Flights Paris Features and What to Know

Hey there fellow long haul travelers, Mark here with Wolters World and today we're here in Paris and I actually flew in yesterday on a long haul flight from Atlanta. And today we want to talk about are some of the ways that you can help yourself survive a long haul flight because those 8, 10, 12, 16 hour flights going to Dubai, going to Sydney, coming to Paris, they can take a lot out of you and really wipe you out on your first couple days of your vacation. So, I'm going to give you a few pointers to make it a little bit better because I do a lot of these flights and these are things that I do so I can hit the ground running and start filming videos and exploring cities right away. And I think the first

thing when you're looking at, you know, surviving long haul flights, it's really important to choose your flight wisely. When I say choose your flight wisely, I'm looking at the time frame of your flight. If you're flying out, maybe you want to look for a night flight or an overnight flight or a red eye flight that's going to help you kind of sleep on the way there because it's your normal sleeping time. So, then you can sleep and get a little bit rested so you get in the city and you can just start going versus one of those ones where you're traveling all during the day and you're like, what do I do? That might be something you want to think about, okay? It's when you're going to be flying, okay? So, pick the

flight that gives you a chance to sleep on the plane. That's going to be a lot helpful, okay? Now, once you have your flight, the next important thing you have to remember is choose your seat wisely because getting stuck in the middle seat is never good on a long haul flight cuz you'll be miserable. No one will let you have the middle armrest and you're just kind of SOL, all right? So, you want to be careful with this. Now, one thing I would say, if you are able to pay up on a long haul flight, that's when you want to upgrade. Get those comfort pluses or the first class, the business class, whatever because 2 inches might not seem a lot, but after 10 hours, 2 inches makes a big difference with your legroom

because honestly, if you're smooshed up like this and you're so uncomfortable, you're not going to be able to sleep very well. You're going to be very restless and therefore you're going to land and be kind of discombobulated. So, if you have the miles, this is a great way to use your miles. That's actually how I use my miles, is I use my miles to upgrade instead of buying the upgrades because I feel I get better bang for the miles than the bucks, and that's the way I can actually use my miles. So, that might be something you want to think about. Also, if you can't do that, then maybe make sure you can get an aisle seat cuz an aisle seat you get a little more space. Yeah, you might get hit by

the cart occasionally, but on long-haul flights, they're not coming around that often. So, you can get some sleep in, have a little space there. Or, if you can get the window seat and you can sleep on that, that's nice. But, yeah, being in the mid- middle seat for 16 hours, like my first flight when I went LA to Sydney, or actually it was Chicago to LA to Sydney on one flight, uh it is not fun. And you just get there discombobulated, okay? I think when we start to also think about choosing wisely, I think you also need to think about choosing your clothing wisely for your trip as well. Look, if you wear tight, restrictive clothes, you might look fantastic, but you're going to feel

horrible because you can't move around. You can't adjust in your seat to get comfortable. Have looser-fitting clothes. If you've got your kids, let them be in their pajamas, so they're comfortable, so they can sleep. And you, yeah, I mean, you're probably not going to wear your pajamas. I don't recommend wearing your pajamas on the plane, but maybe wear layers cuz sometimes the planes are freezing cold, and sometimes they're really hot. The fact that you can unzip and go from one to the other can be very helpful. So, kind of think about that with your clothing. Cuz I won't lie to you, sometimes Jocelyn forgets about this and wears a turtleneck for a long-haul flight.

Literally, within an hour, she's like, "Get this off of me." Luckily, we bring multiple clothes for her, so she can do that. But, it's one of those things you have to think about. But, if I'm going to say one of the most important things that I wear every single time I take a long-haul flight because it feels great and it's actually a healthier way to fly is compression socks. Get those, you know, those really long socks that go up to your knees that really compress down on your legs. You want to have those because deep vein thrombosis is real. People have died from it. So, you have those socks that really helps the circulation keep going in your legs, in

your feet. And I'll be honest with you, if you get into town, like you get into Paris, like I got in here like 1:15, 2:00, I had my compression socks on. I just kept them on and I was walking around town and my feet felt fantastic. So, compression socks are a must and that's for old people or young people. Now, if you know your long-haul flight's the next day, another thing I want to talk about is hydration. Being hydrated before your flight, on your flight, after your flight is very helpful to help you kind of adjust with the jet lag, but also help your body adjust with the flight because when you're in the air, the air in the plane is very dry, okay? So, every time they come by and

