A guide to eating, drinking and sleeping on a long journey.

Historically speaking, aeroplane food has been pretty bad. Deciding between the chicken in glue sauce and the mealy mush penne does not enliven the gourmand in us. Nor does it enliven anything else, as we have discovered from the resulting mental and physical slump after eating at 35,000ft.

Granted, the wheelie-cart food on planes has improved somewhat in recent years, but that improvement has hardly kept pace with our growing awareness of the ethical sourcing of ingredients, nutritional value and dedication to whatever dietary regimen we happen to be cultishly beholden to. And that’s before we even consider how the food tastes. So the problem for long travel days is: to eat or not to eat? And if so, what? And how will that behaviour impact our performance at work and general life upon reaching our destination?

For a little guidance on these, and a few more, issues, we enlisted the help of two dedicated students of human fuel. Even at 46 years of age, Mr Kelly Slater is among the greatest pro surfers out there. He’s also a bit of a mad scientist in the kitchen, taking great care over what he puts into his body, what he brings along on his not-infrequent travel days, and sometimes posting about these things on Instagram. Trainer, wellness guru and creator of holistic philosophy Ocho System, Mr Joe Holder is also a hardy proponent of plant-based life, gives full consideration to his diet, routines and the holistic ecology of our mood and performance, whether at home or on the run. Good guys to know. This is what we learnt.

Apart from the previously mentioned culinary reasons for doing so, there is a case for going without on your trip. “If I’m travelling somewhere that has the opportunity to create jet lag, I fast,” says Mr Holder. “Your stomach has its own circadian rhythms, and to align both the rhythms that are affected by light and time of eating, it seems that fasting has been linked to beating jet lag.”

Instead of indulging in the inflight food (and booze), Mr Holder suggests saving yourself for that first meal when you arrive at your destination. “It’s OK to be hungry,” he says. “And I know how weird that sounds, but we’re not supposed to have food readily available to us 24/7. Your body will be fine. But if you are going somewhere ridiculously far away, do your best to eat a couple of hours before going to the airport, then do any other eating on the trip according to the time zone of your final destination, not the one you’re currently in.”

Similarly, if jet lag is going to be an issue, Mr Slater advises adjusting your clock and sleep routine as well as your diet in advance. “Try to get on schedule for the place you’re going to ahead of time,” he says, “or stay awake the whole night before travelling so you can adjust as you travel to the place you’re going. Going east is always tougher. It’s not as hard to stay awake when you’re headed west as it is to go to sleep earlier when you’re travelling east. But I’ll never have it totally wired.”

These days, most of us are always (or aiming to be) on some sort of dietary regimen, and sticking to it when travelling can be enormously difficult. “I always go to the store the day before and take what I know will get me through that time: snack bars, nuts, fruit, avocados, teabags, soup powders that only need hot water,” says Mr Slater. “Superfood and green powder mixes like matcha or spirulina are my staple. Occasionally, I’ll also take salad and tuna packs so, even if I don’t like my meal options en route, I’ll always be happy. It’s nice to have the right food in the car and on each part of the journey as well, so I usually have an extra bag with me to just grab from as I go.” That said, he’s not altogether averse to the trolley snacks on board. “You’ve got to live a little,” he says. “But if you bring the right provisions, you don’t tend to binge on that stuff.”

When you’re travelling, there are known unknowns (how bad the flight food could be) and unknown unknowns (what food to expect when you arrive), says Mr Holder. If you want to eat right, and according to your dietary requirements, it’s best to feed yourself. “I have an emergency pack of goods to hold me through if I’m going to some place that isn’t #plantbasedgang [vegan-friendly],” he says. “Simple stuff to nibble on, or with which to make teas or shakes, possibly digestive enzymes, some adaptogens to help calm the stress, plant protein and definitely fresh ginger or drops.”

One of the benefits of a very long travel day is the enforced digital detox. Even if the planes, trains and automobiles en route are Wi-Fi-ready, it’s often pleasing to roam free of signals and social media. The effect can be an enormous reduction of general, baseline anxiety and the opportunity to, say, read a book. But sleeping on a flight can be tricky. “Magnesium gets me calm and does the trick,” says Mr Holder . “Or else I’ll take some cannabidiol or Sleepytime herbal tea to knock me out.”

“Occasionally, I’ll take melatonin or some sort of flower tincture to help me sleep,” says Mr Slater. “But a glass of wine ain’t bad on a flight when you want to sleep. Just avoid getting dehydrated. And avoid too much sugar.” Wise words, given that health officials last year found that more than 100 million American adults have diabetes or prediabetes. But don’t get worked up about it, says Mr Slater, or worked up at all. “The best thing on a long flight is really just calming your mind through meditation, if you’re into that.”

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