Flight attendants on long haul flights are fairly insistent that you keep your window shades pulled down for most of the flight because “passengers don’t like the bright light”. Half the fun in flying for me is looking out the window to see what I can see on the ground and in the sky.
Crossing the international dateline is something I’ll never be too sophisticated to enjoy! Such fun. It’s the only time reference that gives you any idea where you are in time and space in that long landless trip.
The photo above is sunrise out my window on my way home from LAX to SYD, May 2024.