The Neck Pillow That Saved My Flight to Europe

I have a confession to make. For the first twenty years of my teaching career, I told my geography students that the best way to see the world was to get on a plane and go. What I did not tell them was that I was terrified of flying, and that every long flight left me stiff, cranky, and unable to sleep. I retired three years ago, and since then I have flown five or six times a year out of Denver International, mostly to Europe. I have tried every neck pillow the airport shops sell, and I have the sore neck to show for it. So when I tell you that the napfun memory foam travel pillow changed how I feel about overnight flights, I mean it in the most practical way possible.

Last spring, my husband Mark and I booked a red-eye to Frankfurt. Mark, a retired electrician who packs too little and sleeps anywhere, fell asleep before the plane left the gate. I, on the other hand, spent the first hour trying to get comfortable with the little inflatable pillow I had brought, the one that kept sliding forward and leaving my head hanging at a weird angle. Somewhere over the Atlantic, I gave up, reached into my carry-on, and pulled out the napfun pillow I had bought on a whim the week before. I woke up somewhere over the Alps, with my neck actually still attached to my shoulders.

That is not a small thing for me. I have a bad left knee, so I already think about comfort on every trip. But a bad neck on a ten-hour flight is worse, because it follows you through customs, onto the train, and into your first day of sightseeing. The napfun pillow is the first one I have used that stays where I put it. The memory foam wraps around the sides of my neck instead of just propping my chin up, and the adjustable clasp means I can wear it snug when I want to sleep and looser when I am just reading.

I know what you are thinking. Another travel pillow, another product that promises the world and delivers a lump of foam. I thought the same thing. But after that Frankfurt flight, I started paying attention to what made this one different, and I have now used it on five more flights, including a fourteen-hour trip to Bangkok. It has held up, it has not gone flat, and it has not ended up shoved under the seat in front of me. That is more than I can say for any of the inflatable ones I used before.

I woke up somewhere over the Alps with my neck still attached to my shoulders. That has never happened to me on a red-eye before.

The thing that surprised me most is the shape. I have always assumed neck pillows were basically tubes of foam, and some of them are. The napfun pillow is shaped more like a horseshoe with a thicker section in the back, so it cradles the back of your neck while the sides come up high enough to catch your head when you drift sideways. That sideways drift was always my problem. I would fall asleep, my head would roll toward the window or the aisle, and I would jerk awake with a sore neck. With this pillow, my head has somewhere to land.

Mark, who never complains about anything, actually asked to borrow it on the way home from Frankfurt. He fell asleep with his mouth open, which I mention only because it proves the pillow was doing its job. He has since bought his own, which for a man who packs too little and refuses to buy anything he does not need is the highest compliment I can offer.

I will also tell you what is not perfect. The napfun pillow takes up more room in a carry-on than an inflatable one, and it is not something you want to carry around an airport once you are through security. I usually clip it to the outside of my backpack or just wear it around my neck while I walk to the gate. It also runs a little warm, which is fine on a cold airplane but not ideal if you run hot. And the memory foam has a slight smell when you first unpack it, though it faded within a day. None of those things have stopped me from packing it on every trip since.

I have also learned a few things about how to use it. I wear it with the thicker part at the back of my neck, not under my chin, and I tighten the clasp just enough that it stays put without pressing on my throat. I also lean my seat back a little and tuck a small scarf between the pillow and my shoulder for extra cushioning. On the Bangkok flight, I slept for almost six hours straight, which for me is practically a full night's sleep.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you were sitting at my kitchen table in Denver, drinking coffee and telling me you have a long flight coming up, here is what I would say. Buy the pillow before the flight, not at the airport. The airport ones are overpriced and usually inflatable, and you will be back to shoving a rolled-up sweater behind your neck by hour two. The napfun pillow is not magic, and I am not going to tell you it will make a fourteen-hour flight feel like a nap. But it will do something better: it will keep your neck from being the reason you are miserable when you land.

I am a retired geography teacher, which means I have spent my whole life telling people to go see the world. I would hate for anyone to skip a trip because they are dreading the flight. The napfun pillow is a small, practical thing that makes the flight part of the trip feel manageable. I have used mine on six flights now, and I plan to use it on many more. If you fly as much as I do, or even if you just have one long flight coming up, it is worth a look.