The Quest to Make Flying More Comfortable
Being on a plane is not likely to feel great—no matter what you bring aboard with you.
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Back in 2017, Kelly Conaboy had it out for the neck pillow: “This half-ovate, toilet-seat cover-esque object reigns as King of Travel Accessories, while failing miserably at its intended sole use,” she wrote. One of the many compelling arguments in her essay is that the neck pillow resembles “the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC”; “Seems like we should not still be using a pillow that looks like the first-ever stone pillow used by Mesopotamians in 7,000 BC, but that’s just my opinion,” Conaboy writes.
Even if your thoughts on travel neck pillows aren’t as strong as Conaboy’s, you may relate to the experience of shelling out for one travel convenience or another, hoping it will make your time in the sky a little bit easier. (I don’t have a neck pillow or a sleep mask myself, but I do meticulously prepare my in-flight Spotify playlists—a different type of sleep aid.) The truth is that flying is weird and uncomfortable, no matter what you bring aboard. Perhaps all that’s left is to give in.
On Travel Habits
Against the Travel Neck Pillow
By Kelly Conaboy
This useless accessory has one job—which it fails at.
The Guilt-Free Pleasure of Airplane Movies
By Lenika Cruz
Amid the endless tiny indignities of air travel, only one true retreat remains.
The Carry-On-Baggage Bubble Is About to Pop
By Ian Bogost
Airplanes aren’t made for this much luggage.
Still Curious?
- Flying is weird right now: This past spring, Charlie Warzel asked: Is flying less safe? Or are we just paying closer attention?
- Why people act like that on planes: Some cry, or crave tomato juice. Others vape in the bathroom and throw fits, Lora Kelley wrote last year.
Other Diversions
- Eight books to read if you’re in a creative slump
- How to take–and give—criticism well
- What do dogs know about us?
P.S.
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— Isabel
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