I have never been bored in flight, and that includes the longest flight I have taken of 12 hours. I love being in the cabin where the telephone cannot ring, no one can walk into my space with disturbing issues, and there is nothing I can do to address the emergencies of another person. There is no place on earth that is quite a private as an airplane.

I take a great book that I have saved for the occasion, a light reading magazine for take-offs, and i-pod with noise-canceling headphones and loaded with a couple of movies, a laptop with a DVD I've been waiting to see, and a sudoku puzzle book. With all these toys and hours to spend, I can enjoy them without feeling guilty about not being productive.