TRAVELRESTUltimate Inflatable Travel Neck & Body Pillow - Travel Essentials, Comfort and Upper Body Support, Airplane Neck Pillow for Long Flight, Straps to Airplane Seat & Car, for All Ages - Grey

I'm the type of person who falls asleep almost immediately on road trips. I have gotten used to lugging a pillow around with me everywhere so that I can also have a good nap when I travel. I've tried other travel pillows but have always been disappointed. The "Total Pillow" is very prone to breaking and leaking out the tiny white beads everywhere. The "Horseshoe Shaped" ones usually require that I sleep with my head tilted back on it - making it so I usually end up with my mouth wide open, which usually makes me snore, allows bugs full access to my stomach, great for people to punk me and drop weird stuff in there, etc. It's just horrible. It's not very comfortable, flattering, or sanitary. My head often drops forward and I wake up with a jolt too. I just hate it. Memory Foam pillows are more comfortable, but not very portable so that is out of the question. With as much stuff as I travel with, I really don't want to be lugging around a bulky pillow around too.So here is where the TravelRest pillow comes in.Pros: Very comfortable, easy to inflate and deflate, very portable, very easy to pack/carry - very compact when deflated. Very easy to adjust firmness and settle into. I lean into it and my head goes to the side in a very natural position - allowing for me to finally sleep without my mouth gaping wide open for the whole world to see. No more worrying about snoring and eating bugs while I sleep out in public. I can now sleep without worrying about my head falling over to the person next to me too and it gives me a nice separation too. I can use it like a border between me and strangers. It's actually long enough to lay across my lap and it sits on the armrests and becomes a little table too. Not a real hard table, obviously, but I can then rest a food tray or book on it - so it's very comfortable that way too.Cons: The seams are on the sides of the pillow, right on the inside where I'm resting my neck so it kind of annoys my neck right there. This is easily fixed by sliding my favorite super soft t-shirt over it as a sort of pillow case. I see that they sell a microfiber fleece cover for this pillow as well and that might be another option. That or a flannel pillow case...or just throw whatever overshirt/jacket you are carrying with you over it. Since there are options, I would consider this to be a very minor flaw - easily corrected.My favorite way of using this pillow is to wear it messenger-bag style. You loop the string onto itself so it becomes a strap and you throw that over one shoulder - like how you would wear a messenger bag - then you just hug/lean into the pillow. It's very comfortable and stays put. I really don't understand all the complaints about tying it to head rests and bothering other people's food trays/tvs, etc. I think that the messenger style of wearing it is the most comfortable and that elimates all those complaints easily. When I travel, I tend to be very mobile too and would be uncomfortable tethering my personal item to a seat. It's not like I'm setting up camp here...I'm just sitting here temporarily and I'll be on my way. It's nice to have those options - but if those options are not viable at that particular moment and you still have the option of just wearing the pillow. I don't see what the big deal is. I've also found that it's not like you HAVE to have your head tilted to the side all the time. The pillow has a "L-shape" to it so you can hook it behind your neck a little more and lean back into it. This was something I was worried about when I first saw the pictures in the reviews so I'm glad that I can still just lean back (in case I want to watch a movie or something). ...speaking of movies, I would seriously take this into a movie theatre with me. I always have a hard time getting comfortable in the theatre for the long movies and this thing is just so comfortable no matter where you're sitting to just blow it up and lean/hug into it. It's like a body pillow that you can take with you everywhere.In fact, if they offered up that option, I would sooo buy it in an instant. Possible improvements to this product: Another pillow that's larger, more huggable. To me, that would make it just that much more comfortable and since this is inflatable, it wouldn't be adding that much more bulk. It would still be very compact. Another thing I would like is a longer "L-shape". It might be nice if it wrapped around your neck more, giving you even more option of how you can use it. One last suggestion would be different options for pillow cases: different colors, different materials, something more soft and cuddly.Conclusion: I really like this travel pillow a lot. I am taking this with me everywhere: road trips, plane rides, movie theatre, etc... Anywhere where I can sit is where I can pull out this pillow and hug it, easing into a very comfortable position. It really takes the strain out of lower back/lumbar pain when you can lean over to the side a little. Takes the strain out of my neck/shoulders when I can rest my head over to the side. I would definitely recommend this pillow to anyone. There are some things that could be improved upon, yes...but it works well as it is and if they improved this product in the future, that would be just icing on the cake.

