

Summary

With the combo of melatonin for sleeping hours + caffeine/theanine for waking hours, you can pretty much totally ignore your internal clock for a few days while it gets adjusted to jet lag. Personally I can make the maximum time zone change (12 hours) and be completely done with jet lag within 3 days.

Traveling West

This one is simple but requires some self discipline. Never sleep before 9 pm.

No naps. No early bed time. No "just this one time." Just don't do it.

Once you do make it to bed time, take Melatonin to tell your body that this is your new bed time. If you don't, you'll be struggling to get to 9 pm for a while.

Feel free to become a morning person with your jetlag assisted early wake up time.

Feedback

That's it for now. If you have feedback/clarification submit a pull request or contact me somehow!

jmondo / life-hacks