Not being able to sleep on when travelling overnight

[jednick]

A few times a year, I travel on an overnight coach from Glasgow to Birmingham (departing 11pm, arriving 6am).

I would really benefit from being able to get some sleep but I find it impossible. (Several reasons why - it's too noisy, too bumpy, not dark enough, I'm sat almost upright etc).

I notice everybody else - literally everybody else - gets at least some sleep on the journey.

I've also travelled overnight by plane from New York to Heathrow three times - and got no sleep whatsoever.

I'd like to know - does anybody else find it impossible to get any sleep at all when travelling overnight, or is it just me?

 

[Cowley]

It's definitely not just you.
Sometimes I'm out like a light and sometimes I seem to be completely wired...
Things like too much coffee, too much to think about, the lighting etc seem to have quite a large say as to whether I'm going to sleep or not.

 

[gazthomas]

I struggle too. I'm always in awe of people who sit down then almost instantly fallen asleep. For me it's partly my tall height making it difficult for me to rest my head and being a light sleeper in general. I have considered sleeping tablets but I've not yet tried

 

[Puffing Devil]

Red, Red, Wine.

 

[Cowley]

Red, Red, Wine.

That is definitely an option.
I had a few beers before getting the overnight from London to Exeter a couple of years ago. Slept really well until I woke up with a start and nearly got off at Taunton by mistake.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That is definitely an option.
I had a few beers before getting the overnight from London to Exeter a couple of years ago. Slept really well until I woke up with a start and nearly got off at Taunton by mistake.

Alcohol, unless I get so paralytic that I pass out (in which case I'd have a very nasty hangover) makes me less able to sleep.

I can't sleep unless it's dark, horizontal and silent. No hope on any form of transport. I just wouldn't consider that kind of coach journey.

 

[Iskra]

Alcohol, unless I get so paralytic that I pass out (in which case I'd have a very nasty hangover) makes me less able to sleep.

I can't sleep unless it's dark, horizontal and silent. No hope on any form of transport. I just wouldn't consider that kind of coach journey.

Same here. It is a stimulant. It disrupts my sleep. If I drink a lot I pass out, but that is very poor quality sleep.

I'm not great at sleeping on public transport, unless very very tired.

 

[Busaholic]

Sleeping on public transport to me is akin to sleeping while driving a car - I admit to having done both for a few seconds, but have managed to wake up in time! You might say that sleeping on public transport doesn't carry the same inherent risks - and you'd be right - but I still can't allow myself to do it, hence why I never travel by sleeper from my home in Penzance to London. I've only ever done two long distance air flights, within seven days of each other, but combined with the jet lag when I got there I felt like a total zombie due to lack of sleep.

 

[cactustwirly]

I can't sleep on planes, and when I did a Sleeper train from Budapest to Zurich, I didn't get much sleep on that either!
Although I can sleep on overnight Ferries perfectly fine

 

[FQ]

I am able to sleep pretty much anywhere if I'm tired enough, including during the day. Many times have I fallen asleep on the 14:30 departure north from Bristol to Birmingham having been up at stupid o'clock that morning, usually just putting a coat on the table and then resting my head in my elbow to block out light.
I've done the sleeper seats a few times and the most recent time I had a pair of seats to myself and actually slept pretty well, curled up over the pair of them.
When doing the sleeper berths I usually sleep very well, the motion of the train actually helping I've found.

 

[trainmania100]

I find it hard to sleep on public transport, I find it too interesting to look out the window, especially when I'm bashing new track

 

[route101]

I find it hard to sleep on public transport, I find it too interesting to look out the window, especially when I'm bashing new track

Yeah i find it frustrating when i on a new line and falling asleep .

 

[route101]

A few times a year, I travel on an overnight coach from Glasgow to Birmingham (departing 11pm, arriving 6am).

I would really benefit from being able to get some sleep but I find it impossible. (Several reasons why - it's too noisy, too bumpy, not dark enough, I'm sat almost upright etc).

I notice everybody else - literally everybody else - gets at least some sleep on the journey.

I've also travelled overnight by plane from New York to Heathrow three times - and got no sleep whatsoever.

I'd like to know - does anybody else find it impossible to get any sleep at all when travelling overnight, or is it just me?

Is there a reason you have to take the overnight coach ? Its hit and miss if i sleep . I try and have long tiring day beforehand .

Slept well on the sleeper recently , though i think i woke up a fair few times .
The seats i can with an eyemask though the lights are never dimmed.

 

[cactustwirly]

A few times a year, I travel on an overnight coach from Glasgow to Birmingham (departing 11pm, arriving 6am).

I would really benefit from being able to get some sleep but I find it impossible. (Several reasons why - it's too noisy, too bumpy, not dark enough, I'm sat almost upright etc).

I notice everybody else - literally everybody else - gets at least some sleep on the journey.

I've also travelled overnight by plane from New York to Heathrow three times - and got no sleep whatsoever.

I'd like to know - does anybody else find it impossible to get any sleep at all when travelling overnight, or is it just me?

Is it not possible to get a cheap flight instead?

 

[J-2739]

Depends. I probably have to be really tired beforehand.

 

[37047]

I can't sleep unless it's dark, horizontal and silent. No hope on any form of transport. I just wouldn't consider that kind of coach journey.

