I Used To Dread Long-Haul Flights. Then I Found The Pillow That Finally Stopped My Head Dropping.

Note: After reading this you'll understand why most travel "sleep hacks" are a waste of money - and what actually worked for someone who flies 8+ times a year and always landed exhausted.

As Seen On

I'm not someone who complains. But after my third long-haul in two months - Glasgow to New York, a red-eye to LA, then back - I hit a wall.

Not the jet lag kind. The other kind. The kind where you land after 11 hours, your neck is stiff from your head dropping forward every ten minutes, you've jolted awake more times than you've actually slept, and you feel like you've spent the night at a party you didn't want to be at.

You know the routine. You drift off. Your neck muscles switch off. Your head drops, you snap awake, you sit back up. Repeat for six hours. I tried leaning on the window at one point. It lasted maybe twelve minutes before my head slid off the plastic and I woke up with a sore ear and a crick in my neck.

I Tried Everything

I had the neck pillow - the u-shaped foam one that everyone says works and that has never once worked for me. I had the inflatable one. I had a sleep mask that kept sliding up my face. I had melatonin. I had a cashmere scarf I'd bunch up against the window like some kind of tired burrito.

Nothing solved the actual problem, which was: the moment I fell asleep, nothing was holding my head up. And once it dropped, I was awake.

I resigned myself to just accepting that I was someone who couldn't sleep on planes.

The Comment That Changed My Flights

About four months ago, I posted a photo from a layover - captioned something miserable like "another red-eye, another zombie landing" - and someone I followed replied with three words: get the Trtl Travel Pillow.

I almost scrolled past it. It looked like a scarf. I had scarves. But she followed up with a DM:

"No, it has a support hidden inside it. It holds your head up so it physically can't drop. I slept 7 hours on my Sydney flight. Actual sleep."

I looked it up. The Trtl Travel Pillow. It didn't look like much at first glance - a soft fleece wrap in a handful of colours. But then I noticed it: the scarf isn't just a scarf. It's built around a flexible internal support that sits between your jaw and your shoulder and takes the weight of your head - not kind-of-takes it. Takes it.

It started as a mechanical engineering project at the University of Strathclyde. It's patented. Three million people have bought one. I read every review I could find. Then I ordered it.

Here's What Makes It Actually Different

Most "travel sleep solutions" cushion the problem instead of fixing it. A U-pillow pads the sides of your neck. A hoodie hides the light. A blanket keeps you warm. None of them do anything about the thing that actually wakes you up: your head dropping forward the second you relax.

• ✓Patented internal support that holds your head upright
• ✓Wraps like a scarf - nothing behind your neck pushing your head forward
• ✓Soft, breathable, hypoallergenic fleece - machine washable
• ✓133 g and folds to the size of a paperback

• ✕Not a bulky U-pillow that takes up half your carry-on
• ✕Not an inflatable that goes flat somewhere over the Atlantic
• ✕Not a scarf you bunch up and re-bunch every twenty minutes
• ✕Not another single-use travel accessory collecting dust in a drawer

My First Flight in It

I wore it on a night flight from Glasgow to Toronto. 7 hours and 40 minutes.

I wrapped it on about 40 minutes after takeoff, slid the support to the side I lean towards, and put on a rain sounds playlist. The seat was an aisle seat - no window to lean on, nothing to prop against. I didn't need it.

I woke up to the cabin lights coming on for breakfast. I had slept for almost 6 hours.

I sat there for a moment confused. I checked my phone. I checked the flight map. We were about 70 minutes from landing. My head was exactly where I'd left it.

I had slept through the snack service, the turbulence over Newfoundland, and apparently an announcement I will never know the contents of. I landed in Toronto feeling - and I don't say this lightly - like a person.

What Other Travelers Are Saying

One More Thing

If you're a light sleeper, pair it with a proper eye mask. The Trtl holds your head up; the mask deals with the guy in 32A and his screen on full brightness. Between the two, I've had exactly one bad flight since - and that was a 5am departure I had no business booking.