There’s plenty of research on beating jet lag. Set your clock to the time zone you’re landing in. Stay hydrated. And my personal favorite piece of advice that I instantly disregard: Try getting as much sleep as you can on the plane. Yeah, tell that to the responsible jet set. When it comes to long-haul flights, I’m too busy watching movies.
Admittedly, my case is unique. As a travel journalist, I spend almost half of any given year traveling. While seeing movies in other countries is a unique pleasure, it’s not one that I can always enjoy, thanks to packed travel schedules, intense deadlines, and navigating work-related communication with people in different time zones. That means my airplane viewing often doubles as a vain attempt to catch up on pop culture — albeit several months after the initial zeitgeist.
Even though watching movies on planes is a travel habit born out of necessity, I firmly believe that being on a plane makes for one of the best solo viewing experiences. What seats lack in viewing space, they make up for in exclusivity. Since I consider using in-flight Wi-Fi a low-key form of madness, insomuch that I refuse to ruin a genuine off-the-grid experience by paying to read my email, I’m left with nothing to do but watch movies. A single service-size screen with someone to deliver me single-serving snacks to match? The opportunity to experience a communal viewing experience without the annoyance of someone on their phone in the dark? Not being able to check my own phone? Count me in.
My viewing decisions have more in common with a raccoon grasping at shiny objects than the Netflix algorithm. If the film features A-list actors in B-list situations, colors bright enough to make me jealous of what the people in the row in front of me are watching, or is a sequel to another film I’ve loved (meaning I don’t have to learn about new characters), you can count me in. While this might point to a certain dumbing down of my entertainment preferences while flying, just know that regardless of what altitude I’m at, I firmly believe that Will Ferrell deserves an Academy Award.
But I don’t just watch movies on the plane — I get really into them. In a way, it makes sense: You’re excited about going somewhere new, tired from preflight preparations, and in transit, you’re in a state of uncertainty that your body interprets as stress. That’s probably why I have fully sobbed at both Black Swan and Pitch Perfect for the same reasons. (They put on the perfect show!) But my preferred flavor of in-flight emotion isn’t just sad. I noticeably gasped my way through all three of the films that Jordan Peele has directed, and recently laughed until I cried at Zoolander and Wayne’s World, movies I’ve seen so many times, I can recite them word for word.
This flood of emotions might be embarrassing enough when traveling alone, but try explaining with any level of dignity why a family trip ended with drenching your sleeping mother in wine after getting too scared while watching The Silence of the Lambs for the first time. On land, I am a picture-perfect introvert, prone to keeping my reactions to myself unless they force their way out of me, but in the air with my headphones on and a movie on, I am a “see something, say something” hot mess.
Yes, I could put the blame squarely on myself. Like the time I watched Big Hero 6, convinced a cartoon wouldn’t set me off — only to burst into tears the moment the main character’s brother dies. (I also have a brother.) Ditto for Inside Out, which lulled me into a false sense of security with the presence of Amy Poehler before — quite literally — featuring all the feels.
My alternative activities could include podcasts, reading, journaling, staring out the window, or even watching live TV. Goodness knows I could probably benefit from learning about world events from a non-meme format. And yet, every time I fly, from the tarmac to putting my set and tray table in an upright position, I still find myself engrossed in a string of movies. Yes, I might be a hair dramatic about it, but the way I see it, watching movies while I fly lets me disappear into other worlds while moving across the real one. And after all, I can always sleep when I land.
Laura Studarus is a Los Angeles-based travel writer who has contributed toFast Company, BBC Travel, and Thrillist.
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