10 Things To Do on a Long Flight

What are things to do on a long flight? I recently had a 14 hours flight from Europe to China and I had this question too, so in this post I’m sharing ideas on things while flying.

The first thing to enjoy a long flight is to not hurry it up, avoid checking the hour constantly because that will only make you anxious and not relax at all. See it as free time, where you can do plenty of things (you’ll see).

Take into account that a morning or afternoon flight is very different from a night flight. At night, they usually turn off all lights and is harder to do some things when everyone else is sleeping. Every situation will be different, and these are just ideas to help you follow the ones that work best for you.

I’ll divide it into three main categories.

Photo credit: Stephan Mahlke

Category 1 – Productivity

Doing some work

If you’re a workaholic like me, yes-you can definitely work while on a flight. But try to not put the heavy tasks here unless these are things you need ready for shortly after you get off the plane (I hope no). Some common ones are answering to emails, preparing a presentation, practicing a script, and reviewing papers or tasks.

If you don’t have a rush and just want to stay productive and get some work done ahead of time, then perfect. Although many jobs need internet and a computer, or even more complicated stuff, prioritize things you could do without internet.

Examples:

• If you’re a podcaster: maybe record an episode during the flight.
• If you’re a software developer: document that code, make some diagrams.
• If you’re a video editor: edit that video.

Plan things ahead

This can vary depending on the purpose of your trip. It’s about getting prepared for what’s coming.

In case is tourism

If you haven’t yet, start to plan off the things you wanna do in your new destination. Some attractions get really busy and this buy/plan tickets from the airplane could get you that last ticket there was for that day you can go.

I always recommend thinking and doing what you really want to do, don’t just book without first acknowledge if you really want to visit that place. Sometimes we just go to places because those are the most popular ones in that city. For example, a museum in Amsterdam, but what if you don’t like museums? You should look for things that really excite you in order to enjoy more your trip. I don’t mean you shouldn’t visit famous spots or never do something out of what’s common to you, but just to stop and think if you really want to do what you’re about to do.

In case is job

Think about your agenda, what you need to do when you land, coordinate how you’ll move around the city, your eating hours and your working hours.

Review what you have to do, the networking you shall do and everything you need to succeed, from the way you’ll direct to other to the fine-grain details of your job itself.

Photo credit: Fallon Michael

Other purposes

You can always think on what you’d like to do in this trip and start preparing for it, especially preparing your mind for new experiences. Traveling is a journey of learning.

• Learning the language of the place you’re visting. Most common phrases, courtesy greetings, and asking for directions.
• Make a shopping list of things you’d like to buy in the destination: maybe they’re originally from that place, maybe is more affordable there, etc. etc. It’s very useful to have this on mind.

As you see, you can always prepare something ahead, but don’t get too perfectionist at this one, you should always leave some space free of planning.

Less productive, but I’ll add it in the productivity category. It’s easy and doesn’t require internet neither. Organize/clean you photos, contacts, notes and apps. Some cleaning is always good.

Category 2 – Creativity

We’re so into our smartphones everyday, connected on socials, hit by maybe hundreds of notifications per day, and this is one of the few moments where our cellphone gotta be on airplane mode, at least in the layoff and landing.

Of course you could still have connection, pay for wifi or even be flying with wifi on-board, but you can decide to take advantage of the old-fashioned way, stay on airplane mode and finally disconnect-sure it’s less than 24 hours, you can do it.

Our minds could be much freer if we stopped being consumers. Instead of receiving and responding to information, we can start asking questions and creating our own answers… Let your mind floow! That’s why I grouped the following activities as creative ones:

Journaling or travel diary

Write down your ideas, is like a canvas where you can draw anything you feel like. Some ideas:

• How you feel (physically, emotionally), it can be in that very specific moment, or in the present that encompasses your day to day.
• What are you grateful for.
• What got you worries.
• What are things you currently enjoy.

If it’s the return flight or the flight that makes you leave a place until further notice, you could:

• Write about what you learned.
• What you enjoyed the most.
• What was the best, the worst and the craziest of that trip.
• The feelings you had and what you want to take with you from that trip/place.

Photo credit: Aaron Burden

Meditation

Meditation is a practice that involves focusing or clearing your mind. Depending on the type of meditation you choose, you can meditate to relax, reduce anxiety and stress, and more. If you’ve never done it you could do a guided-meditation, make sure to have it downloaded on your phone before the flight.

One meditation exercise I recommend for a flight is embrace the in-between: just left one place to another, maybe take the time to think about what you’re leaving (temporary or not) or what you’ll about to get to know. It’s always a great exercise to connect with the present moment and feel grateful about it.

Drawing

Well, of course not during turbulence 😆 You could sketch something or even finish a drawing. Who knows what will come to your mind to draw in that moment? It’d definately be a different experience!

Writing

Poetry, lyrics, simple reminders, a love letter, or just some thoughts that have been in your mind for weeks.

Category 3 – Resting

If you’re reading this article is because you want more for that long flight that just sleeping. Resting can include other activities that help you take a break, but first, let’s start with the basic one:

Try to sleep

If you actually want to sleep, but just think you won’t be able to naturally catch some Z’s. There are hundreds of tips on this topic which you may already know, as many people struggle to sleep on flights. I’ll just leave here the three I think are the most effective.

• It’s important to tell yourselves, “It’s ok is I don’t sleep”. Ironically, reducing the pressure to fall asleep can help you relax that bit you need in order to drift off.

• It’s important to have some comfort: try taking out your shoes, using an eye mask, a neck pillow if it helps, try different positions. If the planes gave out blankets and pillows try to accommodate them differently in your back to get the comfiest seat, the right amount of air conditioning to not feel too cold or too hot. It’s worth spending many minutes accommodating yourself, keep trying until you’re comfortable in a position you could keep for hours and does not hurt your body.

• Try doing something that really gets you bored. It could be reading about a subject that always makes you feel sleepy, listening to a podcast or doing a guided meditation for sleeping, and then (in case the meditation didn’t already work) close your eyes, get conformatable and in your mind just count from 0, one by one and at some point you may fell asleep.

Photo credit: Iman Warsame

Listening to music or an audiobook

Music is proven to have the capacity to influence our mood. You can listen to the songs of the moment, songs you haven’t heard for a while, and/or songs that make you feel happy.

You could also try to finally to read that book (or listen to that audiobook) you’ve wanted to start/continue for a while now.

Watching a movie, series episode o documentary

Probably the most typical activity and the one you’ll find in other blog posts.

I remember the first time I was on a flight to Spain I watched a documentary called Wild Canary Islands. It was so beautiful that made me 10 times more excited to arrive and get to know this wonderful country.

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I hope you apply some of these in your next long flight. You might not end up doing what you originally planned to do and it’s totally ok, but keep these ideas in mind for that moment.

In my last long flight I wanted to be productive and write a blog post, but the plane was so dark, all lights were turned off and it didn’t feel right to turn on mine while everyone else was trying to sleep 😅 So instead, I listened to music and wrote on my phone about things I wanted to do in China and those notes have helped me so much during my trip! 100% recommended, as well as reflecting on the trip once it’s over.

Are you reading this without even having a flight booked? haha, it hapens. Here, I leave you 11 reliable ways to travel for free, so that you can apply these tips ASAP 🚀