Tara Singh
Your average long distance traveler carries a variety of accessories, including travel headphones. Depending on your style of travel you can choose between a variety of noise isolating formats. The author of this post flew with several types of headphones in 2024 and 2025 and in this post he outlines which formats work better for what type of travel, as well as the compromises one has to make.
Over-ear noise-cancelling: best on planes
As you’re guessing from the title, for long flights no other type of headphones will do as well as over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. On jet engines, above all other places, all models such as Bose’s QuietComfort 45/Ultra or Sony’s WH-1000XM5/6 as well as Apple’s AirPods Max (which I got for my wife for her birthday, incidentally) perform equally well in cancelling out jet engine noise in practice. For long flights they are by a long margin the best choice. In real life, on the other hand, their bulk in relation to your carry-on baggage is considerable. Because of their sheer size, in your day bag they also quickly become unwieldy. Only on really long flights in which you spend hours in the air it’s worth stowing them away in your luggage. On trips with many flights of only a few hours they are generally too bulky.
In-ear active noise cancelling: the travel compromise
But again, there are some very good active noise cancelling earbuds available today. They are really the ideal choice for most travel scenarios, such as traveling to hostels, to flights, to trains, and even to noisy cafes. As with any battery-powered item, battery life will typically last anywhere from 6 to 8 hours while in active noise cancelling mode. However, their re-chargeable charging cases will typically offer 3 to 4 full re-charges for the earbuds. Examples of such earbuds include the Sony WF-1000XM5, the Apple AirPods Pro 2, and the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds.
Wired backup matters more than people think
I bring a wired headphone in my bag as well. Often enough the battery on my in-ears runs out and then I use the wired option until I have charged my in-ears. This is especially important when traveling by air. Many airlines’ in-flight entertainment systems are only connected with wired headphones. Some systems are also connected with Bluetooth headphones but many aren’t. A pair of wired headphones (even a cheap one that weighs nothing) can save a flight when the wireless option runs out of battery.
When I am wrong about travel logistics, I am almost always wrong in a similar way. I have tried to outline my mistakes below.
What I actually carry
So for now I’m flying with the Sony WF-1000XM5 as my day-travel-noise-cancelling-sound-isolation-headphones. They are in their case for the majority of the day and I pop them out for flights, work, etc. Then when I’m on the road I have a few $15-$30-ish wired earbuds that fit in my bag, that I can pull out to plug into an airplane’s entertainment system (most are Bluetooth, but when they’re not I can use these to listen instead). The pattern here is that no over-ears for me.
When to upgrade or downgrade
Again, the advice I give for the selection of travel headphones would largely be based upon the type of traveler you are. I think most frequent long-haul fliers will find that they can get a lot of value out of over-ear NC headphones for their long-haul flights (and even connect for short flights) given the increased comfort compared to other options. A casual traveler may find that there is no need to splurge for NC travel headphones for almost all travel scenarios. Noise-tolerant travelers would likely get by with very inexpensive wired earbuds, but for those that think they might benefit from NC for some of their trips (but are not frequent travelers so don’t want to invest in a lot of products), there are plenty of very cost-effective NC options available on the market for travel that would likely bring a lot of value to the traveler. (Many travelers, however, don’t realize the cost-benefit for such occasional use).
Practical takeaways for your next trip
Before your trip read up on local rules and up to date local current events. That one search for recent news can save a lot of trouble on the road. Other than reading a guidebook talk to other travelers on the road rather than reading the bloggers’ top five for this and that. The best advice on traveling long-term comes from other travelers that you meet along the way. Many people find that the more they set up their routine for traveling, the better they can handle their time on the road. That means having a system for packing, having a single source to check for bookings and having a charger that can be used for all of your traveling devices. That simple set of items will save you a lot of time and make your travels a lot less stressful.
Closing perspective from years on the road
It should also be clear that these are general patterns, and that the best method for dealing with certain aspects of traveling will likely vary depending on the individual’s specific circumstances. The ideas laid out here have been drawn from many, many trips, but the real value of long-term traveling lies in building a “traveling practice” that suits the individual traveler’s style, and that they can develop and refine over time. Thus, the article should be read as a starting point, with a host of other sources, methods, and experiences to draw upon. Indeed, the best travelers are often “reading” and talking to other travelers, but are also “doing” and developing their own skills in a wide range of settings. As with any practice, the key to getting better is to continue, refining your methods along the way based on your own observations and growing sense of what works best for you. The rewards of traveling for extended periods of time are many, but perhaps the greatest is that which can be derived from each individual trip: a chance to grow, to learn, and to have experiences that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Sofia Almeida reviewed this for me, and I also have first-hand knowledge of how this works for me when I am traveling on similar trips.
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