10 ways to survive a long-haul flight

Art of Surviving a Long Haul Flight
By the time that second overnight flight was called I would gleefully have swapped a kidney for a flat bed. Photo: ImageZoo / Alamy Stock Photo


Throw money at the problem




Do something for someone else


Do something for yourself and for someone else

If you're torn between selfishness and selflessness, combine both impulses—make out your will.

Improve your mind

Read something clever.

Remove your mind


Read while drinking


Ponder the wisdom of great men

Recall, for example, the scene in Lawrence of Arabia in which Peter O'Toole's Lawrence serenely puts out a match with his thumb and forefinger. A character named William Potter tries to do the same thing and of course burns his fingers. "Ow! It damn well hurts!" Potter squawks. "Certainly it hurts," says Lawrence. "Well, what's the trick then?" Potter asks. "The trick, William Potter," comes Lawrence's reply, "is not minding that it hurts." A valuable life lesson drawn from the Stoics or a preposterous load of tosh spoken by a self-harming maniac? Lucky you! You still have hours to make up your mind.

Ponder the wisdom of other great men

"Life is a journey, not a destination." That's Emerson, but loads of people have said something similar. None of them, obviously, ever flew from Glasgow to Port Moresby. Moresby is regularly voted among the vilest cities on the face of the earth but I practically wept with joy when I got there.

Don't give yourself a hard time if nothing you do really helps

It almost certainly won't.