offer you water, say yes, please and drink it, okay? Before you're going, the day before, double your water intake, like just drink a bunch of water the day before to keep that hydrated. Yes, you have to get up and go pee, but that's going to help you feel better on your flight. And the thing is that hydration isn't just drinking. You might also want to make sure you have some lip balm, some moisturizer because your hands get all dry as well and that makes you uncomfortable. When you're uncomfortable, you can't rest on the plane. Now, something I want you to do on the plane is move around. And what I do in the those flights is I actually get up a few times and I'll walk back and forth. I'll go back to the bathroom

and then actually, if it's one of those ones that the bathrooms are kind of hidden, I'll actually sit there and do some like yoga poses and some stretches and some deep knee bends and some bend over stuff to get the blood flowing in my legs so there's at least something there. Now, I know some people don't feel comfortable doing that or they can't get out of their seat or like, "Well, I'm in the middle seat. I don't want to wake the person up next to me." So, what I recommend you do is with your feet, like spell the alphabet with your feet, up, down, around, all those kind of things to get the feet moving, get the blood flowing. That's going to help you.

Like reduce like the cramping and stuff and you know, just making you feel better cuz that and the compression socks I really do like every single flight when I fly, even that the long haul ones cuz it really does help. Now, another thing is when you fly, it's important to be smart with your food options, not just on the flight but before you fly. Try to avoid like really heavy fatty foods that make you feel like make you feel like you look like me. Like wait, make you feel like I look. So there's a little build this. You don't want to have that because that makes you feel worse on the plane. So go for something lighter, okay? And if you're going to be seeing what the options are on the plane, go for the

lighter option. And get the extra water, too, to help you feel a bit better cuz that heavy food, it really just sits in you when you're on the plane and it's very uncomfortable. Now, another thing that's going to help you when you're going to be doing these long haul flights is to pack some things that will help you relax. If you are one of those people that likes to have the white noise, have those white noise headphones, those noise canceling headphones to help you sleep. The eye mask to make it dark so you can sleep, especially you're flying during the day but you do want to sleep. Those eye mask, uh they can be a lifesaver sometimes. Also, earplugs cuz you might be sitting next to me and if I fell asleep like this,

I'm sorry. I don't mean to snore. I'm just a fat guy that snores a lot. So I'm sorry. But those earplugs can actually help, too. Another thing is it's not just that. Maybe you're one of the people that like the neck pillows. I'm not a neck pillow person. It doesn't help me but some people it does help so you could look at that. I know Jocelyn actually has this little When you see it, you think it's a deflated beach ball. But when she blows it up, it makes it into this square and she puts it down on the floor cuz she's not very tall. So it helps her put her feet up so then she can kind of like sleep in her seat even in economy. So that's something that she does to help her sleep.

So a few things that I kind of can't live without on a long haul flight. One, if you have anxiety like I do, you should probably talk to your doctor. They'll be able to recommend some things um to help you with that. Also, if you don't sleep well on flights, they may be able to help you with that with whatever, you know, doctors do. Noise-canceling headphones are also really great. And if you have little ones, over-the-ear headphones are really important because those uh little buds they give you on the airplane, they don't fit in their ears. So, we always

would buy those over-the-head ones, but not the ones for kids because those have this uh volume control thing and it never gets loud enough to actually be able to hear things on that in-flight entertainment system. So, just get like regular ones. We got the cheapy ones like $5 in the Target dollar aisle. It was, you know, really great cuz then they can break them or lose them and you're not out a ton of money. So, if you've watched any of our videos, you know I don't like to overpack. So, instead of doubling up on things, know that many airlines, all the ones I've ever been on for a long-haul flight, will give you earplugs, an eye mask, a pillow, a blanket. It's not the best blanket in the world, nor is it the best

