One of the top things that can help your travel experience–noise canceling headphones. They can block out the poor screaming kid behind you, make your music or movie sound better, and make it feel (just a little bit) like you’re all alone and not on a plane with 150 other people. Earlier this year when I flew to Tokyo from Dallas (11 hour flight) I turned on the white noise app on my iPhone and put the headphones on (they give them to you in business class) and slept pretty well.
I had a great pair of Logitech noise canceling headphones when I first started my job four years ago. Of course, they, along with my iPod, were stolen two years ago. Sigh. I am now ready to bite the bullet and buy a new pair, and so I have been doing some research. The main negative for me about typical noise canceling headphones is the size and bulk. I only have a certain amount of space in my purse and I would rather not give it all to one item. The helpful people on CNET have a bunch of reviews about smaller noise canceling headphones, and the smaller ones they recommend are the Bose On-Ear Headphones. There are other, less pricier options as well. Here is a great set of reviews about the top options, and here is a great article from Why Go Business about noise canceling headphones in general.
Once I have my headphones I will write a review. And I am looking forward to how peaceful and quiet my trips will be .
I’m a big fan of my Shure passive noise canceling ear buds. I rest my head against the plane wall and the on-ear or over-ear are just not as comfortable as ear buds. Anyone who listens to music in flight should use some type of noise cancellation so you can run on lower volumes.