5 Steps for Long Flight Survival in 2025

Even on long-haul flights and on international trips that are overnight, this exact system I have used to survive sitting for hours on end in an airplane and I've lived to tell you about it. I have organized my travel tips and tricks into a system so that it was organized for you to remember more easily. You'll learn the tools that I use for a long-haul flight, travel hacks, and the newest tips to make it through long flights. Step one of the long-haul flight system is planning and research. You're going to research that country's rules for bringing in medication. Japan has a rule that no Sudafed is allowed, just like Mexico. Far away countries require that your passport not expire within six months of your trip. One travel tip is to ask your doctor to prescribe a flat thing of foil just for the pills that you're going to need and some extras. Another travel tip is to ask your doctor before your long flight if you can just use tap water during that trip in that foreign country. That's what my mom did years ago and he said yes it's fine. So you do not have to pack the bulky bottles of pills. If you need to travel with a CPAP machine for a long flight, just know that it does not count as luggage. To prevent swelling in your legs and keep your circulation going, every hour do this one foot at a time. Spell out the alphabet in lowercase. You may also want to wear a vest and I have a whole video about that hacks that I use for a vest for a flight. But that could help you get extra things inside your vest if you can't fit them all into your luggage or your personal item bag. Or it could also make you feel more safe or safer during the flight if you do want to sleep and you have valuables that you've hidden in one of the hidden pockets. If you have done your part as a passenger for the planning part of this system for a long flight, it's going to help you feel more calm, more relaxed, and more confident. Step two of the long flight system is to organize your travel essentials for during the flight. If you're going to need medicine during the flight, you can just pack part of a pill organizer just with the amount that you need for the flight and that would easily fit into your flight pouch for the long haul. Having your essentials for a long flight easily accessible helps you be organized but mentally it's less stress. Have your jacket or a top layering piece if it gets cold as well as your flight pouch near the top of your personal item bag or laying on top of your personal item bag. You want everything in that flight pouch in an order in which you're going to use it in the like glasses you've moved in there. If you can fit the flight pouch in your seat back pocket, do that or use a little carabiner hook to hook it so that it just dangles after you've taken off. Number three of this travel system for long flights is your clothing that you're going to wear in the airplane as your travel outfit. A really smart travel tip is do not wear travel outfits that are, number one, too voluminous because in a dark airplane with people's headphone cords and their shoes that they maybe take off during the flight, you are going to get tripped up or tangled up or like a voluminous like a maxi dress. If you're trying to climb over somebody in a mammogram type seat, your dress could cling to your passenger's leg that you're trying to step over while they're sleeping and it's just stress during the flight that you really can avoid by just packing the dress or that item that is super voluminous. Cute, but just pack it for vacation. Number two, do not wear restricting clothing. Like you want elastic waistband, elastic cuffs around the ankles of your trousers that you're going to wear, for example, or wear your legs bend when you sit for 10 hours. One thing I realized, I did wear it from one island in Hawaii to another, but a scoop neck shirt, just don't, you don't want to have to fool with it. If you're going to sleep or bend over trying to find something, you're trying to worry about the shirt. It's just uncomfortable and less stress if you pack it to be worn later in your vacation. But do wear compression socks for a long flight. I have the best ones out there, do not buy the cheap ones at the drugstore on the corner. They cut into your skin, but if you do have circulation issues, check with your doctor to make sure these are okay. The Dr. Scholl's ones, I pulled them over the outside of my Drager type cropped pants. One carry-on packing tip that I used as a pilot's wife, having to pack an only carry-on luggage for over 20 years now, 23.1 years, is if you cannot fit a jacket inside your personal item bag, tie it around your waist or wear it to get it into the airplane. I had the room for this trip, but you may want to consider just a fleece, like a pullover instead of a hood, just for not having to worry about it during the flight. You've also seen my cashmere scarf that is super thin, but it is effective in keeping me warm. I draped it over my shoulders for a flight and wrapped it around my wrist. So good if you don't want to be bulky. But I also have this hidden pocket scarf that doubles as a blanket. You can also make it