I’ve Been Wearing Travel Pillows Wrong My Entire Life

If you’ve been keeping up with Lifehacker Australia’s latest antics, you’ll be aware that we’ve been exploring dumb life lessons that we should know already. From how to strain pasta correctly (you’re doing it wrong) to filling a goddamn ice tray (you’re also doing that wrong), we have uncovered that few of us learnt how to perform basic tasks correctly, and we’re doing a lot of unlearning together. Today, I’d like to chat about travel neck pillows. Because an insightful TikTok video has brought our attention to the fact that we are wearing those babies the wrong bloody way around.

Those of you who are familiar with the TikTok space may be aware of creator @sidneyraz. His whole vibe is creating videos of things he wishes he knew before he was in his 30s. And unsurprisingly, a lot of the lessons he uncovers are things that other people were also in the dark about.

Seeing as travel is back in a big way right now (hands up if you’re excited), we figured this educational piece on travel neck pillows was a relevant one to touch on. Here is the rundown from @sidneyraz.

How to wear a travel neck pillow correctly

Before anyone comes at us with the whole “how did you not know this?” jape, believe me, we already feel ridiculous here.

There are also 3.2 million people who have watched this video (so far) and some 136K people who have liked it at the time of writing. So, it’s pretty safe to say that a few of us have had our minds blown by the truth of how one should wear a travel neck pillow.

The simple reality of it is that you should place the open part of the travel pillow at the back of your neck. If you picture the travel pillow as a U-shape, the open part is what sits at the base of the back of your neck, not at the front like so many of us tend to do.

You can find the frustrating video below.

@sidneyraz

for road trips & planes #tiktoktaughtme #tiktokpartner #roadtrip #tipsandtricks #todayilearned #todayyearsold #inmy30s #traveltips #lifehacks

♬ original sound – sidneyraz

Shocked? Appalled? Unconvinced? How has this truth bomb about travel neck pillow use left you feeling? Let us know in the comments below, and look out for more dumb lessons we didn’t know we needed soon.

This article has been updated since its original publish date.