A Packing Mistake for a Long

I felt an instant pang of regret on my most recent Target shopping spree.

As I wandered through rows of dish detergent, paper products, and kitchen supplies, I cut through the travel accessories aisle.

Among the suitcases, packing cubes, and power adapters were seven different neck pillows neatly lined up. It instantly made me think of my travel pillow sitting in a donation pile back at my house.

Earlier this year, I wasted money on one that didn't fit my body, and after seeing the options in Target, I realized I should've gone shopping in person instead.

About a week leading up to a 12-hour flight from Colorado to Tokyo, Japan, I realized I was lacking a flight essential: a travel pillow.

While I had flown long distances before, I had never packed a travel pillow. Prior to Japan, I had been pampered in business class with lie-flat seats where a neck pillow was useless.

But for two 12-hour flights in economy, I knew I needed every bit of comfort I could get. So, I scoured online reviews of travel pillows and hopped on Amazon.

Ultimately, my budget got the best of me, and I bought the affordable Napfun pillow for traveling for $14. While cheap, it had more than 10,000 reviews and a 4.4-star rating.

A day later, it arrived in the mail. Since it had so many positive reviews and I had more important tasks to prioritize, I didn't think twice about it not working for my body shape. Instead, I stuffed it into my backpack without ever trying it on.

Fast-forward to my long-haul flight — meal service was wrapping up and I finally unrolled my travel pillow. I was eager to get sleep, and I hoped having a comfortable neck pillow would aid that process.

I was wrong. Either the pillow wasn't big enough or my neck was too long. No matter which way I turned my head, I couldn't comfortably rest it on the pillow.

The result was a giant gap between my head and the pillow, essentially deeming it useless.

I was annoyed that I had thrown away $15, wasted luggage space, and wasn't going to get much sleep on the long-haul flight.

By the time I was home from the trip, I had missed the return window for the pillow. I tried to pawn it off on friends, but unfortunately, they already had travel pillows, so mine ended up in a Goodwill pile.

My travel mistake was a reminder that buying things online isn't always the smartest. For my next long-haul flight, I'll be heading to Target.