You never realize how uncomfortable flying is until you actually fly. I had the worst luck ever on the last flight that I took. It was a 12-hour flight to Abu Dhabi, with a baby relentlessly crying and a man sneezing the nastiest sneeze ever. But the worst of them all was the woman sitting next to me blowing her bloody nose. Neither her nor her husband had any regard for space as they comfortably allowed their heads and feet to touch my area, as if they were in the comfort of their own homes. What really took me over the edge was when I went to sleep and woke up next to her bag of dirty, bloody, tissues. AHHHHHHHHH! I desperately searched for a way out but to no avail for 4-hours. Finally, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I discovered a seat right in back of me, with a woman on the other side (two spaces in between us). Boy, was I excited about this; I moved instantly. The moral of the story is, don’t fly and be as anal as me. However, if you’re anal and you’re still going to fly, find some tips below on what to do when you are in a really messed up situation en route to your destination:
- You have to tune annoying people out. Maybe watch a movie or TV show that your airline provides as a courtesy or better yet read a book with your headphones on.
- Speaking of headphones, music can be a great escape. You can essentially tune out the blowing of the noses and the sneezes if you blast your latest jams, over and over again or a really good audiobook.
- Force yourself to sleep. Kind of hard to do when you’re uncomfortable in the first place, but going to sleep can help the time pass some. In the past, I was able to go to sleep without an issue This time around, I was so uncomfortable it was very hard for me to stay asleep and every time I woke up, only a few minutes had actually passed.
- Show and tell that you’re uncomfortable. In my case, if it wasn’t for the language barrier I would’ve been able to say something but because this woman only spoke an Indian dialect, I wasn’t able to communicate my concern beyond the universal grunting and sighing.
I survived using these tips. Once I moved to the new seat, the rest of the flight was smooth sailing.
Travel By Ky 