There are times when you really can’t avoid travelling for a longer period of time to get to your destination. In those cases, it is important that you start your trip on the right foot and seek ways to entertain yourself during long travel hours. Long journeys may not be the best part of your travel experience, but you can still take steps to ensure that it doesn’t end up being awful either!
Keeping yourself entertained during long flight hauls and transit journeys in buses, trains, or other means of transportation may seem complicated and exhausting. But with just a little bit of planning and resourcefulness, you can find a variety of things to do.
More...
However, before you sign up for an early morning flight out, make sure to weigh all your options and pick up some handy tricks to ensure smooth travel. For instance, most of the time, the cheapest flights depart at the worst times and have really weird connections. Moreover, ungodly travel timing can also play havoc with your meal timings, so it can be a good idea to carry your own food.
Reading
One of the most obvious and preferred ways to while away lengthy hours on the road, most travelers like to resort to reading during long hauls. And with the advent of e-readers and the benefits of having a smartphone, you can now carry your own library with you wherever you go!
Besides some fun reads, business journals, fictional thrillers, you can also enjoy magazines, newspapers, or blogs that can be downloaded and read offline. It is best to avoid hard-copy reads, as physical books take up considerable space in your luggage and can be cumbersome.
If you find it tedious to stare at an e-reader screen for too long and are curious to experience books in a different way, a long trip is also a good time to listen to an audiobook. Services like Amazon's Audible now have a wide list of titles on offer. Lengthy road trips in your car are a particularly good occasion to play audiobooks to entertain everyone in your vehicle.
Using In-Flight or On-Board Entertainment
Travelling can be quite dull and dreary if you don’t have tricks up your sleeve to avoid getting bored. One of the most popular forms of entertainment during travel is to indulge in in-flight or on-board entertainment systems.
Nowadays, most airlines, train companies, or bus providers offer a promising selection of movies and shows that can be a lovely distraction during exhausting travels. With a set of noise-isolating headphones, you’ll be good to make the most of it!
Alternatively, there are infinite options for binging on your favorite series or downloading movies from online streaming sites such as Amazon Prime or Netflix and viewing them offline on your electronic devices or smartphone.
For instance, there is a wide range of sci-fi films and documentaries focused on the possibility of human life on Mars on these types of platforms. Watching content related to just this one single subject can help you kill a good number of hours!
Playing Games
Another guaranteed option to keep yourself entertained is to play a good old game. While a board game can be bulky and a tad bit complicated, carrying a pack of cards to play gin rummy, solitaire, UNO, or bluff is workable and quite simple! For a slightly modern version of entertainment, you can also look at Monopoly Deal and the likes.
If you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can also play games online. Another option is to download a few offline gaming apps in case you run out of internet connectivity.
Listening to Music and Podcasts
If you end up listening to the same good old tunes or the usual radio hits every day, make the most of your long travels to discover new tracks. Before you embark on your journey, make a playlist on your phone, iTunes, Spotify, or any music provider site. Check out the related recommendations and make them available for offline listening.
You can also pick up something new and be entertained at the same time by plugging into some podcasts. This is both interesting and amusing, especially when you don’t want to read or stare at a screen. There is a wide variety of podcasts to choose from, from comedy shows to self-help programs to music numbers and more, to keep you engaged and entertained.
There are exclusive entertainment apps as well that you can browse through like HearHere, which introduce you to different places you may be traveling through, their history and culture.
Get Innovative!
Besides these usual options, you can keep yourself occupied by indulging in crafts that include de-stressing activities, crosswords and word puzzles, sudokus, colouring, or knitting.
Alternatively, why not use this time to read your travel guidebook and plan your trip, or even to pick up on a few phrases of the local language spoken at the destination you’re headed for (if it’s different from the one you speak)?
Then, there are also other interesting platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. to while away your time if you're connected.
Read more:
13 Carry On Essentials for Long Flights You Need to Pack
Best Travel Pillows For Airplanes: Top 5 in 2022
We hope that this article gave you a few useful ideas of ways to entertain yourself during long travel journeys. Some of the activities suggested above require a bit of preparation, so it's worth spending a moment ahead of your next trip to download any apps, e-books, or podcasts that will help you avoid boredom.
What is your favorite way to keep yourself entertained in transit? Do you have any recommendations? Share them in a comment below!