People nowadays like to book short layover flights. However there are certain situations people often get stuck in a long layover intentionally or unintentionally. It can happen if you want to save some money with a longer flight connecting time or the airline delayed within a short notice.
Have you ever found yourself in an unexpected situation of waiting for a long time to connect your next flight? Or you might face it for the first time in your future trips.
I’m going to get you through some useful activities that can help you pass your extra time in some good use or to alleviate your boredom.
1. Watch your favorite Movies and Shows:
Everybody loves good Movies and Shows. You might not be any different. To pass your boring long layovers in an airport and getting entertained together is going to be a tough task. But having some movies or shows in your watch list will make your unpleasant long layovers worth it.
2. Watch Tutorials and Online Courses:
One of the most productive ways to make use of your long layovers is helping you learn some new skills. To do so, you can start watching some tutorials or continue watching your online course from whatever platform you enrolled earlier.
3. Take a Short Trip Out of the Airport and Explore the City:
Making best use of your time in a way that you are traveling for. If you have an unexpectedly longer layover time, the best way to pass it is by having a tour around the city. You can see some local landmarks and tourist places not so far from the airport.
4. Try Out Local Cuisines:
Food lover? Then no look further than checking some local dishes. You might be a food vlogger or blogger. Or even an insta-celeb. Here you can get some content for your next post. You can only have the taste of the local cuisines or make some food reviews that’ll add some additional values to your audience.
5. Read:
You know what can be the best use of spare times? Reading. We are living in an era of the internet, social media and entertainment world where reading is often neglected. In other words, people these days do not enjoy reading for the sake of some cheap entertainment. It can be the best opportunity for you to start reading with an interesting book or magazine. You might not have brought a book or magazine with you. No worry, you’ll find a lot of free books and magazines on the internet. You can also check reviews and see what people are saying for a particular book. Or you might shortlist within your interested genre.
6. Write:
Writing is one the most productive ways to pass some extra time in your long layover. However, you don’t have to be a regular writer in that case. You can write some notes or make a few plans about your profession. You can either be a regular writer. If so, you can write some fresh ideas you are experiencing in the situation and observe your surroundings. If you are a story writer, it is easier to sort out some plots and find some interesting correctors in your trip or even in the airport. Or you can write a journal about your journey.
7. Get Some Work Done:
Nowadays, a lot of people work remotely. It can be a remote job working from home or freelancing. If you are one of them, then this can be your best use of time by being productive. You can also be an office worker. In that case, you can make some plans regarding your work. Can also do some problem solving and sort out some unfinished tasks.
8. Make Plan for Your Destination:
With having some extra time, you can spend time to make your trip more beneficial. Research about your destination starting from the Hotel you are going to stay at and what additional options you’ll have from them. Check out some off the beaten paths you can explore to make your trip more memorable.
It can be that you are on the way back home. You can also do some research on your next possible trip. Check out some recommendations from the explorers on social groups. You can also do some google search depending on your preferences.
9. Play Games:
Playing games might not be as productive as the other options, but an entertaining way to spend the time faster. If you are a gamer pro then you know what you play. Some can play games that help mental growth or to improve knowledge. Playing some puzzle solving games and word matching can help pass your time by thinking deeply and practicing your vocabulary.
10. Take Sleep:
Not a good idea though. An Airport cannot be the best place to sleep especially if you are traveling alone. You might end up losing your stuff or miss your boarding for the next connecting flight. But it can also help you pass the time faster. You should be aware of your belongings before you sleep. You can consider some trustworthy stranger sitting next to you to alert you at the time of boarding.
11. Meet New People:
Meeting new people on your trip can add some extra value especially if it is a time when you think you have nothing to do but wait endlessly for your next flight. Make your network stronger by meeting and making some new friends from different regions and countries. Use your knowledge to impress them with your talks and valuable insights about different topics. Don’t only speak but become a good listener too to make them feel you are giving importance to their opinion.
12. Organize your memories and photos from the trip
You might be stuck in a long layover on the way back home. Organize your memories, photos and clips taken in your trip. Make different albums on your drive or cloud storage and upload them by their categories. Make some notes or captions that tell stories of your specific photos or album in the collection. Plan how you organize and post them on social sites or in your content.
13. Get Exercise:
Do some exercise by giving a small tour around the airport. It’ll help you with your body from draining your energy. Some airports offer yoga and fitness centers, find if the airport you are connecting in does have one. If you don’t find anything in the airport like this, help yourself with some meditation. You can find some ideas from YouTube or Google.
14. Do Some Window-Shopping:
You might not like shopping a lot but have a tour in the Airport’s shops. Remember if you forgot something to bring back for your loved ones from your trip. You can check out some sweets and chocolate items for your kids, siblings or niblings. Buy something that your loved ones will appreciate you for. It’s not only about passing the time but giving you some space to think for your family and friends while giving you some ideas to bring surprise gift for them.
Conclusion:
With your consent or not, a long layover in your connecting flight can be your biggest nightmare or you can use it in a productive or valuable way.
