Enjoying Your Flight

Most medical tourism destinations that you might consider visiting are pretty far (regardless of where you are right now).  This means that you could spend anywhere from 5 to 20 hours sitting in a cramped plane.  Our first piece of advice to you is use the restrooms at the airport before getting on the plane.  The stalls are larger, more comfortable, and cleaner than what you’ll often find on most commercial carriers.  This is especially true for longer journeys where the facilities become more unpleasant with each passing hour.  Remember that flight attendants don’t normally double as sanitation workers on board. 

Other airline tips are covered more thoroughly in our Air Travel Safety section, but just to recap, make sure you stretch and exercise regularly, hydrate often, and be sure to alert your companion to any medical conditions or requirements that you might have (i.e., make sure that he or she knows how to administer your medication in the event of an emergency).  

Tyrano-Vision

If you're a movie buff, you'll be happy to know that most international flights offer personalized movie screens with tons of viewing options (films, tv shows, and video games).  However, there are still a handful of older carriers that have yet to follow suit.  These vintage planes subscribe to the "tyrano-vision" philosophy in which everyone must watch the same thing at the same time.  And in most cases, these movies aren't terribly good (no offense to the men and women who make them).  Thus, we recommend taking extra reading material, portable DVD players, iPods, and the like with you.  You'll sometimes need to carry extra energy sources with you unless your flight provides access to outlets in the plane.  Seat Guru offers a useful guide for determining whether or not your plane offers such conveniences.  Keep in mind, however, that most airlines restrict the use of electronic devices during take-off and landing.

Happy travels.

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