If you constantly suffer the inconvenience of pre-flight stress, then chances are you and I would not be good travel companions. Not that we’ll ever travel together, not expecting you to want to travel with me, but what I am trying to say is that I know your pain, my friend.

The long nights before a 12-hour trip worrying about whether or not you packed everything you need, checking every 5 minutes if you packed your passport, and asking everyone who is traveling with you to check for theirs.

Now that I think about it, I might have a problem and this is probably nothing close to what you experience. But I’ll go out on a limb and say that not being able to sleep and getting nervous before a flight is pretty common.

So if you’re one of those people (like I am), then it wouldn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve to help you get over the hill and have a more pleasant flight experience. At the end of the day, you’re probably traveling for pleasure, so you want to enjoy the whole thing instead of suffering through it.

One of the things you want to make sure you’re doing is getting a good night’s sleep before your flight. But that’s easier said than done, or at least that’s been my experience.

My trick is a list of things I like to do before going to bed. The first of which is doing things that relax me, instead of doing things that rile me up. So, if you were planning on watching the NBA finals between the Suns and the Bucks, I would advise you against that.

This is something I hate doing because watching sports is fun, but hey, there are at least 4 games to watch so not watching one and being rested for a long flight might be worth it.

Eating well and early is another one. This is probably something you already know, but it doesn’t hurt to point out that going to bed with an overly full belly is not the best for rest. And yes, I rimed that on purpose.

The third and final addition to my pre-flight evening has only been around a couple of years. But as a person who used to take flights over 14 hours long quite often, I can tell you that it’s probably the only step I wouldn’t be able to cut from the list.

You got it, I’m talking about CBD. A non-psychoactive cannabinoid primarily extracted from legal hemp crops. Hemp is a non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant that has low or 0% content of THC (the only psychoactive component in cannabis) and a much more prevalent CBD presence.

CBD has been linked to a variety of different potentially healthy benefits and effects. But the ones we’re after in this article is the cannabinoid’s ability to provide relief from anxiety and stress. Two things that make a lot of sense not to have if you’re trying to get a full 8 hours of sleep.

Luckily, brands like Lunchbox Alchemy CBD make it incredibly easy to pick out a product that makes sense for your pre-flight evening.

Lunchbox Alchemy makes CBD-infused edibles that are classified by intent, so if you’re looking to destress you’ll identify the gummies that suit you best easily. The same goes if you intend to sleep, get relief from chronic pain, or just overall daily wellbeing.

The best thing is, all their gummies are made with non-artificial organic ingredients, pesticide-free manufacturing practices, and each batch is independently lab tested to ensure safety and quality.

I’ve read tons of studies on how CBD has been proven to help with stress and sleep. But quoting those isn’t fun at all so I won’t be talking about that this time around. Although I do encourage you to do your own research and identify if CBD could work for you. What I have come here to tell you is my personal experience using CBD before flights. 

When I lived in Asia, I used to take trips that lasted more than 35 hours at least 3 times a year. This means 12-16 hours sitting on a plane, which is not something you want to do if you have a bad hip as I do.

Then there’s the 4-hour layovers, the canceled flights, the lack of sleep, and the shitty airplane food. The point is, traveling is fun but getting there can be a horrifying experience.

Sure, sleeping well before the flight helps, but many people, including myself, need some extra help. Many of my colleagues that traveled just as often or more than I did tend to drift towards alcohol. A solution I tried but failed to love.

The problem with alcohol is that if you want to drink enough to get you tipsy, you’ll also have to drink enough to dehydrate you a little bit. Not to mention having to stand up often to go to the bathroom. While alcohol could work for you, it most certainly did not for me. 

I also tried smoking a joint before a flight. Which seemed to help a little more, but there were just too many logistic problems involved with that. Smoking weed at an airport is just a shady business that didn’t let me feel comfortable and smoking at home needed to be at least 3 or 4 hours before the flight.

Not to mention the paranoia that kicked in when going through security at the airport.

Then something wonderful happened; CBD gummies happened. I used to take 2 or 3 gummies with me to the airport and take them right before going through security. CBD is federally legal and is non-intoxicating. So if you know your tolerance well, I can almost guarantee you’ll have one of the best inflight experiences ever.