pillow in the world, but you're, you know, on a giant tube flying at 40,000 ft. So, they're very helpful and it allows you to pack less. So, if there are some of those little gadgety kind of things that help you sleep or help you relax, maybe bring them with you, okay? Now, another thing that I've learned the hard way over the years is uh on long-haul flights, don't trust the entertainment system. Now, we've come a long way from the one TV in the middle of the plane showing some movie in a language you don't understand. Yeah, we've come a long way from that. There's lots of options, but sometimes there's just nothing good on TV, right? And so, what I recommend is bring some entertainment for you. Grab a

book when you're in the airport, like an actual book kind of thing. Or if you have a Kindle or charge up your phone, your Switch, your whatever. Have those things available for you and what I do is I actually download a bunch of YouTube videos before I get on the plane so I can watch all these YouTube videos I haven't had a chance to. If you got Netflix or Disney Plus, they have that option as well that you can download onto your phone so that can be nice. But I will tell you if you're going to be using your devices, don't forget to pack a USB plug so you can charge it on the plane cuz a lot of them have the USB charging ports. Or if you're not sure if they're going to have that, bring a

backup battery charger so you can charge your phone up so when you get to your destination, you can call to let them know, "Hey, I'm here my Airbnb. Let me in." Cuz your phone's dead, you got a problem, right? So, think about those things to help you pass the time. The thing is when you're getting on the plane, there's something you can do to make it easier for yourself when you're there. And that is put your stuff away and forget about it. Look, if you know you want to get your book or you might want to get your earbuds or your headphones or your work thing or your laptop out later, look, if it's things you can get out and put in the front like little pouch there, your book, your

notebook, your phone, already have those out, put those in there and then push your luggage away, put your carry-on away, your backpack under the seat and don't get it out anymore cuz you don't need it. Cuz what sucks if you're on a long-haul flight, nobody likes that person that gets up 6 hours into the flight, pulls out one suitcase, puts it down on the seat, tries to find something to go, "Oh, it's not in this one." They zip it back up, they put that back up there, they forget to close that bin, open another bin, look in there, rustle, drop something on the person behind them, which has been me before. Sorry, I'm a little bitter. And then finally get your stuff. Have it

all ready. What I do is like look, I know things I will use like I have my notebook that I have all my scripts on. I actually write my scripts while I'm traveling so I have that with me. I put that in the seat in front of my the seat back in front of me. But then if like, "Oh, if I want some more of my notes, if I do need it or where do I do it?" I put it at the very front of my backpack so I can just zip it real quick, pull it out and zip it back closed and I'm done. I don't actually have even get it out of the bin. That can make your life so much more simple and so much stressful when it's all dark and all the lights are off in the cabin you're trying to find stuff. It's not fun, okay? Think about it, if you got to

take medicine as well, have that on you instead of hidden up in there, all right? And then, I think one of the best things you can do to help kind of survive a long haul flight is just sleep. I know, it's crazy. Sleeping on an overnight flight, sleeping on a long haul flight, who would think of such a thing? Well, some people can't. Like a lot of times I can't sleep. Like I was so happy with myself on this trip to Paris, I actually got almost 2 hours of sleep, which is like a record for me. Like Chaz was like, "Oh, good for you, honey." It was like I was a little kid and I potty-trained myself for the first time. She was like, "You big boy, you did it." But if you can sleep, do

that. Don't stay up. You're like, "But I want to watch this new movie." Look, watch it on the way back cuz on your way there, you want to make sure you're fresh and ready to go, all right? So, do be aware of that. So, if you need sleep aids, maybe you want to talk to your doctor about that. There's things you can do to help you sleep. You want to do that, but do be careful cuz mixing sleeping helpers with alcohol, like that's how people get in trouble. Like health-wise and legal reasons why. So, do have a heads-up for it, but there might be something that could help you sleep. So, do be aware of that. And honestly, if you're doing the overnight flight, sleep on the way there, so when you get in

the morning when it's there and it's morning there, you can enjoy the day. And if you're going to take a day flight, I recommend and you're going to get there in the evening to the destination you're going to go to, I recommend not sleeping on the plane because then when you get to your destination, you can just go to bed when you get there and then sleep and then be on that cycle in the new country you're in, all right? So, what are things that you do to help survive those long haul flights? Let us know in the comments below so we can have other travelers survive these long haul flights and come enjoy beautiful cities like Paris, you know, and Dubai and Tokyo and New York, wherever they're flying from. Anyway,

wish you all the best. I'll say au revoir from here in Paris.