You may be an old hand at flying overseas on a night flight, but for many of your classmates this is a brand-new experience, even if they have flown domestic.
I get cold on flights. My husband gets hot. Pack in layers so you can adjust during the flight.
Many carriers offer free meals and beverages on board for longer flights, but some do not even in economy! Ditto a paper covered small pillow and a thin blanket. Check your carrier to be sure.
Food Strategies
Airports are expensive. The flight is long. If the flight has food it may not be very delicious.
If you like snacks, pick up your gummy bears or chips from your local bodega. An energy bar can be good meal replacement just in case you sleep through the meal service on the plane or find it inedible.
My husband and I like to get take out (no liquids!) on our way to the airport and put it through security and eat it picnic style at the gate. It is always cheaper and more decadent and delicious than anything we could buy in the airport. This lets us skip plane food and focus on getting as much rest as possible after boarding.
You need an empty water bottle for the trip, just be sure to fill it after you’re through security.
No not bring any fruits or vegetables on to the plane. These can cause problems at the border crossing. This is particularly true for re entering the US.
Creature Comforts
Frequent travellers often bring the following in the personal item which goes under the seat in front of them:
Eye-mask
Getting rest is the most important part of the flight. An eye-mask is a means of shutting out the world and reminding yourself to ignore what is around you. If you do not like anything touching your eyes, consider ones with foam padding that lift the mask off your eye itself. Many cost less than 10 dollars. To maximize rest, I put my on directly after boarding and try to turn off my mind and surroundings as much as possible.
(Mostly) Filled Water Bottle
Planes can be very drying. They will likely bring you water and when the seat belt sign is off you can get up and ask the flight attendant for more, but it is very convenient to have your own bottle on ready access. Try to leave a half inch or so at the top of the bottle. The pressure can change volume of liquid and sometimes full items spill a little on opening at altitude.
I find planes SO dry, I always have a face and hand moisturizer and some lip balm on me, just in case. The good news is Norse uses so-called dreamliners that have slightly higher humidity than most other planes.
For your Ears
I cannot recommend enough having noise cancelling headphones. The plane cabin noise averages 80 Db. I just use my airpods these days. The only drawback is mine are older so they usually cannot hold a charge the whole flight. I hear this is not a problem with newer models. My husband prefers over-the-ear models and swears by Sony; he says they are easier to sleep in. We pickup for our kids cheap ones usually JBL from Homegoods or similar discount type of stores. There are plenty of models rated well over 4 stars in the 15-30 dollar price range online. These help you ignore feeling like a sardine and help you shut off.
I download a playlist with very calming music to help me doze off and a very boring audiobook as back up.
Some people find take off and landing hard on their ears. I don’t, but for my kids I always have some hard candies or cough drops for them to suck on or gum to chew. The chewing and sucking helps with ear popping to help your ear stabilize.
As someone who is often congested, and as this can be exacerbated by flying, I also typically have my preferred nasal spray with me to stop me from being a mouth breather or snoring!
Pillows and Blankets
Weirdly I tend to want a pillow more for my lower back than my neck but many people swear by a good neck pillow. The two most popular styles are (1) stiffer memory foam collars almost like a neck brace that holds your neck in place making it slightly easier to sleep, or (2) the micro bead filled c shaped pillows with a very soft cover. You can also bring a small thin pillow from home as long as it fits into your carry on–both my mother and mother-in-law swear by this. Online a neck pillow will cost you less than 15 dollars; they will be almost twice this at the airport.
I find a blanket (or my jacket or a large scarf or cardigan) essential. For me wrapping myself up tells my body to rest and perhaps even doze off. It is in my top three recommends with noise cancelling headphones and an eye mask.
Connections and Entertainments
I highly recommend you go into screen saver mode and try to rest the whole flight, if not sleep. To this end I hesitate to give recommendations, but you do have a return flight so I might as well go through the basics.
Most airplane seats, even in economy, now have power outlets, again check your carrier. You want to land with your devices well charged. The main thing to realize is that most USB ports will be USB 2.0 (the old fat kind) rather than the newer USB-C, so you may wish to have a cord with one end USB 2.0 and the other end compatible with your phone packed. This is also true of Rome buses where you can also charge your phone as you wait for your stop. On the other hand, I just make sure my laptop is fully charged and then use it as a power bank to charge my other devices.
Some planes offer wifi [that’s how I’m writing this], but both upload and download is blocked and it is terribly slow and buggy. It is a waste of money on a night flight. Occasionally and airline will let you use messaging services for free if you connect to the wifi.
Most airlines have free entertainment with a selection of streaming movies on international flights. If you want to watch something on your own device, remember to download content before boarding AND remember that it will drain the power of your device rapidly!
Questions? Worries? Just Ask!
Rome via Brooklyn 