I have tried many sleep masks to help me sleep when I travel: silk sleep masks, cloudlike sleep masks, sleep masks filled with hand-picked French lavender. They squashed my eyelashes and made me feel claustrophobic. One after the other, I tossed them aside. I’ve never been a noise-canceling headphones person, either; call me paranoid, but I just can’t make peace with missing an essential announcement or some other life-saving sensory cue. So I often find myself eavesdropping on conversations (sometimes in languages I don’t even speak) or staring listlessly out of windows, toggling between ambient music and white-noise apps, while all around me people drift pleasantly into dreamland.
This summer, I became acquainted with a sleep mask so soothing and so effective that I have since become an evangelist. My mom, a “black-belt level” shopper, as she likes to quip, had actually gifted me this sleep mask, called a Nodpod, years prior. Being the nonbeliever I was, I let it sit unopened in the deep recesses of a closet. But while packing for my last international trip, I stumbled upon it and decided to give it a whirl that night.
Usually, it takes me a solid 30 to drift off, but this time, within just a couple of minutes, I was out. The effect of the Nodpod is less like being backed into a corner of sleep and more like a gentle, barely perceptible nudge. Whereas most masks focus on light-blocking, the Nodpod wields the same no-but-seriously-how-does-this-work? anxiety-soothing properties of full-size weighted blankets. This makes it doubly effective, since sleep is often more than just a question of whether a room is dark or bright.
The Nodpod itself is a cute caterpillar of a thing: plush, with four little segments each filled with beads. One side is cotton, the other a cozier microfleece. It weighs 9 ounces, apparently just the right amount for a mini weighted blanket for your eyes. Depending on if you’re a side sleeper, a back sleeper, or just trying to get 15 minutes of vertical shut-eye while sitting awkwardly on a train, you can either loosely drape it over your face, or utilize a closure to fasten it in place. No velcro or elastic means extra comfort and no hair creases. You can even pop it in the freezer, which for a headache girl like me, is a revelation. It’s smaller and infinitely more low profile than a travel pillow and feels much more prudent than relying on noise-canceling headphones (or CBD) to find a little peace and quiet in public spaces.
I brought my Nodpod with me on my trip, and every night — and on many planes and trains in between — it worked its soft magic. With my Nodpod draped over my eyes, I spiral less in my own mind and feel less compelled to listen to strangers’ conversations. Sleep somehow feels extra luxurious. Back home, it has claimed its rightful place on my bedside table for whenever I need a little nudge to get to sleep.
Some other things we think might help you sleep better while traveling
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