into a scarf and it snaps, but the two pockets in it are totally hidden because the zippers and the threading match. Here's step four of the travel system. Prepare your long flight essentials. If you need medication to remain cold, which I now have to do, this is a great cooler and it does have other sizes available. It fit in the water bottle pocket of my personal item bag. This is the juice that you need to freeze before your flight. And then coming home, I did not freeze it because I didn't have my medicine anymore. Since this juice is larger than 3.4 ounces, the security in Hawaii, they wanted to test it. I don't know what they did to it, but it's not frozen solid. And because it's for medical reasons, it does not have to be frozen solid, just so you know. In Houston, they didn't even need to see it out of my bags. The rule for airport security is they want you to declare it and tell them you have this medicine that's liquid. There are two things that I do before a long flight. The shower that I take the day before, I put on vitamin C serum and it helps your skin retain the moisture. And then when you put lotion on top of it, it's going to feel so, so good for that dry air long flight. Another thing I do is I charge my portable charger because after a long flight, that is when you're going to be going all day and your phone is going to need some juice throughout that day, like midday. So the little plugs on this will charge either type of phone. There's that one for the new iPhone or the old USB to C. You're going to also build an in-flight pouch. And sometimes I vary what I take. If I'm going to a condo like we did in Hawaii, it was like a 10-hour flight. I just took little pouches and now I've put them away. Most of the time, if I'm going to a hotel room, I'm going to pack my in-flight essentials in a pouch that's really a hanging toiletry kit because it holds more, but it can be packed in my personal item bag as a pouch size, if that makes sense. For dry air and especially long haul flights, I have two items that I take out of my liquids bag after security, a tin of lotion for the prickly fingers after just once of washing my hands, my little individual vials of eye drops, and then this. I bought it a few years ago. I'm making it last as long as I can. It is a medical thing for your lips. It is not sticky like a lot of lip glosses and it medicates your lips somehow. Oh, it's beautiful and luxurious. What else did I pack for my trip to Hawaii? Oh, this. And I'm like, everybody needs this for a long flight. At the end of the flight, it's a brush. Because of where your hair gets matted down at the end of the flight, you need to be able to brush it, flick it up, and it is easy to pack. And it has a little mirror if you need it for applying your makeup if you also want to apply makeup at the end of the flight. This is just a small set of travel brushes, but the hooded brushes also fit in there. And this is what I used. I could zip mine in my personal item bag, my backpack that I took to Hawaii. It was like a 10-hour flight almost. But remember, a travel tip is you do not have to pack it in your bag zipped up. I've packed it in my suitcase wide open like that. You can also pack snacks and any are approved for airport security, but the only thing you need to know is that if you're packing peanut butter, it does count as a liquid, so that would need to be in your liquids bag for the TSA line. You may also want to pack my favorite travel wipes, and they are antibacterial. They're big enough and juicy enough to clean everything at your airplane seat, but mid-flight, they don't give you another wipe. Although I love my travel blanket, and it's like a baby blanket perfection, it is bulkier, so I never travel with it. You may also want to use a carabiner hook for a neck pillow so that it's not in your bag. There's also this turtle neck brace, neck brace, neck pillow that I have used, and it's actually good because it lets your head go forward a little bit, but it also lets it lean. And here's a travel hack. If your airline says that travel neck pillow counts as extra baggage, take it out and wear it into the airplane and then stow it where it needs to go. This one is only good for really long necks like mine. I love it because of this two really strong velcro straps that attach to your headrest, and so your head cannot fall forward because it's holding you upright, but I usually can't sleep no matter what. It's just if you really think it's going to help you, those are options. One thing that I packed for our trip to Hawaii was this because I knew where I was sitting, I was going to have a plug or an outlet that I could plug this in, and it was going to charge my phone and my watch because I wanted to use my watch that whole day. We were landing like in the morning and I needed to go that entire day or to charge your airpods again as well. My husband has one. He's the one who talked me into this. I also use a travel case to corral all of my cords, but one thing I do is I put my laptop cord and block in my suitcase because those are not combustible like some chargers are. Like this is a power bank. It has a lithium ion battery in it which makes it