How to Sleep on a Plane or in a Hotel

Sleeping away from home is hard. Unfamiliar bed, a room you can't control, light coming in from the wrong places, hallway noise, a plane full of strangers. All the stuff that normally helps you sleep is suddenly out of your hands. But you can get surprisingly good sleep on the go, and it mostly comes down to one idea: you can't control the room, but you can bring your environment with you.

Here's how I actually sleep while traveling.

The whole trick: pack your darkness and quiet

At home, good sleep is about cool, dark, and quiet. On the road you lose control of the room, but two cheap things let you recreate the dark and quiet part anywhere: a sleep mask and earplugs. That's the entire travel kit. They cost almost nothing, they weigh nothing, and they turn any bright, noisy room into something you can actually sleep in.

A mask blocks the strange light, a streetlight, a gap in the hotel curtains, a seatmate's screen. Earplugs knock down the noise you can't turn off. Between the two, you've fixed 80% of the problem before you even lie down.

On a plane

• Mask and earplugs (or noise-canceling headphones). Same logic as anywhere. Block the light and the engine drone.
• Window seat. You control the shade, and you've got something to lean against.
• Layers. Planes swing between freezing and stuffy, and you can't adjust it. Bring a layer you can add or drop so you're not stuck too hot or too cold.
• Recline a little and support your neck. A cheap travel pillow keeps your head from snapping forward every time you drift off.
• Skip the screen. The seat-back movie is tempting, but it'll keep you wired. Mask on, eyes closed.

In a hotel

• Mask and earplugs again. Hotels are full of thin walls, hallway noise, and street light. This is where they earn their spot in your bag.
• Cool the room. Crank the AC or fan lower than feels normal. Hotel rooms are often stuffy, and you sleep better cool.
• Fix the curtain gap. Hotel blackout curtains almost always leave a bright slit down the middle. Clip them shut with a clothespin or a binder clip (I've genuinely started packing one). Kills the sunrise problem.
• Cover the LEDs. TVs, chargers, smoke detectors, and clocks all glow. A piece of tape or a stray sock over the worst offenders helps.
• Do Not Disturb. Hang the sign so housekeeping doesn't wake you.

Keep a little of your routine

The other thing that helps is not abandoning your habits entirely. Even traveling, try to keep a rough version of your wind-down and a consistent wake-up time. Your body clock doesn't care that you're on vacation, and a familiar routine is a signal it recognizes anywhere. For me, the two non-negotiables are my eye mask and earplugs. They go in the bag before anything else, and as long as I've got them, I know I can make almost any room or seat work.

Bottom line

You can't make a plane or a hotel feel like home, but you don't need to. A mask and earplugs recreate the dark and quiet part anywhere, and cooling the room and blocking the curtain gap handle most of the rest. Throw those in your bag and you'll sleep better than the person in the next seat or the next room, guaranteed.