To this date, I have been on three extremely long flights; the first trip in August, and back and forth home for Winter Break. From Washington, D.C to Kathmandu, Nepal and vice-versa consists of two flights, and usually a long layover in between. So roughly, starting from the time I leave for the airport till I get to my final destination, it takes me about 34 hours. From that 34 hours, I spend around 22 in airplanes, eight of them in airports, and the remaining in the journey to and from airports. So how do I keep myself entertained all this while?
1. Decide on a season of a certain series to watch.
These flights are the best time to catch up on all the Netflixing that I want to do. I have watched the entire Season 2 of "Orange is the New Black," Season 3 of "House of Cards" and Season 6 of "Gossip Girl" on planes. Thank goodness for long flights with electrical outlets, and reasonably good wifi connection.
2. Read and reread the menu.
15-hour flight means that the airlines gives you three meals, and often you have a choice between three options for each meal. So I spend at least half an hour wondering which I want because there have been times when I selected something, and when the passenger sitting next to me opens his/her box of the other option, instantly regretted my decision. So now I give it careful thought before asking for what I want.
3. Read through the duty-free magazine.
...and not actually purchase anything because they're way out of your budget but still, no harm in perusing. Admiring all the fancy watches and perfumes and little airline souvenirs that you keep telling yourself that you don't need.
4. Try to take advantage of the in-flight entertainment system.
Let's find movies that are not on Netflix so I can binge watch them right now.
5. Try not to cry if I'm seated around children of age 12 and under.
I once spent a 13-hour flight with a couple in the row right in front of me with three kids all under 8 years of age. Needless to say, I got very little, actually no sleep at all on that flight.
6. Go through everything in the seat pocket in front of you.
Along with the duty-free magazine, the seat pocket is full of other mildly interesting items, like the safety instructions manual. Yes, the safety instructions manual becomes interesting when you're tired of watching TV for six straight hours. Or the city guide to wherever your destination is. I definitely want to visit Dubai for other reasons than having a layover.
7. Plan out what I'm going to do during my next layover.
If it's a short layover, I usually just panic about whether or not I'm going to make it to my next flight, but if it's a longer one, I try to find what all eating and shopping options the airport has.
8. Try and fail miserably to obtain a children's toy bag that the airline gives out to little children to keep them entertained.
In my defense, I like coloring.
9. Check the time remaining again and again.
"How is it still 9 hours remaining, I swear it was the same when I checked like 3 hours ago." (It's actually been 30 minutes since I last checked, but time does tend to pass very slowly on airplanes.)
10. Take advantage of all the caffeine the airline is willing to provide you.
Staying up for 30 hours straight is pretty impossible unless the nice air hostess brings you a can of Coke every time you ask for it.
11. Try to think of ways to get a free upgrade.
I don't know if it's actually ever gonna happen though. Maybe just the extra legroom space. Or a window seat. Hmm.
