Hey everyone, new to the forum.

In a few weeks I will be travelling from Sao Paulo in Brazil to Seoul in South Korea, through Addis Ababa. It's a total of almost 24 hours of flying with only a 3 hour layover. I've never flown even close to that long (11-12 hour tops and it was hell). Any experienced travellers have any recomendations on how to pass time and what to do during so many hours flying???? Movies can only get you so far.

Most airplanes have individual screens and I enjoy playing video games. I don't do that anywhere but on airplanes. There's also reading and sleeping. Be sure to get up once in a while to keep your blood pumping and drink plenty of water.

There's really no magic pill to help pass time on "Super Long Flights'. You simply do the same type of things you'd do if you were staying inside your home for 24 or so hours. Reading, sleeping, eat an occasional meal, listening to music, watch movies and other video content, play video games, surf the internet, knit or crochet (if so inclined), do crossword puzzles or other brain teasers, trying your hand at creative writing. Of course, there's always just twiddling your thumbs or just daydreaming.

Sleep will help you to avoid jet lag. Drink water as much as you can and before the flight, have some fruits.
And, avoid watching too much movies or music.

I sleep/doze and daydream and mostly just watch the flight map.
After the first three hours I admit that it was not bad and convince myself that another 3 hours would be easy enough. Then after 6 hours I tell myself that after 3 more hours we will be only 3 hours from getting off the plane. Halfway through that last quarter of the trip, with 90 minutes left, is when I start asking "are we there yet?" every five minutes.

Living in Australia, we are used to the very long journeys of 25-30+ hours. I love being overseas but hate the travelling. I agree with others who say drink water. Drink more than you normally would, being hydrated helps with jetlag. Also a good idea to walk around the plane a bit, when you can, not always easy but just to stretch your legs. I have watched movies on the plane that I would never watch at home, just because it makes the time go faster. I also try not to think about how many hours I've got left because it can be depressing. If it's more than 30 mins to go before landing, I don't want to know.

Once you arrive, depending on time of day of course, fresh air and sunshine will help with jetlag. If you land in the morning, try and stay awake as long as possible, to settle your body into the new timezone.

We have family in Australia and have flown between London and Sydney numerous times. We have done it with just a short layover but no longer. We now always stop over for a few days or a week midway in the Far East . It breaks up the trip and helps with the jet lag. Upgrading to Business even Premium Economy makes a world of difference as you then stand a fighting chance of getting some sleep.

Other than that I try to mentally break up the flight into bite sized chunks and;

• allocate time for reading -good time to buy that book you keep meaning to get around to)
• watch tv - I don't just rely on the inflight service but download tv series and films to watch on phone or iPad
• listen to my playlists (take decent noise cancelling earbuds)
• play games or do crosswords/suduko on my phone -
• eat - stretch out the food service and wander to the galley to get a bottle of water
• walk around the plane every couple of hours
• sleep - impossible to sleep properly in economy as there is very little recline but cat nap as and when feeling the slightest bit tired
• meditate
• I take online language lessons to brush up on my Spanish if flying to Latin America or, learn a few words and phrases of whichever country I am visiting

It is all in the mind of course, but easier to cope with six two hour chunks of time than a 12 hour flight all the time thinking another 11, 10, 8 hours ....

Je lag is a completely different issue and despite having crossed countless time zones over the years and tried every process under the sun, I still suffer badly for the first 3 or 4 days and suspect that will never change.

crellston - can I ask where you've had stopovers, between Australia to the UK? I've had stopovers in the past, and also tried flying all the way without a stopover and am looking for ideas. I'm currently thinking of stopping for a few nights in Vancouver on the way to London. The flight times are similar to going via Singapore. I guess we have the choice of flying via Asia, the Middle East, or North America?

We have gone via Dubai with Emirates via Dubai - but that was with just a layover. Great airline but cant say the Middle East would be my favoured place for a stopover.

Last time we flew with Vietnam Airways with a day in Saigon on the way out and a week in Hanoi on the way back. We love Vietnam and have spent a lot of time there over the years. That worked well though the flight in PE wasn't great. That was a last minute choice as we had booked BC with ANA via Tokyo but it was at the tail end of the pandemic and whilst our (bargain!) BC flights were still running, they wouldn't let us into the country due to covid restrictions. A real pain as Tokyo is a wonderful city.

Once was with BA via Bangkok. Again, a great city for a few days but BA no longer run that route and now only route through Singapore or Hong Kong.

We dog sit for some Aussie friends here in the UK and they are off to Australia in Feb. They managed to get a really good deal on BC fares with Asiana via Seoul, South Korea in last years xmas sale. Again, we enjoyed our time in Seoul and Asiana is a very highly rated airline so I will be keeping an eye on those sales for next time.

