As much as I love traveling, I don’t love being on a plane for an extensive period of time (although I admit I actually look forward to the meals) and hope that I can pass the time on a long flight by just sleeping it off. But it doesn’t always work that way! For those of you who are going to take a long-haul flight and are not looking forward to an uncomfortable and confined space for hours on end, here are 18 ways you can distract yourself and help pass the time on a long flight a little faster and hopefully get to your travel destination sooner than you expected.
1 – Watch The Airplane Map / Track Your Flight
Okay – this one is a bit of a joke but it’s also true at the same time. Yes, I’m actually one of those people who love looking at my flight route during my ride…while I also look at everyone else’s screens around me to see what they’re watching. I’m not sure why I do this, but it seems that people have also been sharing on Instagram lately that they do the same thing. I think for me, I like seeing the progress and what places we’re flying over to get to my destination. Of course, I’m also doing a few other things throughout the plane ride – and I think that’s the key: to do many different things to keep ourselves entertained in a small space for a long time.
2 – Get Some Rest And Fall Sleep
My favorite way to pass the time on a long flight is if I can be unconscious for the majority of the flight! Although I admit I’m usually only half asleep, at least I know I’m getting some much-needed rest as once I land at my destination, I’m going to be busy from morning until night every single day. And I need to get in as much downtime as I can for my body and mind to recover since long-haul flights essentially land you in a time zone that’s opposite of what you’re used to. And rest is very important while you’re traveling as you also need to keep up your health and good sleep is one of the best ways to do that.
3 – Read A Book Or Two
If you’re a book lover, bringing a couple of books (depending on how fast you read and keeping in mind the weight) or an eReader is a great way to pass the time on a long-haul flight. For me, I prefer reading over watching movies since I can picture it all in my mind and I like to run wild with my own imagination. When I used to go to the library, I would borrow 30 books at a time and read up to 3 books a day. Being on a long plane ride would give me the opportunity to do just that since I never want to put a book down once I get my hands on one. If you’re anything like that, reading would be a perfect option for you.
4 – Have A Movie Marathon
One of the most common ways for people to pass the time on a flight is to watch a movie – or several. Whether you entertain yourself on the mini-TV in front of your seat or you pre-download them to your tablet or phone, it’s a sure way to keep you entertained for hours on end. And then you’ll be just in time for your meal or even a nap!
5 – Work
A common thing I also see people doing on their flights, whether long or short, is to work. I mean, I don’t condone working out of your work hours if you’re not working for yourself, but it is a great time to be productive and get things done as there is not much else to do if you don’t want to “waste” your time just watching movies. I also find that it is a good environment to really be able to focus and you can actually accomplish a lot during this time so you don’t have to work (or as hard) during your trip.
6 – Listen To Music
When I’m on a long flight, I like to use it to listen to some of my favorite or new music on repeat while learning the language and usually, that’s Spanish for me. And although I’ve taken Mandarin classes when I was a child from kindergarten to grade 8, I learned more than I’ve ever had by listening to Chinese music and learning on my own. I’ve loved music my whole life and singing and songwriting has always been a hobby of mine as well as learning a new language so this is great for me. Plus, I don’t need to annoy my husband by putting the same song on repeat that he’s forced to listen to although he tells me he doesn’t mind. If you’re a music lover like me and just want to simply listen to music, this is a great time to get some undistracted listening time in throughout your plane ride and I can do this while doing anything including sleeping since my headphones are noise-cancelling.
I’ve used the Dr. Dre Beats headphones since they first came out in 2010 and they’re still in perfect condition so I don’t feel that I need to purchase something new. I have the original Solo headphones, but now they have the Solo 3 Wireless. I prefer them over the Studios since they are smaller and fit me better. I also got the Beats Tour In-Ear Headphones which had broken after several years of use as well as the Urbeats Wired Earbuds which are still in perfect condition and I use them as a backup for my Apple earphones. As you can probably tell by now, I don’t like waste and just purchase new items for the sake of it, but I like to use them until their death before buying something new. Of course, keeping in mind I like to have at least a backup or two and I always get them for a huge discount because why pay full price when you don’t have to?
Because my headphones and earbuds are both wired, I also got myself a pair of the Raycon True Wireless Earbuds when I was buying them for my husband since his earphones broke. I love that they look so sleek and stylish and fit my ears very well (even with a tragus piercing) so I don’t have any issue with them falling out accidentally.
7 – Plan Other Details Of Your Trip
If you’re on a long-haul flight and haven’t completely finished planning the details of your trip, this might be a great time to do so given the amount of time you have. And providing that you have all the information you need of course unless you’re planning to purchase Wi-Fi on board. Before you land at your travel destination, it might be a good idea to look over all of your hotel, transportation, and even excursion information to make sure you’re fully prepared and aware of what is involved. If you have already done your research ahead of time and just need to put everything together, you can also plan out your daily itinerary of where to go and what to do. Even a general idea might be helpful so that you can make the most out of your time once you land.
8 – Practice The Language Of The Destination You’re Visiting
Another great way to prepare you for landing at your travel destination as well as passing the time on a long flight is to practice the most commonly used phrases of the country’s language that you’re visiting. Usually, long-haul flights mean that you are entering a country where the culture may be completely different or new to you and that includes the language. It would be useful as well as respectful in a way, to learn a bit of the language that the locals speak. It will not only help you get around, but the locals will appreciate that you’re trying. Also, it’s just great to learn something new in general!
