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For me, familiarity induces jet lag. The first few times I went to Tokyo, I was all hopped up and barely felt it, except for waking in the middle of the night occasionally (that's always a good time to make calls back to the States. ). After doing it a few times, it became somewhat routine and jet lag would pound me by 2 - 3 in the afternoon even though I always sleep on the flight. The same holds true for Europe. If it's a city that I'm familiar with, it's a slower adjustment. That said, being wide awake at midnight is not a bad thing in Europe. Coming home takes about five days to get fully reoriented whether coming from the east or the west.
This is also what I was thinking; anticipation may make a difference. Interesting.
I would consider anything over 8 hours a long flight. My latest trip was a 14.5 hour flight from Philadelphia to Doha, followed by a 5 hour flight from Doha to Colombo.
It says alot about the vacuity of our western "ciilization" that adult people complain of being "unbearably bored " on flights that are longer than 2 hours. I mean, you have (relatively ) comfortable seats (I should be the one who complain , being tall and traveling in "cattle" class), movies, you can plug in your computer,follow the plane's route on a screen, plug into the audioport to listen to music, read, knit, play chess with your neighbour, meditate (the so many people doing meditation, where are they suddenly ? they don't travel by plane?), you are catered for by (generally) courteous and charming flight attendants... stop whining, you pampered lot, and remember the days of yore when crossing the Atlantic between Southanpton and NYC took 5 days (when the ship didn't end up straight in an ice field...)
We frequently fly 16 hours nonstop to Asia. I'm okay until about 9 hours in. I bring a lot of magazines that I haven't had a chance to read, watch a movie/TV, and try to sleep a bit. I don't drink during the flight nor do I take any pills to sleep or relax.
It says alot about the vacuity of our western "ciilization" that adult people complain of being "unbearably bored " on flights that are longer than 2 hours. I mean, you have (relatively ) comfortable seats (I should be the one who complain , being tall and traveling in "cattle" class), movies, you can plug in your computer,follow the plane's route on a screen, plug into the audioport to listen to music, read, knit, play chess with your neighbour, meditate (the so many people doing meditation, where are they suddenly ? they don't travel by plane?), you are catered for by (generally) courteous and charming flight attendants... stop whining, you pampered lot, and remember the days of yore when crossing the Atlantic between Southanpton and NYC took 5 days (when the ship didn't end up straight in an ice field...)
Haha. Well. Comfortable, indeed, relatively in coach. Usually I need like 1 day rest after such long flights in economy class.
The movies and series from the IFE are often old and boring. Couple of weeks ago on KLM they had the same movies as one month earlier. I watched three episodes of "the blindspot" which lasted like 35 min each. Was good. Then again, bored. Reading newspapers or magazines is difficult in the lack of space, lack of light, and uncomfortable seating position. Pluggin in the computer would mean at least free Wi-Fi and power outlets, which is not existing on most airlines. Also, no space to put the notebook, how can one type if the notebook is like 1cm in front of your belly and you are getting a stiff neck looking down on the screen while the person in front is putting his seatback back and force all the time. Listening to music? Hmm, one needs really good noise cancelling headphones to reduce airplane noise to properly understand the music. Korean Air and Singapore Airlines had good ones from Bose in C/F class, that was enjoyable. I like to look out of the window on day flights, especially when passing scenig landscape, but if its cloudy or night anyways, not an option.
I could do everything, from watching movies to browsing the internet without being bored, but uncomfortable seating position makes everything just annoying. Same for lack of sleep, if you cannot sleep due to the lack of comfort space but at the same time are sleppy as hell as you have been awake for like 32 hours. Now that I am more than 30yo, I feel too old for flying in cattle class.
My longest flight ever, 18.5 hours, was in a really good business class with excellent service, good IFE, cute flight attendants, and comfortable enough to sleep more than 6 hours. Not boring at all.
@ Douglas Dakota : well I compare flying with the alternatives and in the worst cases see it as a necessary evil.
But may I give you an advice ? if you feel bored because lack of space (which is a reality, it's undeniable that red eyes flights in coach are difficult to endure), think of people in worse situations, in a small cell in a jail for instance. Think how good you have it to be able to jump from one continent to the other in the nick of time! think of the billions of humans of the past and present who never had nor ever will have the opportunity to experience such a "miracle"! for all the physical inconvenience of flying coach, I'm never bored (but it's true I only fly 2 or 3 times a year, it's not a routine). I always have a mask for my eyes and I always manage somehow to garner some sleep, and when I'm awake, I enjoy watching the "ballet" of the flight attendants, the attitudes and habits of my fellow travelers (I detail what kind of people are with the cockpit with me, try to imagine what kind of life they have-I'm kind of imaginative-), and as I'm traveling with my wife, we chatter rom time to time (and my wife loves to chat with her seat neighbours). And the excitation of discovering a new place is there all the time (we travel for vacation/leisure, not work/family visits). Last March we have been flying to Cape Town(first time down there), what a thrill! we could see the Table Mountain and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans when landing and then taking off, unforgettable! what's a little pysical pain compared to that ?
It says alot about the vacuity of our western "ciilization" that adult people complain of being "unbearably bored " on flights that are longer than 2 hours. I mean, you have (relatively ) comfortable seats (I should be the one who complain , being tall and traveling in "cattle" class), movies, you can plug in your computer,follow the plane's route on a screen, plug into the audioport to listen to music, read, knit, play chess with your neighbour, meditate (the so many people doing meditation, where are they suddenly ? they don't travel by plane?), you are catered for by (generally) courteous and charming flight attendants... stop whining, you pampered lot, and remember the days of yore when crossing the Atlantic between Southanpton and NYC took 5 days (when the ship didn't end up straight in an ice field...)
Dealing with jet lag is still a pain when you have get back to work.
Sitting next to my friend who is very thin and happy to keep the arm rest up and great company to boot, I could go around the world.
Alone, if I could watch a great movie while in the air, I could probably do better, but that would have to be in first class, then I could probably do 5+ hours.
But crammed into a seat too small for me, forced to hold my arms to my side and my knees locked together (a unnatural position for a man); an hour and a half is the most I can grit my teeth.
I'd say about four hours, but I've also never flown overseas.
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). After doing it a few times, it became somewhat routine and jet lag would pound me by 2 - 3 in the afternoon even though I always sleep on the flight. The same holds true for Europe. If it's a city that I'm familiar with, it's a slower adjustment. That said, being wide awake at midnight is not a bad thing in Europe. Coming home takes about five days to get fully reoriented whether coming from the east or the west.
