Must Have LONG FLIGHT Essentials!

Today we're revealing the ultimate long haul flight essentials that you are going to want to pack to transform your experience from a potentially uncomfortable and daunting one into an experience that you handle like a pro. We have hand-picked all the best travel products that you are going to want to make sure you have on your next long flight. All of these products and tips come from flights. Our goal with this video is not just to share the obvious like bringing a sweatshirt, snacks, and a phone charger. Our goal with this video is to share the not so obvious, the things that you've maybe never even heard of before. Make sure you stick around for our last travel essential as it has been life-changing in eliminating the harmful physical effects of long flights. So let's get started. Compression socks. I had to put these first on the list because I'm gonna be honest with you. When we first started traveling, I completely disregarded these. I had so many people tell me, you need to invest in a good pair of compression socks for long flights and I was like, but why? These things are super long, they look funny, that's ridiculous. But let me tell you, I'll never forget my first 17-hour flight. I got off the plane and my ankles were about this big. Also, look at my ankles. I could barely even walk and since investing in a pair of these, I have had zero issues. If you are a little bit worried about the looks, no problem, just wear a pair of pants or you can be like me and wear a pair of shorts and just not care. But do not disregard these. These are something that you need to have in your travel essentials for those long flights. Next, ginger chews. Now this is something that you've maybe never heard of or even if you have heard of it, you might be wondering why you'd want to bring this on a long flight with you. Ginger is great for your stomach and as we know, traveling on long flights is not always super easy on the stomach, whether it be the motion of the plane or even some of that airplane food that you're going to eat. Having something to calm down the stomach is always ideal and to be honest with you, we have found these ginger chews to be way more effective than something like, which I also have here, which is a Tums. Tums is great too, you can bring these as well, but we've actually really enjoyed these ginger chews and feel that they're actually a little bit more effective. Now these that I have here are from a company called Dramamine. You've maybe heard of them as like anti-nausea medication or like motion sickness medication. So these are a little bit more specific for that, but they also have ginger chews that are a lot cheaper that you can just buy like on Amazon that are just true ginger chews and I would honestly recommend those more because they're, like I said, a little bit cheaper, but these are key in calming down the stomach on those long flights. If you ever get an upset stomach, you take one of these and boom, we've had a lot of success with them. So ginger chews, have them with you. Electrolytes. This is our next essential. As we know, hydration is really, really important when traveling and even more important than putting water into your body, it's keeping it in your body and that's what electrolytes are going to do for you. This brand that I have here is called Element. Honestly, there's a ton of great brands out there. We've used Liquid IV, we've used Noon. Recently, we've been using this company called Element. They're all similar products. It's really just whatever you prefer, but this can be great in supplementing your hydration to make sure you're actually receiving the benefits from your hydration. As you know, it's super easy to get dehydrated while traveling and especially when you're locked in a plane for 10, 11, 12, maybe even 17 hours straight, you want to make sure that you have something with you to help you stay hydrated. Packing some electrolytes, it's a good idea. Next, we have a toothbrush and toothpaste. This has been a recent addition to our long-haul flight essentials. Recently, me and Meg, before we land on long flights, have been brushing our teeth and let me tell you, it feels amazing and you should try it too. Nobody wants to be the stinky breath person on a 16-hour flight, so brushing your teeth is a great way to freshen up. You maybe even want to add in a little mouthwash as well. Now, this is a great little travel set here, not only because it's a nice small toothbrush and a nice small toothpaste, it fits great in your carry-on or personal item, but it's also great for TSA, which by the way, if you are curious in common mistakes that people make going through TSA, I have another video about that. I'll make sure to link that below. You should give it a watch because people make tons of mistakes going through TSA, but this is going to be TSA friendly as well as it's going to make you feel so fresh getting off that long flight. So, feel free to pack these. Next, we are staying in the category of personal hygiene and that is body wipes. These are amazing as well to keep you fresh, keep you clean while traveling. We all know the dirt, grease, and oil that builds up not only on a long flight, but usually when you have a long flight, you also have another maybe short flight. Oftentimes, you're