Flying from Manchester to Korea is no joke It involves a minimum of two flights covering around 5,500 miles, with at least 14 hours of travel. We’ve travelled via London and Istanbul in the past, and this year we’re going via Frankfurt. That means that tomorrow we’ll be taking a two hour flight followed by a layover of around two and a half hours in Germany, then a further ten hour flight to Incheon. With that much time in the air and good amount of experience travelling long haul in the past, we’ve definitely got our in-flight essentials down for this trip. There are a few things that just make that much time sitting in one place more bearable, and even fun!
We’re flying Premium Economy with Lufthansa this year which means we’re entitled to one cabin-sized suitcase plus one laptop-sized bag/handbag per person in addition to a couple of 23kg cases each in the hold. We’re not taking full advantage of that as I have no idea how we could physically move amount of stuff around with us, but we are taking one of these super light cabin cases from IT Luggage with a few clothes, shoes and my smaller handbags inside. That’s mainly just in case our main suitcase gets lost as we don’t want to be without anything at all once we land if the worst should happen! I’ll also be carrying my LV Neverfull GM as it’s the largest and most travel-friendly handbag I own, and Jod has one of these backpacks which are great for travel thanks to all the pockets, padded laptop section and the integral charging cable.
What to Wear
If you’re anything like us and are always trying to wrangle a free upgrade, it’s worth thinking carefully about what you’ll wear to travel, as you need to strike a balance between looking presentable and being comfy – think Selena Gomez, queen of airport style. Layers, neutral colours and luxurious fabrics are definitely king when it comes to travelling in style, and loads of the items i’ve chosen are currently on sale, yay!
This year I’m planning to wear these skinny jersey joggers and a black modal vest top as a base layer with an oversized cashmere jumper from Whistles (sadly sold out, similar here from Uniqlo) and black leather jacket from Reiss on top (sold out, similar here). It’s always a good idea to wear shoes that can easily be slipped on and off for security so I’ll be wearing my white converse and putting some White Company cashmere bed socks on during the flight to feel extra cosy. Mine were a gift (because honestly, who buys themselves cashmere socks?!) but I wouldn’t be without them now… so snuggly.
Little Treats
It’s no surprise that air travel is terrible for your skin as the air is so dry and the cabin often fluctuates between freezing cold and stiflingly warm. The best thing you can do to combat this is drink plenty of water and try to avoid alcohol, but if your skin has a tendency towards dryness anyway then it’s not a bad idea to pack a few products to help you maintain moisture. Start off with a micellar water like this dinky travel sized one to take off any makeup, then apply a sheet mask (I like this SKII one) for as long as possible. Finish up with an eye cream and rich moisturizer like my favourite Glossier Priming Moisturizer Rich. It’s also a good idea to regularly slather on some lip balm, I love this Diptique one. Remember to decant any liquids and creams into smaller pots and bottles and keep them in a clear plastic bag for getting through security.
Our long flight from Frankfurt is overnight so we’re hoping to be able to get a bit of sleep if possible. Generally on long haul flights you’ll be provided with a small pillow and blanket, but these are generally a bit rubbish! I’ve tried blow up travel pillows in the past as well as the bean-bag type ones, but they just don’t support your neck properly and can leave you feeling even worse an unable to sleep at all. This memory foam one is pretty bulky which can be a pain, but it is SO comfortable, soft and supportive. It does make you have about three chins when you do up the strap, but you’ll be so deeply asleep you won’t even care that you look like Jabba the Hut from the neck up.
Black out masks like this one are also brilliant for helping you get to sleep as they completely block out any light and are super soft. If you hate the feeling when glasses/eye masks touch your eyelashes, this will definitely be a game changer as it feels like there’s loads of space inside the mask. Plus, it comes with bonus free ear plugs to drown out the sound of screaming babies!
In Flight Entertrainment
Does anyone else hate it when the in-flight entertainment system includes 2 random episodes from a TV show and then no more? Do they not realise we all want to binge watch the whole series?! To combat this we download a box set onto each of our laptops (this year we’re going with the American Office and Pushing Daisies) so that we can be guaranteed something good to get lost in for a few hours. You can also download individual episodes from Netflix onto your phone if you don’t want to take a laptop away with you, although I don’t think I would fancy staring at the tiny screen for hours on end!
I’m a pretty bad flyer, partly because I hate the noises, so this year my dad has very kindly offered to let me borrow his noise cancelling headphones. These are great for helping you ignore all the weird engine noises and are also perfect for listening to some white noise (I like rain) to help you sleep.
We often like to watch the same thing, especially if it’s something we’ve downloaded just for the flight, so this headphone splitter is perfect for ensuring we can both listen comfortably, and it’s so cute!
A Good Attitude
I honestly think that the best thing you can bring with you on a long haul flight is a sunny disposition and some good manners. Take it as an opportunity to sit back and relax for a few hours, treat yourself to watching that film you’ve been dying to see or try out that new moisturiser. Don’t view a long haul flight as a traumatic thing to get through, but as the start to your amazing vacation!
P.S We’ve always found a good attitude to be key to getting better seats and nicer drinks on flights, so that’s even more reason to be nice to everyone on board 🙂
