Felicia

I have 10 long, claustrophobic hours from NYC to Athens coming up. I was gonna play a little hand-held backgammon game, sleep & read. What do you do to kill time on a long flight? <BR>Felicia

JOdy

walk, bitch, and squirm, and try to sleep, cannot read , hate movies on planes ..sorry it's late and that really is all I do!!

xxxx

I play uno, read a book, catch up on gossip with whatever friend is coming with me. I also, try to look for cute guys and flirt (for real!!), walk around the plane barefoot,I take my discman and cds, nailpolish my nails although I first ask people around me if they are bothered by the smell. Once, my boyfriend and I made out under the blankets and when most people were asleep I did oral sex on him. Pretty much anything that comes to mind but never intercourse.

Mel

Come on, Jody, I know what you REALLY do--you play seat back, seat up, seat back all night just to piss off the 7 year-old behind you! <BR> <BR>I read, walk, listen to music, pee a lot and watch the people around me. My hubby sleeps the entire time then, upon landing, stretches and says "Man, I didn't sleep very much, did you?" That's when my sleep-deprived self shows enormous self-control and lets him continue on the journey with me...

vixie

Felicia, <BR>You didn't mention which class you were staying in. If it's first/business class <BR>you can ask for a combination of items on the menu fixed a particular kind of way. They'll try to do this, but the entertainment value of seeing them get burn is second to none. If you sit in coach you can always count the strange naoises you here. Tell the person you're sitting beside you're a safety inspecter. Tell them "that doesn't sound so good", or "that smells funny". <BR>If nothing else, take Benedryl. You'll sleep like a baby&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; <BR>

vixie

Sorry for the spelling...It's been a bad day.

JOdy

Mel..How did you know!!!!!!!!! <BR>Actually the 7 year old is really in front doing just that and I wait till he finally falls asleep or is trying to eat and karatekick the seat , when Mommy turns around I say SORRY LEG CRAMP.. David and Gene must be brothers, he falls asleep before takeoff and only wakes for mystery meat then falls asleep again and then complains he never slept at all.. maybe we should send them fishing and you and I go off!!!!!! <BR>The most annoying flight I ever remember,flying to Edinburgh, was sitting across from a mother and child, the kid was about 4 and not bad at all. the mother kept saying "" Yeasssssssss Joshua darling",at the top of her vocal range isn't this fun, isn;t this nice, doyou want anything, are you having fun, etc on and on all night the poor baby just wanted to sleep and she was making it an EXPERIENCE!!!!

Cindy

I am a world-class plane sleeper. I also bring lots of magazines and books, but that's just to break up the sleeping.

Mom

I bring my two year old and her Magnadoodle. When she goes to sleep, I go to sleep.

Mel

Jody: <BR>You're on!! They can meet us in the pub to buy the drinks each night! <BR> <BR>Worst experience on a long flight: I'm in the aisle seat in the middle section (4 across). In marches the mother, VERY LARGE father and nasty teen-age daughter. She announces SHE gets the other aisle seat, so the seating goes like this: loud, nasty teen, then mother, then father, then me. Once in the air, large father proceeds to lift the armrest between us so he can spread out--and he sure does. My right side is getting bruised from being jammed into the other armrest. He goes to the bathroom, I put the armrest down, he returns and puts it up. The entire trip he refused to acknowledge me. Wouldn't you think the wife would recognize that she and the daughter should split the seat section with the husband--put him on the other aisle or between them? I'm older and wiser now and would ask to be moved or just keep playing "move the armrest" all night rather than sulking silently in my corner.

