Summary: Seven things a stranger told me on a flight to Tokyo that changed how I travel. I was 58 and I'd already started booking shorter trips.
1

Same Seat, Same Flight, Different Landing

Passenger shifting in an economy seat on a long flight

She was twenty years older than me, and she sat there reading the whole way, completely still. I was shifting side to side, gripping the armrest, getting up and sitting back down.

When we landed I had to hold the seat in front to stand up. She got her bag down and walked straight past me.

That ruled out the two things I'd always blamed. It wasn't the length of the flight, and it wasn't my age. So I asked her what she knew that I didn't.

2

It's Not You, It's the Seat

Two passengers talking on a long haul flight

I told her I was 58 and it was probably me. She said she thought exactly the same thing for years.

Every flight a bit worse, blaming her age, booking shorter and shorter trips, until someone finally explained it to her.

"I thought it was my age for ten years. It was never my age. It was the seat, and nobody is ever going to tell you that."
3

Airlines Took the Padding Out

Thin modern economy seat with the padding stripped out

That was the first half. Economy seats used to have proper cushioning.

Airlines stripped most of it out to save weight and to make the upgrade look worth four thousand dollars.

4

And Your Own Padding Thinned At the Same Time

Illustration of natural cushioning thinning with age

That was the second half, and it's the part I'd never heard anywhere. The natural cushioning on your backside gets thinner as you get older.

Less padding on you, sitting on less padding under you. She said it like it was obvious. Nobody had ever said it to me in my life.

5

Which Is Why Nothing I'd Tried Had Worked

Traveller standing in the aisle to relieve back pain

I'd done the aisle seat so I could get up. The laps of the cabin. The ibuprofen before boarding. None of it spreads the weight out, so none of it fixed anything. Every one of these treats the symptom:

  • The aisle seat so you can get up
  • Laps of the cabin every hour
  • Ibuprofen before boarding
  • A rolled up jumper under you
  • A memory foam cushion
  • A drink to take the edge off
  • Shorter trips to shorter places
  • Blaming your age and getting on with it
6

Then She Showed Me What She Was Sitting On

Cushy Bum air cell cushion on an economy seat

A Cushy Bum. Sealed air cells that spread your weight across the whole seat instead of letting it press into the thinnest part of you. Air doesn't compress the way foam does, so it holds up for the whole flight, and there's a pump built in so you set the firmness yourself.

She said she hadn't flown without it in three years.

7

I Ordered One Before I Left the Airport

Cushy Bum travel cushion packed in a carry on bag

Used it on the flight home. Fourteen hours, no pain at all, I actually slept, and instead of wasting two days recovering I was exploring from the moment I arrived.

I'm 58 and I've stopped booking around the flight.

Business class upgrade $3,000+
Medical seat cushion (that stays home) $400
Single physio session after a bad flight $150
Cushy Bum — works on every flight, forever Under $100