My wife and I bought two of these for plane travel based on the glowing reviews. The concept was pretty compelling, and I have to say that the pillow works almost as well as advertised.***UPDATE***This product deserves a minimum of 4 stars. My original review failed to take into account some additional ways to use the pillow effectively.First off, the excellent:1. The pillow is very easy to inflate, and only takes 3-4 puffs of air depending on your lungs. It is also very easy to deflate, rolls up, and takes up a minimum of space in your carry on bag.2. The pillow is comfortable enough for an inflatable. It is covered in a soft faux velvet that doesn't irritate the skin or cause discomfort due to pressure points. You can make it even more comfortable with a small cotton pillow or even by putting a cotton pillow case over it, if you prefer that.3. When it used properly it will support your head and neck very well and will allow you to sleep on an airplane, car, or even sitting in the airport lobby.4. The 'arm' of the pillow resting along your chest and mid section is very comfortable. I found it soothing since I tend to sleep holding a pillow anyway. Your mileage may vary on that one though.A Few Problems:The pillow can be hard to keep in one place if you use the rope to fasten it to the seat back. There are two bands that connect the pillow to your chair: the first is a loop that you can put around your belt, your seat belt, or even a belt loop. This connection works well and is fastened in place by a quality metal snap. However, the top is held in place by a nylon piece of rope that you can adjust with a plastic thump clasp. It is intended to go around the backside of your seat and then tighten down to hold the pillow in place. This can work pretty poorly on certain airplanes because A. the seat backs in are sometimes slick, B. the nylon rope doesn't have any traction to it (although this is intentional because it allows the thumb clasp to move easily), and C. The top of some airplane seats are angled and as time passes the rope works itself free. My experience was that it was very hard to make the cushion stay in place for more than an hour at a time, and it required readjustment frequently. This may frustrate the person sitting next to you, or the person behind you who you keep turning around and looking at while you make adjustments!***UPDATE***After receiving some additional information from the makers of the TravelRest pillow, I've learned that there is an alternative (and far superior in my opinion) way to use the pillow that involves wearing it like a messenger bag by connecting the pillow strap to the bottom strap. This forms a loop you can put around your body and which keeps the pillow much more stationary. Using the pillow in this fashion is easier and more secure. I'd recommend using the pillow this way virtually all of the time.2. The pillow only gives you support on one side at a time, unlike traditional neck pillows. If you shift while sleeping, you will find yourself with a massive neck cramp.***UPDATE***However, you can easily shift the pillow from one side to the other if you're 'wearing it' messenger style. This alleviates that problem pretty satisfactorily.Advice and Observations:1. Don't over-inflate the pillow. It is actually more comfortable at about 80-90% capacity.2. It is easy to let air out once the pillow is in place, but it is much harder to add air because the access point is on the bottom of the pillow. Go for a little over full and then let air out as necessary.Conclusions:This is pretty solid invention for sleeping on a plane. In my estimation, it is superior to a traditional neck pillow, but has its share of advantages and disadvantages. I'd recommend it if you prefer strong directional support to softer universal neck support provided by a traditional neck pillow, and if you like the comfort of having a pillow 'hugging' you as you sleep. This pillow also works really well in the car, and if you've got kids who have a hard time sleeping on road trips, these are probably a must buy.***UPDATE***I'd like to thank TravelRest for their customer service. This company went out of their way to assist with my pillow by providing additional information on how to use the pillow effectively. They have produced a short video on using the pillow that I have put a link to in the comments section. It is pretty PR-ish, but does show the various ways to use the pillow. I'd also like to say that TravelRest in no way bartered for any changes to this review. They were straight shooters who wanted to make sure I understood their product and was using it properly. I've got no problem recommending them to anyone. It's actually pretty amazing when a company goes above and beyond to provide solid customer service as they did for me.