When you are having good time, hours seem to pass in a matter of minutes. However, as a journey stretches for hours on end, it can feel like an eternity. If you are a compulsive clicker who checks social networks 50 times a minute (and who of us isn’t), then this feeling of dragged out time is amplified.
There are so many healthy things you can do when the journey hits the slow end, and here’s how to pass the time during long trips.
1. Activate Your Neurons
There are many things you can do in order to get the downtime rolling by, but the best modus operandi you can employ is to activate your neurons. Puzzle games will grip your attention and help you focus on problem-solving while the miles disappear beneath your feet.
Now, you can go the easy way and play a video game on your smartphone or tablet. On the other hand, crosswords and Sudoku are more traditional but challenging puzzle games that require you to apply logic skills while also retaining that fun factor.
And if you are going on a trip with someone, it is a whole different dynamic. For example, you can play card games with the friend or a family member throughout the trip.
2. Organize Your Life
Chances are you will bring your laptop, wallet and some necessary paper on your trip. You can use the extra time between destinations to organize your life. ‘Clean up’ your folder clusters, rearrange the files according to their nature and sort out your email inbox.
It is almost certain that you will have WiFi in the vehicle you are temporary occupying, so this is your chance to work your way towards the Zen-inducing 0 in your inbox.
Apart from that, you can organize your work documentation, your wallet and your personal documentation, and reach your destination with your administrative and virtual life neatly arranged for maximum efficiency.
3. A Soundtrack For The Trip
Can long trips get you in a particularly somber mood? Bring your trusty smartphone and put on your comfy Focal Utopia headphones to isolate yourself from the incessant humming and murmuring in order to plunge into the world of concept albums, pop music mashups and concerts.
You can easily fill your smartphone to the brim with hours upon hours of music that you enjoy, which can turn any long trip into a delight. You can take this concept a step further and subscribe to podcasts (fictional ones might be the best for long trips) or listen to audio books.
4. Read A Book
Audio books may be the most ideal solutions for car and bus rides, when the vibrating and shaking of the vehicle can render reading infeasible.
However, if you are traveling via plane or train, reading is not only possible but a must if the trip takes longer than, let’s say, eight hours. Keep in mind that you will also have to take the trip back home, so you can calculate several books into that time.
Even though technology has developed and changed the way we approach storytelling and learning, reading has always been (and probably always will be) the best way to activate one’s mind, ignite imagination and learn new things. Your long trips can become a platform for that.
5. Catch Up On Sleep
Sleeping is by far the easiest activity to engage in while you are traveling, but it comes with two caveats. One, you might be a type of person that simply cannot fall asleep during travel, which means that you will probably have to rely on some relaxants in pill form in order to doze off – which is a sound solution but not always a good one.
Two, unless you are in a perfectly comfortable position, sleeping may just be the worst thing for your neck and back pain. Apart from that, if you can snooze throughout the trip, it is by far the most effective way to pass the time and reach the destination as fresh as a daisy.
We live in the amazing times when reaching the far end of the globe is not only possible, but an everyday occurrence. It has never been so easy to slip onto a plane and reach the coveted destination in order to have some R&R, but even the air travel can drag out if you are truly aiming for another continent.
Thankfully, there are at least several ways you can make the trips shorter and have fun at the same time. Furthermore, if you are a particularly productive person, these time-passing activities can also serve as a way to improve yourself, so you will really feel as if the time has been used efficiently.
