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What to read on a 28-hour plane trip
Chris Blattman gives his tips. Most of all, read this blog post, which will tell you not to take a 28-hour plane trip. If you must go, and can't break it up by feasting on chili crab in Singapore, rethink at least one aspect of your life. But if you are stuck the preferred advice is to start with a bunch of fun books you can finish quickly, move to a longer, more serious work than will command your full attention for quite a while and you won't want to end, and then have some fun stuff left over for the end. I wonder how general this is as an optimal pattern of intertemporal consumption.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 16, 2008 at 02:11 PM in Travels | Permalink
Comments
I do this at least once a year, and have become a firm believer in the combination of 1) good noise-canceling headphones, 2) audiobooks, and 3) melatonin. Along the way I've trained myself (thank you, Pavlov!) to fall asleep when I get on planes, which makes the trip noticeably shorter.
I've also learned that if I bring 1 piece of work to do (say a journal review), I'll do it. If I bring more than that, I won't even finish the one piece of work.
Finally, the nice thing about audiobooks are that your eyes are closed, which makes it much easier to drop off into a dormant state.
Posted by: Kevin Miller at Jun 16, 2008 2:23:13 PM
Agree with Kevin's comment.
I prefer, in no particular order (1) good noise canceling headphones (I like in-the-ear versions), (2) Ambien, (3) a large collection of music, audiobooks and compressed movies on my notebook, (4) books and magazines. Drinking lots of water and getting up periodically to relieve oneself is very helpful. And try to avoid flying in coach.
Posted by: richard at Jun 16, 2008 3:35:01 PM
Blattman's tips: 3 magazines and a novel.
That sounds great for a 6-hour plane-ride, but how does that fill 28 hours? Color me confused...
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Jun 16, 2008 4:20:21 PM
What about a six day train ride?
Posted by: Katie at Jun 16, 2008 5:22:07 PM
If you are already absorbed thinking about a problem, 28 hour travel is not a big deal.
Posted by: gaddeswarup at Jun 16, 2008 5:41:42 PM
Ha. Let me also recommend:
* A 16GB IPod Touch. This hold about 20-24 hours of video.
* A few seasons of a good TV downloaded of iTunes that you haven't seen. Try: Lost, Weeds, Dexter, The OC (season 1), etc. If you know how, you could try ripping DVDs of The Wire or BSG.
You'll need a way to recharge the iPod though, since it will only run about 7 hours of video. It'll depend on the airline and class of service what you can do. You might be able to charge off your laptop, or you might have a USB port at your seat.
Posted by: gk at Jun 16, 2008 6:32:17 PM
I always overestimate what my mental state is going to be like flying. I bring things to read and do that I will enjoy when fully alert but forget how much being confined in a small space with stale air and awful food affects my enthusiasm and ability to concentrate.
If I bring several challenging things to read or work on, I'll manage for about two hours, or until the person in the window or middle seat beside me has to get up. (Also, I don't particularly like writing or working with someone right next to me.)
I'd better have brought something engaging and not too challenging to while away the rest of the time; I'd really like to have my laptop on, but since I always fly coach without power outlet the battery dies too soon...
Posted by: Kat at Jun 16, 2008 11:25:23 PM
3 magazines and a novel it is. Since you want to maximize the distraction-to-weight ratio, you have to look at the magazines as sacrificial.
Why aren't more magazines left behind on planes? Or quick-read novels? Does the ground crew really need to pick up all of those newspapers?
Posted by: Eric H at Jun 16, 2008 11:42:25 PM
I would insist on those chili crabs in Singapore. A 28-hour flight in coach sounds like the seventh ring in Dante's inferno
Posted by: enrique at Jun 16, 2008 11:49:37 PM
I have a sincere question for those of you who recommend flying business class. How do you do it? With a six-figure income, I'm supposed to be one of the rich people, but I can't afford it. I fly internationally for personal trips 2-3 times a year, and the airlines typically want $3-5K for a business-class ticket, as opposed to $1K for coach. I rarely fly for business, so I don't have elite status or hoards of mile-points that someone else has paid for. How do you do it?
Posted by: David Wright at Jun 17, 2008 5:00:39 AM
"start with a bunch of fun books you can finish quickly, move to a longer, more serious work than will command your full attention for quite a while and you won't want to end, and then have some fun stuff left over for the end"
When giving advice, you should take into account the fact that most people are not like you. Almost nobody is going to read “a bunch” of books followed by a “longer” book followed by “some fun stuff” in a 28 hour period. A couple of books, max, is what most people will need.
