Layover Delays, Stuck In The Airport? 10 Tips To Make Time Fly

Great travel advice… 10 Tips For Making Time Fly while stuck in an airport…

Today’s airline travelers are faced with a myriad menu of delays and long stop overs.
It’s not always the airlines that cause this vacuum in time. New regulations require
passengers to be at the airport up to 2-3 hours early. Then there’s long layovers,
and of course, delayed flights.

I know first hand; it’s frustrating and boring and often you find yourself wondering
how to spend those dull, wasted hours at an unfamiliar airport. My wife and I frequently
fly to Texas from the Virgin Islands and have fallen victim to this travel dilemma…
so we’ve sort of found by necessity, some inventive ways to pass the time when you’re
stuck at the airport with seemingly, nothing to do.

Here are our ten tips to help make that time fly by:

1. Relax, step-back, take a deep breath and think about the way you feel.
Instead of thinking about how much you hate airports, thinks about fun
interesting ways to pass the time, i.e. change you mental state. Learn
to like airports and make them your ‘friend.’

2. People watching can literally eat up a lot of time. Watch different cultures,
listen to the languages, their gestures and attitudes. See if you can interpret
what they are talking about. Grab a cup of coffee or bottle of water and spend
some interesting time just watching how couples, groups, and different people
interact. It’s fun!

3. Have your computer with you? Go online. Some airports offer free Wi-Fi access
while others may charge for it. Ten – Twenty bucks spent plugged-in is a very
small price to pay for a service that will most often help time glide away.
Besides, you can always put your productivity hat on and finish some work that’s
still hanging out.

4. When was the last time you actually sent someone a postcard? Practically every
airport bookstore has postcards relevant to the city or state you’re in. Buy a few
and pen a few words to family and friends. You can even send one to yourself
with some observation made while stuck in the airport. Read later, those comments
will most likely bring a smile to your face.

Pull out a note pad and jot down a to-do list for some honey do’s or things you
want to accomplish. Just might be amazed at the things that comes out.

5. OK, here’s one that many people find hard to do. Talk to a stranger.
This might be out of your comfort zone, but you’ll most likely have a fascinating
conversation. Being outside our normal situation that seems to inspire
honesty, storytelling and confidences.

6. Many airports have interesting museum displays that change monthly..
Recently, I was traveling trough the Atlanta airport and they had a very
interesting display of hand carved stone figures form various African
sculptors and artists. I had my video camera with me and spent an hour
taping these one-of-a-kind works of art. Explore the airport you’re at…
look for displays and expositions, you’ll probably be very surprised by what
the airport your stuck in has to offer

7. Still looking for something to pass the time away. Play a game, work a
crossword puzzle, try your hand at Sudoku. If your family is with you,
try a game like Yahtzee or Scrabble. Pull out that cell phone and do your
best to figure out one of the games that were put there just for a situation
like this. This will definitely make time pass fast.

8. As weird as this sounds… Meditate. Attempt to focus on just one thing.
Taking a break from all the stressful things going on in your life is
a very positive thing. Clear your mind, rise above your worries.
Find the airport chapel… spend some time in the peace and quiet there.
You’ll find, believe it or not, that you will feel better.

10.Check out the kiosks and bookstores. Read, browse newspapers, magazines
and books. Look over the top ten bestseller list. Buy a book and take it
back to your gate. Doing this early, when there is very little traffic and
it’s still nice and quiet, works for me. You should get a good hour or so
all to yourself.

Hopefully the ideas listed above will make time pass while you’re stuck at
the airport. You can always make your own list of ways to pass time and add
those to my suggestions and come up with a great list that works for you.

By: Terry Hudson