9 – Work On Your Hobby
Whatever your hobby may be, this is the perfect time to dedicate on your craft. Whether it’s knitting, drawing, or just having fun filling out your coloring book, you have hours of being able to do this without interruption or other responsibilities. And, the more time you can spend on your hobby, the better you get at it! We don’t always have free time to do what we like so this is the time to take advantage.
10 – Get To Know Your Neighbor
If you’re a very social or extroverted person and you’re sitting next to someone who is the same, long flights give you a good excuse as well as more time to be able to get to know your neighbor and chat away. Of course, remember to also be mindful of their time so that they can also do what they like and be able to have their meal or take a nap when needed. But if you like socializing, this is your opportunity to get to know someone new. And sometimes, their story can be very entertaining or you may even make a new connection or friendship.
11 – Edit Your Photos/Videos
This point might be better suited for photographers and content creators, but working on editing your photos and videos is the perfect way to pass the time on a long flight. For those who know, editing this type of content can take hours on end and an extreme amount of effort and preciseness. Even prior to me starting my blog, I’ve always loved taking photos of everything and editing them to my liking and sharing them on my personal Instagram for my own memory’s sake. After traveling, road trips, or a day’s excursion, I can end up with thousands of photos and videos. Organizing them and editing them could take days. For example, ever since I started my blog, I’ve been even more keen on really finding the right photos and videos and deciding which are best to be used as well as different ways to edit photos. After a trip, it usually takes me 3 to 5 days alone just to edit photos which really delays my working on anything else. Lately, when I’ve been traveling, I really try to take advantage of the time I’m on the plane to work on my ideas as well as edit my photos or videos as soon as I create them so I don’t fall behind too much.
12 – Get Some Exercise In
Something you should absolutely do when you’re on a long flight is to get up once in a while and walk the aisles to stretch your legs and get the blood flowing. We aren’t made to sit for long periods of time although a lot of our work these days requires us to. Make sure to move if you can – there is usually more room towards the back of the plane and you’re not always required to go back to your seat right away after using the restroom. This also leads me to my next point!
13 – Chat With The Flight Attendants
As you may need to get up and stretch once in a while, you may not go back to your seat right away and that’s okay. Sometimes you’ll even be where the flight attendants are and they don’t mind having a chat with passengers once in a while. I remember when I was on a flight to South Korea and a flight attendant was kind enough to let me stay in the back for a while since I really needed to stretch my legs and we started chatting. She told me all about her crazy experiences with how she had Snoop Dogg on her flight once and he asked her for chocolate since he had the munchies, and a time when an organ trafficker was on her flight and was bragging to his neighbors about what he was doing. Needless to say, the flight attendants got involved and the authorities were ready to arrest him as soon as the plane landed. Flight attendants have traveled so much and dealt with so many different people and some really like to talk about it, and it’s actually quite entertaining to learn about what they do.
14 – Play Games
Although you won’t be able to have a full-out gaming system to bring with you on your flight, mobile, tablet and Nintendo Switch games are quite addicting and can definitely help you pass the time on a long flight. This is probably the one time where you won’t be asked to stop gaming too! Whether they’re digital or even puzzles or card games – take advantage and have fun all you want. Because once you land, you’ll want to focus all of your attention on having fun at your destination.
15 – Don’t Look At The Time
One of the hardest things to do on a long flight is to not look at the time! But I advise not looking at the time, or looking at it less often as it will really help time fly by. The more you look at the time, the slower it feels and will just make it more of an excruciating time on your flight. Distract yourself with different things (and I hope this list helps!) and occasionally look at the time if you really need to. No need to torture yourself by constantly checking if you’re that much closer to your travel destination because you’re probably not!
16 – Prepare Your Body So You Don’t Get Jetlag
A productive way that you can add to passing the time on a long flight is to prepare your body so you don’t get jetlag. Whether you’re taking melatonin to help fall asleep quicker or drinking coffee to stay awake during certain times of your flight because of the time change, these little efforts will help your body start to get accustomed to the different time zones that you may encounter. As you’re on the plane, start to slowly help your body adjust to your destination’s time zone so that you can avoid jetlag because sometimes it can get really exhausting and annoying. I’d never had jetlag until I visited the Philippines in 2019 and wow, I felt like I was in a different dimension for 4 days. As I’m preparing for my upcoming trip to Japan in a couple of days, I tried the free trial of the Timeshifter App to help with jetlag and will see if this helps prevent me from getting jetlag this time around!
17 – Journal, Write, Plan
If you like to write your thoughts down and have a lot of ideas going on, journaling, writing, and planning out the thing you’d like to do and achieve is a great way to make use of your time while on a long flight. On my recent trip to Mexico, there was a man in my row who was journaling the entire time on our 4-hour plane ride. It’s the first time on a flight that I’ve seen someone so dedicated to writing and it looked like it was exactly what he needed to do and he really benefited from that time on the plane. What I also like to do occasionally on my plane ride is to write out all my plans and create lists of things I need to get done or goals I want to achieve so I don’t forget the important things after I come back from my trip. It’s also a great time for content creators as well to plan out the specifics of what they need to create on their trip if they haven’t done so or to just touch things up.
18 – Meditate
Long plane rides also give you the time to relax, not worry about life or work for a certain period of time, and to wind down and do absolutely nothing. Meditating is a good way to relax your body and mind, help you sleep faster, as well as lessen the anxiety that you may have with traveling or flying on planes. Being able to give yourself the peace you need and to reflect and ruminate on things that matter to you and to calm yourself down can really help you feel better overall and be a little more conscious as well.
There are many ways to pass the time on a long flight and conditional on what matters to you or what your interests are, you can try different things to help you feel like you can get to your destination faster without focusing on the discomfort of flying on a small space for an extended period of time.
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