traveling for 15, 20, 25 hours straight without taking a shower. Having some wipes to wipe down the crevices in your body can be a great way to get rid of some stank as well as just feel a lot better while traveling. You're a little bit more patient, a little less agitated when you feel a little bit fresher. So, these are another good thing to add to your travel essentials. Next, we have chapstick. Chapstick or any sort of lotion is going to be great for long flights. As you know or as you maybe don't know, the humidity level on planes is super, super low, much lower than like in the airport or outside. Skin's flaking off, but here in India, the cheapest lotion they had was basically chocolate sauce. What's the difference in my legs, though? Look at that. You can tell that this is dry. Dry as a bone. Yeah. Caffeine? I don't know. The worker... So, you're going to want to have something to hydrate your skin, especially for me. It's my lips. I hate when my lips get dry. So, having some chapstick is a great travel essential, and it's super, super small. So, stick one of these in your personal item, and you'll be good to go. Next is a pen. Now, you might be wondering, Ian, pen? That's so boring, and why is it so important for long flights? Well, let me tell you. I cannot stress the importance of having a pen enough. We have made this mistake a few times while traveling, and it is so frustrating and annoying when you don't have a pen. Oftentimes, when you're traveling internationally, they will ask you to fill out paperwork when you get to customs or right before you land in that new country, and having a pen for that process makes it so much easier. For whatever reason, they never have pens available. We've had to borrow from other travelers, and it's just not fun when you have to borrow somebody else's pen. When you have your own, it just makes the process way smoother, as well as you feel kind of like a pro traveler, feel kind of like an expert when you have your own pen, especially when people make this mistake all the time. If you've experienced making this mistake, let me know in the comments, or if you've experienced the importance of having a pen, let me know in the comments, because I feel like this is a really underrated travel essential and is something that you should definitely have for those long flights. Noise-canceling headphones is going to be your next travel essential. I have the AirPods Max Pro. No, the AirPod. How do you say these? The AirPods. I have the AirPods Pro Max. No, the AirPods. I have AirPods, the noise-canceling ones. I'm not sure what they're actually called, and I can't string the words together. Anyway, you're going to want a set of noise-canceling headphones, especially for those long flights. Planes can be loud, right? Not only the noise of the engine, but the noise of the passengers. Sometimes you just really never know what kind of passengers you're going to get next to you, whether it be families with small kids, or maybe just passengers that are genuinely loud. It's going to be nice to have some noise-canceling headphones to get some nice rest or just relax while watching a movie. Like I said, these are the earbud kind. I've heard great things about the over-ear kinds. I just don't like the space that those take up, so I choose these AirPods, being that they're quite a bit smaller. But having a set of noise-canceling headphones is going to be key for those long flights. Okay, we got some hand sanitizer. This is a pretty obvious one, but you need this on a in my opinion. There's very few opportunities that you're going to have to wash your hands while you're on a long flight. Oftentimes, you won't have the opportunity, especially before you eat, mainly because there's going to be too much going on in the plane. If you're not able to wash your hands, having some hand sanitizer is going to be really helpful in keeping you healthy so that you don't get sick after you're done traveling, as well as it's just little peace of mind because as we know, airplanes are dirty, airports are dirty, so having some hand sanitizer is a great essential and almost a must when you're traveling on long flights. Next, we have an eye mask. Now, to be honest with you, I don't really ever use an eye mask, but let me tell you why I have one. This is a super cheap one, by the way. You can get ones that are way nicer. This was $9 at Target, but having an eye mask comes in handy more than you think, not even just for planes. Recently, while we were in Thailand, we were taking an overnight train, and on the overnight train, they kept the lights on all night and I didn't have an eye mask where it would have come in super handy. If you're somebody that's also a super light sleeper, you're going to want to invest in this because most likely, everyone on the plane is not going to be in the same cadence of when they're taking a nap, sleeping, awake, reading, so there's going to be lights all over the place. An eye mask can be really beneficial if you're trying to get some sleep to block out some of that light and just be a little bit more comfortable sleeping on those long flights because as we know, there's a lot going on in the plane and this can eliminate some of that stuff that is going on, so getting yourself an eye mask is beneficial. Next, we have melatonin, and I'm