StCirq

If I'm on a flight where you can tune into the air control tower, I start by listening to that before and during takeoff - don't know why, but got into that habit a few years ago. If my kids are with me, I give them half a dramamine and tuck them (in all likelihood they won't be heard from until just about landing time - both of them sleep like bones on airplanes). I read the inflight magazine from cover to cover. Then I bring out a book I've been dying to read (I usually have a stack of these at home that I never seem to get to) and read it from cover to cover. Sometimes this takes all night and sometimes I can catch the second movie if there is one. I never sleep a wink on airplanes. I do small, unobtrusive exercises, and get up once or twice to use the bathroom or do bigger exercises if I'm feeling particularly stiff or cramped. I drink lots of mineral water. Just before landing, I take out my fresh, blank journal and write a few words about the flight, the upcoming trip, whatever, to start it off and get me in the habit of writing in my journal. Then it's breakfast, the landing card, waking up the kids, brushing the teeth, and tuning into the air control for the landing, etc. Extraordinarily boring, actually.

YS

I take my laptop with me, a spare battery, and write programs that I have always wanted to write.

Art

I will watch movies (in business class where you have a choice), read my travel books, vatch my video (I get travel videos from the library or buy them and copy them onto my video camera and watch them to refresh me), sleep, maybe read a mystery novel that I bought in the airport. <BR>Mel, if that ever happens to you again firmly put the arm rest back down and if you have a problem notify the flight attendant. I sometimes will also listen to language tapes. Mostly, though I sleep. <BR>On the way home I watch the video that I took on the trip. <BR>Cheers, <BR>Art <BR> <BR> <BR>

Judy

Hi Felicia, I always pray I can sleep, but it just never happens! I try to have a few wines, watch some flics(hopefully they have an in seat video unit). DOES ANYONE TRY TO USE BC OR FIRST CLASS BATHROOMS? Sometimes I do. <BR> I just can not sleep on planes! Is it the fear factor? I just don't know. I envy those that can! <BR>Judy :-0

Cass

Books on tape. I listen to one or two and then leave the tapes for someone else when I arrive -- at Admiral's Club or passenger lounge or with friends if that's whom I'm visiting. Books on CD would be less cumbersome, but the players are more theft-worthy.

Susan

My husband and I played cards for hours on a flight home from London. Can't remember if it was Gin Rummy or Casino (or both), but we had running tallies in the thousands by the time we landed. I also like to read, and alternate between a good novel and junky magazines that I'd never buy at home. Conversations with friendly strangers can really make the time go by quickly, too. And then there's daydreaming, about the trip ahead, or the one just finished.

Felicia

I got some good ideas, and thanks to everyone who participated. I will be traveling alone. Today I bought some Melatonin because I would like to sleep on the plane for a long time, then on the return trip stay awake. <BR>I know what it's like to be next to an overweight person on a plane. I used to be one of those. From that perspective, it's horribly humiliating, but I always preferred the arm rest to be down so it squished me into the seat. I always swore I'd go on a diet immediately, out of embarrassment, but somehow the food cart would always appear. Eventually, I managed to get enough weight off of me so I don't have to worry about that on this trip. <BR>In-seat exercises are the best to keep the blood circulating & the mind refreshed. Oh yeah, today I saw little finger toothbrushes with toothpaste inserted in them. I almost bought them. They're disposable. I think I'll get them for the trip. <BR>Felicia

jb

my husband plays with his gameboy all night long! i take an ahmbien and sleep at least 4-5 hours. Get a prescription from your doctor. It is non-habit forming and you wake feeling very very rested! I also read, eat and dream about the trip!

elvira

I'm one of the fortunate who can sleep on planes, so mostly I sleep. <BR> <BR>During any waking hours, I read popular mystery paperbacks (Sue Grafton, James Patterson, P.D. James, etc.) and do crossword puzzles. That lasts about 15 mins, and then I fall asleep. Sometimes I turn on the movie, but that lasts 15 minutes and I fall asleep. <BR> <BR>

Janine

Try to sleep, watch a movie, get up and walk around regularly (I always ask for an aisle-seat so I can get up when I feel like it without having to climb over people). Eat a little (although the food may not be all that exciting, meals break up the time), drink a lot of water)and read (books, magazines). Somebody else suggested on this forum starting the first couple of chapters of a book before your trip begins so that you are already involved in the story, which I thought was a great idea. <BR>Also, some airlines let you up to see the cockpit if you express an interest.