I’m 17 hours into my journey to Hanoi, Vietnam. Not going to sugar coat it, this is the worst part of traveling—the horrid long flights to get to your final destination. Thankfully, economy is getting roomier. Last time I flew to Japan was 20 years ago, and I was much younger then. I remember being smashed up into a ball with no leg room and slept the entire time. It’s a different story 20 years later. For some reason, I cannot sleep on planes any more. Even if I drink wine the entire time, it doesn’t make me sleepy. Instead, I just have to go to the bathroom more often. And I really dislike crawling over people.
I tried to pass the slowly dragging hours by distracting my mind and watching four movies. The sound-canceling headphones I bought were a great investment. I got a pair on Amazon that had good reviews. I didn’t want to go with the super expensive ones, so I opted for a $70 pair by COWIN. If you get black it’s only $60, but I wanted the colorful purple ones. They worked great as we had crying babies on board and I didn’t even realize it until the headphones lost battery. It says they last for 30 hours, but mine didn’t last the entire 14-hour flight. But maybe I didn’t charge them for long enough. I didn’t use them prior to the flight. I got them about two days before my departure, as a last-minute buy.
The headphones were great. However, they didn’t help the fact that the Asiana airplane was just HOT. Maybe it’s their way of prepping us to deal with the humidity in Asia, but I was so hot I thought I was going through early menopause. Or maybe I had a fever, or I was just dying in general. I have never been that overheated on a plane in my life. I actually brought a scarf because I thought I would be freezing cold. Nope, didn’t need that. Their air vents are at the top of the aisles, really high up in the plane, and the air just doesn’t circulate at all.
FINALLY, after 14 hours of flying, we landed in Seoul. As I stood up and almost passed out, I moved into the aisle with everyone else to push out of the plane, and I got hit in the face with a cold blast of air. What’s this I feel!? Omg, the love of ice cold AC pumping on my hot, sweaty neck. It sent chills down my spine. Then I finally realized I had booked the worst seat on the plane. A window seat in front of the bathroom. No air flow at all. I normally book window seats so I have a view and can sleep against the wall. Well, you can’t sleep when you’re having hyperthermia. So, TIP when booking on Asiana Airlines—to avoid heatstroke, book a seat in the aisle or middle section of the plane and not a window.
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