combustible, and so the airlines don't want something that's combustible in the belly of the airplane. It cannot go into the belly or the cargo hold of the airplane. I usually pack this one just because it's slimmer than my other case that holds a lot. It opens really wide, but I don't need that on some flights if I'm cramped for space. Something else you may want to do during the flight that you're going to need something for is to watch your phone or the entertainment. That means you need a phone prop, and I love mine. Everybody loves it on Travel Tips by Laurie. If you do not have global entry for the end of the flight, okay, coming back to America, then I want you to download the app CBP Mobile Passport. It is an app, but it is a shorter line somewhat. Once you land back in America, then you turn on your phone, then you open up the CBP app, and then you have to take a picture and send it, and sometimes with the 5G, I can't use my phone when I'm right next to the airport sometimes, so I found it clunky and confusing, so I'm going to put the video link to it in the pinned first comment for you if that is an option. I now believe that global entry is super worth it. Here is one travel update for you if you are going to an Asian country or flying on an Asian airline, okay? These portable chargers or power banks are what they're called. Asian airlines are letting you pack them, okay? Some people got confused. They are letting you pack them in your purse, item bag, but they're not letting you plug them into your phone mid-flight, okay? You can take them, but there are many Asian airlines who have done away with letting you plug them in during the flight, and remember, they cannot go in the belly of the airplane. Step five is emergency preparation for foreign travel, and there are several things that led me to this decision. In April of 2025, when Spain lost all power for most of the areas, different parts were losing power, and so then people started running to the nearest ATM, and there were lines with hundreds of people in them, and of course, there was no more cash, so one travel tip is to be prepared for an emergency like that by having some cash, and here's why you would need cash to maybe take a train or a taxi to another city that's in another country to buy some food in a grocery store or to pay maybe for a hotel. I do have a video for ways to hide and divide your cash if interested. One travel tip is to get euros in advance from your bank, like before your trip even starts. You will also want to break large bills into smaller ones like as soon as you land. For things like tips for tour guides, they're so good. They do their best not knowing what they're going to get tipped at the end of your tour. For Christmas markets, if you're going to be buying a glass of mulled wine for three francs or to use a toilet, also review your credit cards fine print. I have missed out on so many benefits like a free checked bag, and don't forget you can check your carry-on suitcase if you want to. We like putting a luggage tracker in our suitcase lining, but there are also two other options for you. Number one is this that looks like a credit card that would look that would go down in your wallet. If your purse gets stolen, you can track it with this unsuspecting little tracker. You have to push the button to make it turn on and it'll sync with your phone. There's also a passport booklet that has a little slot that is really secure for your tracker. It could be tile or air tags. Right now, do this emergency prep step. Look up the U.S. embassy for the country you're flying to and have that address in your email that you've emailed to yourself as well as in the notes or somewhere in your crossbody bag or luggage. If you lose your passport, you are going to have to go to the U.S. embassy in that country and it could be a very long way away. So you want to know now just be prepared. Another thing you can do is take an image of the inside of the back cover of your passport that is the barcode and that way if somebody does want to steal your identification from your phone, they only see a barcode and not your picture with your information in it. One thing I forgot to mention was dehydration packets. Super easy to pack. What they are is they use real sodium. So it's not salt, it's real sodium and other nutrients. But it is high in sodium, okay? So I would divide that packet of powder into a bottle of water right when I land or at the end of the flight and then midday I'm going to put the other packet in a bottle of water and it just gives you an alertness and helps you make it through that day. And one travel tip that a pilot wife friend of ours did, for the second day that you're in a foreign country, you're going to eat a high carb meal for supper and that's going to help you be carbed out so that you sleep better on that second night. If you're traveling to Italy, I have a really good download with some outfit sets for you or ideas for you. I'll have that in the pinned first comment. You are going to be ready for anything because you've thought about these travel tips and tricks and you are prepared for that long flight. Thanks for your time and best of luck.