Posted by: ostap at Jun 17, 2008 8:50:51 AM
My typical routine for the 13 hour Abui Dhabi-JFK trip that I've done several times:
1) A couple of Su Dokus as we get to cruising altitude.
2) A movie (there's a library of 80 or so on the Etihad A340s, so I can usually find something.)
3) The first meal.
4) 6-8 hours of sleep, courtesy of Mr. Ambien.
5) The second meal.
6) Another movie
7) A couple of Su Dokus as we descend.
I actually enjoy a 13 hour flight more than a 6-8 hour, because of the opportunity to sleep in the middle. Etihad starting the direct flight to JFK was a godsend, as it erased the need for LHR or AMS layovers.
Also, avoid booze on a flight. When I was a business traveler, this was the first and best tip my boss gave me. It can be hard to say no to the good scotch, wine and cognac in Cathay's business class, but you'll feel a lot better when you land.
Posted by: bartman at Jun 17, 2008 9:54:45 AM
Option number one: torture chamber.
Option number two: 28 hour flight in coach.
Me: "Uh, ok, do I get enough room to stretch my legs out during the torture sessions? Yes? I'll take it."
Posted by: Yancey Ward at Jun 17, 2008 9:57:18 AM
Also be careful to avoid blood clots in your legs from sitting too long. Get up and walk around periodically, and consider taking a low dose aspirin.
Posted by: Paul F. Dietz at Jun 17, 2008 10:38:09 AM
Ostap - you are a tool.
Posted by: Ostabber at Jun 17, 2008 10:39:48 AM
I wonder how general this is as an optimal pattern of intertemporal consumption.
Student life. Work & Kids. Retirement.
Seems like a pretty accurate picture to me.
Posted by: Sam at Jun 17, 2008 11:30:35 AM
To each his own I guess, but if I read his list of books the 28-hour flight would not matter as I would be sound asleep after two pages.
Posted by: dittybopper at Jun 17, 2008 2:21:15 PM
In addition to novels, I like to throw in a brain teaser book (the mensa books are great). The problems are short enough that you can start and stop many times (which is frustrating when reading a novel) and it keeps the nogin frosty.
Posted by: Patinator at Jun 17, 2008 2:39:23 PM
This may soon be a moot point if the price of oil stays high.
Airlines are dropping very long flights because the extra weight of the fuel itself causes more fuel to be burned per hour. (via Felix Salmon)
Posted by: at Jun 18, 2008 2:04:33 AM
Ostap - do you think when giving advice people should say "well, do whatever you think is best", "do what will make you happy" or "I don't know what you should do, only you know that". That'd make for bland advice. And a bland blog.
Posted by: Local at Jun 18, 2008 8:29:35 AM
I can't say I've ever been on a flight nearly that long (transatlantic is the closest I've come, and that's nowhere close), but I'd want to bring a large Romantic novel, a la Les Miserables. There's a lot of rambling in the narration style, sometimes spending whole chapters on seemingly unimportant details or historical events. It's like reading two magazines and a few short stories, while reading a novel. You also get the unintentional humor of how seriously Victor Hugo is taking himself (this is actually a good thing).
Take breaks to drink water, and occasionally soda for the sugar. I also like taking a newspaper, because on a long flight I'll go through all the parts I would normally skip over.
Posted by: d.cous. at Jun 19, 2008 4:04:57 PM
iPod Touch with movies and/or TV shows
Good in-ear sound blocking earphones/buds
Ambien
2 books
Wet wipes and deodorant
Also, bringing a laptop with you on vacation is a terrible idea for more reasons than I can even begin to list.
Posted by: mike at Jun 20, 2008 8:30:19 PM
if u have lots of money get first class!!!
Posted by: at Nov 15, 2008 11:38:32 AM
A person on her own luggage, leaving the noise of the city, into the 花蓮民宿 arms. To savor the refreshing nature of the original. In Taiwan, as long as a departure from the flow of downtown, everywhere in the garden-like 宜蘭民宿 you, they like their own home Like a warm and comfortable. Taiwan's Lodge 室內設計, the two luxury five-star hotel suite as if the presidential suite general Wah. It is there away.
Posted by: 清境民宿 at Dec 9, 2008 12:41:28 AM
