How do you occupy yourself on the flights.....

[Jordanblackpool]

Hi guys, this is my first post ive started, and just wanted to see what weird and wonderful things people do on that long 9 hour flight to keep them selfs occupied?

I always find this interesting because no matter what I do on planes I just cant sleep and if I watch them tiny tellies for too long I get a blazing headache, so what I usually do is put the I Pod on and buy a book at the airport before hand and pray that its as interesting as the cover looks!

My grandma always seperates the flights up into stages...the take off, the first drink, meal, drink, snack, decent and landing...ive tried doing this but it never makes it go any quicker!

So what about you guys? Anything weird or wonderful I could steal?

 

[Judy in Texas]

Hi guys, this is my first post ive started, and just wanted to see what weird and wonderful things people do on that long 9 hour flight to keep them selfs occupied?

I always find this interesting because no matter what I do on planes I just cant sleep and if I watch them tiny tellies for too long I get a blazing headache, so what I usually do is put the I Pod on and buy a book at the airport before hand and pray that its as interesting as the cover looks!

My grandma always seperates the flights up into stages...the take off, the first drink, meal, drink, snack, decent and landing...ive tried doing this but it never makes it go any quicker!

So what about you guys? Anything weird or wonderful I could steal?

Tell your Grandma I don't agree with her! I don't want to take off and land more times than necessary. I get a book ahead of time that I know I will enjoy and take it with me. I'm not going to chance getting a ramdom book at the airport that may be horrible.

 

[bavaria]

I fly about 150,000-200,000 miles/year, and that doesn't include the time on trains. Most of that is long haul flights ie 9-14 hours at a stretch. My suggestions

• sleep! that is more difficult flying westbound but try and sleep, and get yourself onto the 'new' time zone schedule as early as possible. But do not try out new drugs for the first time on the plane, and avoid ones that can have a bad reaction like Ambien (I don't recommend them at all, but if one must, then I suggest the above). Bring a light pashmina or blanket as usually in economy cabins there are not enough. Bring an eyeshade, and consider noise reduction headphones for the iPod - they can be found quite cheaply now. You can download 'sleep sounds' like waves, etc from iTunes for free
• avoid heavy food for 2-3 days before and during the flight, drink lots of water, avoid sweet and caffeine drinks. That will help with jetlag and adjusting to the time
• consider an audiobook for your iPod; your eyes will get tired and you already find you get headaches. I am currently making my way through the Arkangel complete set of Shakespeare plays. I was not a fan of audiobooks but found that so many are poorly recorded, or the plays have no background noise, so I researched and listened to samples to find a series that I like.
• you may want to bring two books - different types, ie light fiction and non fiction, or two different books to your taste, as sometimes the light fiction may be boring after awhile, and the heavy non-fiction too much after awhile
• do you like mental challenges ie puzzles, etc? they can be in a book, or on an electronic device, or in your head
• sometimes having quiet time and alone time is enough for me, and I just rely on my brain to entertain myself. The flight is an established downtime from work so I don't have to be forced to think of anything in particular
• use the time for paperwork; if you have a Christmas card list to address, for instance. Or use the time to clean up your photos on your laptop (if you have one with you)

those are just a few thoughts - happy flying!

 

[craigs bride]

i take my children they occupy my 8 1/2 hrs flight time