7 Ways to Kill Time on a Long Flight
Long flights can be painful. Why not be
prepared and make the most out of it?
First thing first, get prepared before the
flight. Get your healthy snacks, moisturizer and videos download ready. For
steady internet to download all the movies and podcasts on your devices, make
sure you book your WiFi router ahead.
For healthy snacks on the flight: Banana (rich
in potassium and fiber), nuts (great source of fiber and protein), raw bar
(tasty and fills you up), kale chips (packed with antioxidants), dark chocolate
(helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol). Make sure you stay hydrated
during the flight as well. Most importantly, try to move and stretch your body as
much as you can to avoid deep vein thrombosis.
With killing time, you can either go for
entertaining yourself (like watch movies, play games), gaining knowledge
(podcast, learn new language, read) or take the advantage of being alone to
reflect yourself. Here are 7 ways to kill time on a long flight.
Edit
Photos and Manage Posts
Since we all judge other people base on their
Facebook and Instagram, why not design a little on your online profile? Although
social media is usually said to be harmful to mental health, it serves its
purpose when it comes to building relationships, interacting with old friends
and such. By sharing what you’re interested in, your life or your expertise,
you let yourself to be seen and get connected either personally or
professionally.
Long flight free time is perfect for edit photos
and make your Instagram feed nice and cohesive. Give more thoughts on what you
put out on the internet and how to present yourself can help you get more opportunities
to connect with like-minded people.
Sleep
and Beautify
To fall asleep anywhere fast is a true
talent. And fall asleep in the right time is very important when you’re
entering a different time zone. Skipping snacks, heavy meals, caffeine and
alcohol helps. If you have trouble falling asleep, you can try visualizing a
relaxing scene like beaches or mountains.
Airplane dries up your skin up because the air
draws moisture from wherever it can and the air at 30,000 feet is very cold and
cannot hold much moisture. There are more and more people put on beauty masks
when flying. You can do so if you don’t mind the occasionally stare. Essential
oil and moisturizing balm are great for moisturizing the skin in this occasion
as well. Blot your face if you’re an oily type because skin would produce more
oil to combat the dryness.
Learn
the Language
In flight is actually the perfect time for
language learning. Because most likely you’re offline with no distractions.
Plus, be able to speak a little bit of the local language is super amazing.
There are more in-flight language lessons available
in the air now. If your airline doesn’t provide one, you can always download
some “10 most frequent used sentences” on YouTube to listen to during the
flight. Apps make learning languages feel like a game, BUSUU and BABBLE are our
recommendations and they also provide offline version. To kill the time, practice
drawing foreign characters can be fun as well. Doing children’s alphabet
writing book looks less cringey than adult coloring book.
People
Watching
There’s an exercise that drama students do
- people observation. You put down what’s the person wearing, what’s the person
doing, draw the person, guess what does the person do and what his or her
personality is like. It’s great for passing time as well, especially if you’re
with someone who has great imagination and sense of humor. You can make up
stories about people and the possibilities are endless.
If you don’t have a good angle to watch
people, watch flight attendants! Rule out American airlines, air hostess is
probably the best part of long flights!
Meditate
and Control Your Mind
Meditation has become more common than ever
in the west. It’s highly recommended especially if you’re a nervous flyer. It
calms your nerves down, and with scientific proof, your heart rate goes lower
when meditating compares to sleeping. If you’re not familiar with meditate, simply
focus on the present moment to start with.
Have you ever wondered “who’s thinking your
thoughts?”? Mind is truly a tricky myth. Often times, when sitting through a
long flight, a lot of the unnecessary voices would come up. Learn to replace
your inner negative voice with conscious, structure talk is one of the most
important things we need to acquire.
Talk
to People
Wonderful conversations make the best part
of travels. If you’re in the mood of getting social and the person who sits
next to you doesn’t give you that “not interested in talking” signal, then
approach away. With conversation starter, it’s okay to start simple and brief
to see how it goes. Good go-to subjects are someone’s kids or pets, people love
to talk about them. Find out the closest things to the person because that open
up the most. It’s always a good idea to show interest, make eye contact and be
a good listener.
Read
and Write
Being well-read is sexy. Bring a book with
you to catch up on this often ignored hobby. Long flights are perfect for
writing as well. Hand-written notes and letters have become very special in
this digital era. You can also utilize this time to dream a bit and make your
bucket list longer. Take the advantage of being alone to reflect yourself, here
are some good questions to ask yourself (and are good to fall asleep to): What
would I do with my life if I knew there were no limits? How will your life be
different in a year? What have been your biggest mistakes?
Long flights coming up? Hope you get to
make the best out of these offline hours, weather you decide to just watch some
movies and play games or you’re doing the things mentioned above. Have fun
traveling!
Labels: Tips
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