going to start by saying I'm not a medical doctor. I'm not a professional, so I would highly recommend doing your research and consulting a professional before you take any sort of supplement or medication, but melatonin can be a great travel essential because it can help you get the much-needed rest that you're going to need on a long-haul flight. As we know, it can be really hard for some people to sleep on flights, and melatonin can be just a little aid to help that. Now, me personally, I really never take melatonin. The only time I do take melatonin is on long-haul flights. It can really help you get that much-needed sleep. Maybe you're somebody that actually already takes it when you sleep normally, then you're going to be really comfortable doing it while you travel, but if you're somebody that normally doesn't take it, I usually just take one of these small little pills. It's just enough to kind of knock me out and help me get some of that quality sleep, so this can be a big benefit for those long-haul flights, and I would recommend doing some research to see if melatonin would be good for you. Okay, we've made it. Our last travel essential, and probably the travel essential I'm most excited to share with you guys. I'm going to ask you a question. What is the hardest part of long flights? I can imagine that most of us are probably thinking a similar thing, and for most people, the biggest and hardest problem that people have with long flights is jet lag, the time change from where you start your travels to where you finish your travels. Jet lag sucks, and as we know, it doesn't just affect your flight, but it affects you days after your flight, so if we can eliminate jet lag, we are going to be in great shape, and I'm excited to share an app that is on your phone that's going to help you eliminate jet lag, hopefully entirely. This app is called Time Shifter, and let me show you what it's all about. As I was saying, this app is called Time Shifter. What I love about this app is it gives you a plan to try to shake or eliminate the jet lag, so let me show you an example. I have an upcoming flight to Bali from the United States. I started by just plugging in my flight times, the exact flight times. It's going to create an hour-by-hour schedule of what I should be doing to prepare my body to eliminate jet lag. It'll share things like if you should be taking a nap, if you should be eliminating light, when you should take melatonin, when you shouldn't take caffeine, when you should take caffeine, and the idea is that when you get off the plane, you have now recentered your circadian rhythm, which, as you know, is that internal clock, or as you maybe don't know, is that internal clock that tells you whether it's nighttime and daytime, and when we travel, it gets all messed up. For example here, you can see right here, this is when I should be probably sleeping, ideally. Make sure to prioritize sleep even if the timing on the plane is inconvenient, right? So this is going to give me an hour-by-hour schedule. You can see over here on the right, you can see that's when I'm on the plane. They have this little plane icon, but a really, really cool and beneficial app to try to eliminate some of the effects of jet lag. I think what I enjoy most about the TimeShifter app is that all of their recommendations are backed by science, and they actually have a really great website that I recommend checking out because they explain it much better than I do about all the science and what jet lag does to your body. I really like how the app just gives me some accountability and some intention on my long travel days. It's so easy on those long travel days to just completely lose track of time and lose track of when you're supposed to be sleeping, when you're supposed to be awake, but this app now gives you some accountability and a schedule to stick to, so that way when you get to your destination, you're ready to actually do the things you are traveling for. If you end up trying this app out, I'll link it below. Let me know because I'm very curious to see how you like it or how it affects you. I will mention, though, that there is a $25 annual fee if you want to use the unlimited version, but if you want to just try it out, you can do one flight plan for free. You don't have to plug in your credit card or anything. It's super easy to set up. They just ask you some basic information like your age, your normal sleep patterns, and you plug in your flights and you're good to go, so I would highly recommend giving TimeShifter a try. It can be really hard to know what to pack for your travels. If you're curious on learning more about how to become a more efficient packer, I would suggest watching my video that I just made about how I travel with just one bag and how I can travel for months with just that one bag. I would suggest giving that video a watch if you want to learn more about packing tips, tricks, and efficiencies, but hopefully on your next long flight, you can get at least a few of these travel essentials in your backpack, and I can guarantee you you will have a much more comfortable and enjoyable flying experience. Thanks for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up as well as give this channel a subscribe for more content like this. We will see you in the next video.