This. I've got my first trip on the Caledonian Sleeper coming up soon (Euston - Inverness) and I am not anticipating much sleep as I'm in a seat rather than a berth.

 

[Monty]

Generally I have little issue sleeping on either a train or a car, but for some reason I cannot sleep on a plane whatsoever.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If I'm tired I will. A good pair of headphones (over ear not in ear) and Spotify helps. Though it won't ever be the same sort of sleep as in a bed. And it'll be an hour or two at a time.

I'd be booking myself on the morning Flybe for that journey, if I'm honest.

 

[nlogax]

I can nod off for up to thirty minutes on a Euston to Glasgow service if I've had an early start. Any more than that on a train and and it involves a long-distance sleeper (ie not in the UK), Tylenol PM and a small amount of whisky.

Planes..bloody hard work. I've been doing transatlantic flights frequently for over twenty years and in that time I only recall a single time where I managed to sleep for the duration. Best I can usually muster is an hour, maybe two. Eastbound overnight flights home are the worst, especially from the west coast.

 

[Jonny]

I tend not to be able to sleep on any form of mass/public transport. Quite frankly, an hour on an 18 hour flight is about the most I have managed.

 

[Bantamzen]

On the rare occasions I've travelled overnight, I find it far easier to sleep on planes than on buses (never overnighted on a train). I find a nice job of red, and some relaxing music will help me sleep reasonably well. However if I have my normal sleep pattern interrupted for an early morning journey, for example waking at 4am for a 7am flight & my sleep gets messed up for days.

But in all honesty these days the only time I would travel overnight would be on a long haul or charter flight where holidays are the end game. For pretty much anything else, I would book a hotel and try to travel in the daylight hours.

 

[xc170]

Done the seated sleeper from Euston to Glasgow a couple of times and each time only managed to get two hours at the most in.

I've also done the Birmingham to Glasgow overnight National Express coach a couple of years ago, interesting experience but not if you want any sleep, I got about 30 minutes at the most. Being able to get out at the services was welcome, I did this journey 3 times and each time we used different services, strangely... Tebay services are nice though, best I've stopped at.

 

[route101]

Done the seated sleeper from Euston to Glasgow a couple of times and each time only managed to get two hours at the most in.

I've also done the Birmingham to Glasgow overnight National Express coach a couple of years ago, interesting experience but not if you want any sleep, I got about 30 minutes at the most. Being able to get out at the services was welcome, I did this journey 3 times and each time we used different services, strangely... Tebay services are nice though, best I've stopped at.

Glasgow to Birmingham overnight stops at least twice , tebay and one on M6 . Goes onto Plymouth The coach market is about cheap cheap cheap , quite often dont consider the train ! Or students

 

[185143]

I'm firmly in the "cannot sleep on transport" group, unless copious amounts of alcohol are involved...

On my recent sleeper trip North, I boarded at Preston (after plenty of refreshment) and was asleep before Lancaster. Then again, it was 03:45 when I boarded-and had been awake since around 05:00 the day before! I slept until the shunt move at Carstairs curled up across 2 seats.

On the return from Inverness I was upgraded and, full of Haggis and alcohol, slept nicely from Blair Atholl all the way to Weedon. I don't recall the shunting at Edinburgh at all-despite a coach being removed due to a fault. Then again... I didn't even notice we'd changed direction until I went looking for the bog and saw outside the back of the train!

 

[JohnMcL7]

I can't really sleep at all on cars, trains or planes and envious of some of my siblings who can just seem to easily sleep even in normal seats. I did once make the mistake of taking a seated sleeper from Inverness to London and back which I sorely regretted, I'd made a similar mistake with a seat for the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry as well so I should have learnt my lesson.

 

[Antman]

I find a moderate amount of alcohol helps me sleep, not too much or I'd be back and forth to the loo all night. The only time I've had no problem going to sleep on a train was when I didn't intend to and subsequently missed my stop but that's another story.

 

[Esker-pades]

It depends how tired I am. If I've been awake since 4am, I will often sleep on the journey back at 8-9pm (this happens more than you think). But, I also find sleep very difficult when I can't sprawl over at least a couple of seats and a table. I cannot deal with road transport and avoid where possible.

 

[RJ]

I've also travelled overnight by plane from New York to Heathrow three times - and got no sleep whatsoever.

I'd like to know - does anybody else find it impossible to get any sleep at all when travelling overnight, or is it just me?

Try going upstairs in a 747 for that trip. After a session in the pre-flight supper room at JFK you will nod off fairly sharpish!

 

[tsr]

I have to be extremely tired to be able to sleep on public transport. Part of me is hard-wired to be alert on trains now, so I don't think I could ever rely on a night's sleep onboard a Sleeper service. I'd always make the most of what's available to help, without resorting to alcohol - attempting to make the cabin as dark as possible, going to bed at a reasonable hour, that sort of thing - but it's not easy!

Planes are just too noisy for me - I find the white noise, even on a quiet aircraft, to be a great disturbance, which is weird as many people find it helps when they go to sleep. (Music doesn't help and nor does wearing headphones.) Not to mention a trolley service, eg. someone trying to wake you for a meal.

 

[Bedpan]

I wonder how many people who sit motionless with their eyes closed are actually asleep. I've often had a shut eye and daydream on a train or plane when travelling at night, but it's very seldom that I'm actually 100% asleep.