It had all the ingredients of an ideal flight for sleeping. The flight left at 2am. I had just worked for 8 hours. Lie-flat beds were available. And I was tried. But I did not sleep a wink.
After takeoff, I decided to watch a move while I was enjoying my midnight snack. Browsing the selection, November Criminals caught my eye. It is a murder mystery filmed in DC and many of the scenes were filmed in my old stomping grounds.
It wasn’t a great movie, but I don’t regret watching it.
But then another movie caught my eye. I love watching German movies on airplanes since typically only the best make the cut, unlike dime-a-dozen Hollywood movies.
This movie was called Jugend Ohne Gott. Translated literally, that is “Youth without God” though Qatar Airways gave the movie a different name in English. My German is getting better, but still not sharp enough to pick up every nuance in German, so I will usually include English subtitles when watching.
I found the move to be excellent: well-made and extremely thought-provoking. I recommend it.
And Then Breakfast Was Served…
After finishing my second movie, I figured it was finally time to go to sleep. But looking at the flight map I realized there was less than 90 minutes left. I had squandered my sleep over two movies!
I could have just skipped breakfast and slept for an hour, but opted to stay up to record the meal for the blog.
CONCLUSION
Upon landing in Ho Chi Minh City I had a full day of work ahead of me before catching my flight to Frankfurt. It was difficult to stay up…but was it worthwhile? I’d say yes.
Have you ever sacrificed all your sleep onboard a flight to watch multiple movies?
I would like to read a full review of the movie you stayed up for. I’ve stayed awake during flights to listen to a person’s life story.
I can hardly ever sleep on flights; flying is when I binge watch films.
I haven’t watched that movie yet but we read “Jugend ohne Gott” (the book) in school last year.
I always stay up watching R-rated films in which I have starred. Sometimes I get my fellow seatmate to join in for the fun, too.
I can’t sleep on planes either, even when flying in business with a lie-flat bed. Only time I’ve slept for a continuous period of time was in SQ Suites. Now THAT felt like a waste of the flight after I woke up.
I have done that too many times as well. Lately I try to set a few hours aside where I turn the TV off, put on a sleep mask and earplugs in to force myself to sleep or a least rest.
This is the reason I don’t see movies in theaters anymore. It’s nice to have movies that you actually want to watch, and have not yet seen. I’ve learned over the past few years to give myself a buffer of at least one day/night before heading into a meeting/commitment. I know it’s not always possible to do this, but it makes life much less stressful. If I want to spend 11 hours awake eating and watching movies–fine, and I don’t have to feel bad about it. 🙂
i do not sleep on planes?? i try but never comfy..i just watched 10 episodes of Riviera series on my last 3 trips.. Good mystery series…need to wait for season 2