Long flights are the worst! You can’t stretch your legs, you can’t fall asleep without accidently head-butting a stranger, and you can’t play games on your phone without completely draining your battery. So, what else is there to do? Well, your long flight definitely shouldn’t be used to fill out your ESTA application and thinking of other arrangements that you would have made earlier. Most of the important stuff should be done weeks before you go on vacation, so that you are left with nothing but free time. But, there are some things that you can do. If you’re stuck on a long flight and are stuck for entertainment, here are some ways for you to pass the time in-flight:
Start the first page in your travel diary
Keeping a travel diary is a great and unique way to immortalise your travel memories. Surely you’ve got some interesting thoughts that deserve to be written down. Document all of the things that interest you and accompany them with doodles and a few pictures on your phone. If you keep this up for the rest of your trip, you’re going to go home with one incredible collection of memories.
Learn the language
It’s always useful to know at least a little bit of the language when you go abroad. How else are you supposed to tell the Spanish bartender that you don’t like ice in your Sangria? Get yourself a phrase book or a couple of language learning apps and get to grips with the basics. How about you at least learn how to say please and thank you with a proper accent? Manners will take you a long way and it’s common knowledge that at least trying to speak the language will earn you a lot more respect from the locals than being awkwardly silent.
Get some useful apps
If your airline is alright with you using the internet, a great way to make the most of a long flight is to scour the app store for useful apps to ease your travels. Apps like WeatherPro, XE Currency, Packing Pro and TravelSafe can all be downloaded in seconds and thy can help you stay safe and organised while you’re abroad. Plus, if you forgot to bring a book to read, you can download the Kindle app and read some e-books on your phone to get you through the flight.
Podcasts and audio books
Inflight movies are never particularly great. Unless you paid for a first class seat, chances are your film choices are pretty abysmal. So, rather than watching a movie, you should sit back, put your headphones in, and listen to a great audio book or start listening to a cool podcast series. Downloading them is cheap (cheaper than buying those airplane headphones, at least) and you can take it off the plane with you. You can listen to them all the way to your hotel and they’re great to listen to on the beach when you’re sunbathing.
Make a vacation bucket list
To avoid any regrets when it’s time to go home, use your long flight to write a vacation bucket list and plan out everything you want to do and see. Write down all of the foods you want to try, the things you want to buy, the places you want to explore. This will make planning your days a lot easier and you won’t have to worry about heading home without doing all of the things you wanted to do.
Article Submitted By Community Writer