what to do on flight?
 

i have recently began flying more often (maybe once a month) and am looking for suggestions on what to do during the few hours in the air. I usually buy a few newspapers, bring an ipod, but after an hour or so im bored out of my mind. Anybody have tips on spending the time in the air? Or maybe suggestions for good podcasts to listen to?

I used to read a mystery novel or two or else a long non-fiction book during the long flights to Asia that I took before the age of seat-back screens.

If the book was interesting, it kept me from being bored. If it wasn't, I fell asleep.

Problem solved.

However, I took a flight from LHR to ORD right after the terrorism scare in 2006, so we were allowed ONE item to take on board. I couldn't fit both my laptop and a book into the bag I had, so I spent the first half of the flight organizing travel photos. (No way was I going to check my laptop.) Then I read the inflight magazine. Then I watched a movie I wasn't really interested in but which seemed like the least of a bad lot.

Without a book, the flight seemed a lot longer than some of those 12-hour flights to Japan.

I bring an ultra-lite notebook but a netbook will work just as well. I load up my favourite movies/tv programs, plug in my NC headphones, and I'm good to go for hours.

Welcome to FT!

Depending on the type of iPod you have perhaps downloading a movie or TV series you've wanted to see?

What works best for me is a combination of things. Maybe work for a while, read for a while, watch a movie/tv show for a while, etc. Just keep switching it up so nothing gets boring.

yep, books, movies, sleep.

hi
 

you can read novels.there are many interesting and detective novels available.

Netbook or MacBook Air to watch movie/tv episodes and play games.
Right now, I'm knida addicted to a game called Airport Mania. ^

I am addicted to my Ipod touch and play games on it. Also I love to listen to Audio books during the flight with noise canceling headphones. Good chance I fall asleep during listening :-)

I always have a book to read. For flights of any significant length (say, more than a couple of hours), I usually have a book of puzzles (crosswords or kakuro) to do. And I often have some needlework.

I've never seen anyone do it, but it strikes me that origami might be a very suitable way to occupy one's time in flight.

In addition to the ipod and netbook, I also bring an ebook - it lets me bring hundreds of books on one small device. last year i also bought a nintendo ds - battery lasts for a long time and the games are small (side of a sd card) and endlessly amusing.

Nobody's mentioned the Kindle but I've seen lots of FAs using them. Everyone I've asked about it loves it. Much less cumbersome than reading an ebook on your laptop. Apparently there's a Kindle software for the iPhone/iPod Touch, though a screen that small strikes me as unappealing.

Books with pre-1923 copyright can be downloaded free. How about a nice Victorian classic to put you to sleep? ;)

As far as podcasts go that is going to differ from person to person. There is one I listen to that is 2 hours long and since it's a radio show I get a new episode 6 times a week. The content of it won't interest you unless you align with my political beliefs. That type of podcast seems to keep my attention more than one only updated once a week. I have a RSS feeder on my phone and it keeps all my podcasts up to date.

A podcast you might like is upgrd.com by some fellow FTers. I couldn't find them in the podcast directory in my RSS feeder, but I manually added the feed and it keeps me up to date just fine. I think it's weekly and is around 30 minutes.

Sleep trumps all other options whether you are in Y, C or F.

MisterNice

Seriously, how is it possible that nobody has mentioned booze?

lol !! Yes, this helps me to get me easier into the sleep. :D