Never gone via North America but I know Virgin have a number of options via the US, usually via LAX.

Son and DIL are coming this way with our two under 5 grandkids next summer with Qantas but they chose direct flights I think

Thanks for this info and sorry to the OP for butting in with a separate question. It's good to have some stopover ideas. Last year I flew the whole way, Brisbane to London with an hour transit stop in Singapore and wanted to try something different. Air Canada fly non-stop from Australia to Vancouver, about 14 hours, then roughly another ten hours to London. I'm hoping a couple of days in Vancouver will make the whole journey easier.

You are welcome KayF. Vancouver has long been on my Wishlist but I have yet to make it there. Our nieces have just started out on their gap year on a RTW ticket and they are flying back via Toronto after 6 months working holiday in Australia. Toronto is a nice city but I doubt there are direct flights there from Australia.

To the OP , apologies for the diversion. One further thought on dealing with the long flight is to download podcasts on what ever interests you. There are huge numbers available on just about every subject you can think of. I am UK based and use BBC Sounds to download comedy series, Desert Island Discs etc. They also have 'mindfulness" podcasts which air relaxation/sleep - nothing like listening to the sound of the rainforest, bubbling streams, crashing waves etc to help you drop off. If nothing else it helps drown out the ambient noise of aircraft engines.

Try not to look at the flight maps or flight time left as this just makes the time drag even longer.

OP, you have some great tips above. As another Australian, I'd say just don't over-think it, don't make it into a bigger deal than it is - just get on & get on with it. I like the idea of thinking what you'd do on a day at home if you were just sitting around. I read books, listen to podcasts,maybe do some writing, doze/sleep,probably watch a movie & don't eat much. I'll have a glass of champagne/wine when I board and maybe something with dinner but that's it for alcohol. I drink lots of water and that contributes to the getting up & walking around. Some airlines have signs you can hang on your seat to the effect of "Do not wake for food". I use those and if they don't have them, just ask not to be woken. I find if I eat everything on offer, even if it's nice, I end up feeling pudgy/doughy and that's not a good thing.

Have fun if you're going on a holiday and all the best if it's for work or something else.

If you are not averse to meds and want to sleep ambien helps me. Add an eye mask and get a good set of noise canceling ear phones.

Yes drink a lot of water. Avoiding caffeine and booze is usually recommended.

Perhaps you can find a book that intrigues you. That may help.

Bon Voyage!

Thanks for tips people, sure will be a new experience and will try a few.


PS: I'd love to pretend I'm home, but being a 6'4 and 270 pound man stuffed inside of an economy seat for more than an entire 24 hour day it's hard to pretend that I'm relaxing at home on my couch.

That would be a challenge! In that case, I'd be angling for an "Exit Aisle" seat near the Galley where you can at least stretch your legs a bit. Failing that, definitely an Aisle seat - and you won't need any encouragement to get up & walk around. Who knows, you might find a row with a few vacant seats & be able to slip into that for a while.

You might also see if you can wangle an upgrade with charm & pleas for compassion due to your height. You never know - nothing asked, nothing gained. Those that know tell me the best time to ask is as you're boarding - but you're on the Air Travel site, so I'm sure others more travelled and wiser than me will be around. Hopefully they will chip in & help you stretch your legs.

I'm 5'5, so even if I have to do economy, it's not unbearable if I can get an aisle seat.
Good Luck!

One thing not mentioned is a lot of long hauls now have Internet so you can do a lot of the stuff you usually do online. You just can't do certain things like streaming. But I remember remoting into work on a long-haul once and got lost in my work for a while.

Another tip is to start sleeping on your destination time the second you get in the plane. This way, your body starts to adapt. Going to be very tough being stuffed in an economy seat (I have a friend the exact same size as you and economy is utter hell for him), so may be just sleeping whenever you can is good enough since you're going to have jet lag on the other end no matter what you do.

While you're on the ground for those few hours at the connection, definitely take the time to adjust and decompress before the next flight. This is very important to 'game up' for the other half.

I never drink water on a plane unless I am drinking directly from a bottle, numerous studies / reports have shown that water from dispensers and served in a cup can be unhygienic.
I also download various series to my ipad so that I don't get bored watching the same thing, I also take a look at the airlines website to see what is playing on the plane and plan accordingly, I'm off to Japan tomorrow so will be watching Barbie and Mission Impossible
It's so different to when I first flew from UK to Australia, I was on my own, so no one chat to and to share the pain, I flew from Newcastle to Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi, to Singapore, to Melbourne and finally to Sydney with only one large screen on the bulkhead for entertainment, I was still moving with the plane for about 2 days afterwards.