I'm intensely jealous. I used to go to the doctor and get medication specifically to make me sleepy on the plane. I've decided not to take that kind of thing anymore and dread the next time I have a long flight.

I can deal with all the airport crap, but sitting on the plane for two 12 hour stretches is horrible.

> I can deal with all the airport crap, but sitting on the plane for two 12 hour stretches is horrible.

What's wrong with it? Perhaps I'm weird, I love flying and always look forward to my next flight, bonus points if its a long one.

It forces me to unplug from the internet, so I always bring along my kindle to take a decent chunk out of my book backlog.

Of course I have my laptop too, though its not useful for much besides cataloging my knowledge base and getting a head start on essays for school.

I'm curious why many people seem to dislike flying. I wonder if its more of an introvert/extrovert split or a young/old one. I want nothing more than to be able to do my own thing undisturbed, and flights are the perfect avenue for that.

I prefer to spend most of my time sitting down by myself and thinking, so it's definitely not a matter of unplugging, nor is it a lack of stimulation.

For me, it's almost always that I'm exhausted and basically unable to be physically comfortable. When I have 10+ hour flights with layovers it feels like enhanced interrogation: I'm prevented from getting any significant amount of good sleep, and I'm forced to be in a kind of sitting stress position where I can't get comfortable and I can't sleep. Forget about reading, I'm just not capable of doing it.

The noise isn't the only issue but it certainly contributes - I've noticed fixing the noise issue with headphones/earplugs does wonders. I would expect the air pressure (=oxygen availability) to contribute too, and another factor are the movements and vibrations.

You could test if this was the case by traveling to a high-altitude city and staying there long enough to acclimate before flying out.