what do you do aboard an airplane?
 

when youre flying, do you stay awake and constantly look out the window? do you read a novel you have with you? or do you read one of those cheesy in-flight magazines neatly tucked in the backside of the seat in front of you? do you try to take a fake nap (yes, they are fake naps,.cause i havent heard anyone snore or talk in their sleep). do you talk to the person next to you?, or do you try to strike up a lively conversation with the stewardess, so maybe she will hook you up with a free drink?.

Yes.

In addition to all of the above - although I don't chat up the flight attendents because I figure they have jobs to do and I don't talk to seatmates unless I already know them - I read magazines from home that I haven't had a chance to read yet, pull out a little manicure set and take care of my cuticles, do a puzzle book, read the guide book for where I am going, listen to language lessons on my MP3 player. If it is a business trip, I usually just work.

I work and watch DVD's.
I only chat during the last few minutes of a flight.
I do not sleep, even on overseas flights, unless I am in Business or First.
I always sit in exit row or bulkhead aisle because I get up a lot.

No personal hygiene tasks on flights, please! I hate to be sitting next to someone who decides to attend to her manicure while in flight. Same goes for flossing after eating. Those are tasks for private time.

Only talk if George Clooney is in the seat nest to me!!!!!

I love to catch up on my reading on a plane!!!

My goal is to fall asleep before take off and wake up while we are landing.

When that doesn't work, I read or do Sudoku puzzles.

i do all of those things except: look out the window because i prefer an aisle seat, talk to the person next to me, or bother the flight attendents.

if there's a movie, usually i watch it.

It's always been a great opportunity to indulge in the last 2 months of my favorite 3-4 mags.

Recently, though, I've been watching movies on my Ipod. Sometimes it's better to load what you like than to watch what they offer. The music has almost become secondary (techno-progress?) and is great for passing time at the gate.

I rarely begin a conversation, although I'll cordially engage in small talk. I'm just conversationally challenged.

I used to prefer a window and would study the geology and geography with great intensity- identifying every town and landmark as best I could. I find it every bit as challenging and rewarding as crosswords, etc.

I now prefer the aisle. I do still love to just lean and gawk when I do find myself at the window.

I read.

book all my trips first flight out. night prior to flying, i'll stay up all night to finish packing. when done, i'll clean the house b/c i want it spotless. i'm frazzled by the time i reach the airport, and out like a light before departure. i do this b/c i hate flying.

Depends on the purpose of trip - and my state of sleeplessness.

Work trip - usually catch up on reading and review plans for the trip. Then sleep if there's time.

Vacation - look at guide books and or novels. Then sleep. Watch the movie perhaps once every 10 or 12 times (the rest of the time not worth it).

Thanks for this thread! I'm headed to NYC tomorrow and almost forgot to pack my headphones. That's what I do onboard - listen to music. Unfortunately I have to bring work with me too this time.

The one good thing about long flights for me is lots of reading time.

I even save books for flights.

Yodel

Depends. When I had to travel for business, I'd bring a ton of work with me and get through all that stuff lickety-split because no one is calling or knocking on my door, so it doesn't take long to get through lots of paperwork. Then I pace. Business travel used to be business or first class, so I'd go up and down the stairs, up and down the aisles. Movies bored me, small talk bored me, books bored me. I'd be thinking of the business end of things so much, by the time the plane landed I'd be so jazzed up and ready to go that it was always a diappointment to find that it was midnight in New York or 6am in Hong Kong!

Really stupid, heh? Nowadaysm as a retiree, I read mostly or sleep. The blessed sleep of the soon-to-be-alzheimer. Otherwise, I'm like JRP, gazing out the window and trying to identify landmarks on the below.

I am so happy to be able to say...I sleep! (Okay, so it's not the very best sleep in the world, but it gets the job done...) I'm so geared to sleeping on planes that I really find it hard to stay awake even on short flights. My "method" includes the faux pashmina mentioned on here before, not eating any of the sirplane food (or drinking anything but water) and, probably most important, being really, really tired when I get on the plane!

For those times that I am awake, I like absorbing, fast paced books (like the Dick Francis mysteries) and on some, very very rare, occasions, I'll actually get into a bit of conversation with my seat partner. But not too often.

I save books for flights too. A light, well written romance. If I don't finish it, I'll never have to wonder what happened.

put my carry-on tote in the overhead bin, then stand on my seat & take it in & out, up & down, rumble around in it looking for stuff, about 1/2 dozen times during the flight...

(just kidding!)

Kick the seat in front of me in rythm to what song is playing on my ipod. ;-)

I just stare at the (hardly) moving map on my personal screen 15.5 hours from Newark to Hong Kong. ;)

Well, besides some of the stuff already mentioned, I like to take pictures from the plane. Here are photos I've taken during plane trips:

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f203632379/

On longer flights, if I have an individual monitor, I love watching one movie after another. Never have a chance to do this at home.

I've also gotten into Sudoku like abram. It can be quite addictive!

Ray: Great photos as usual. I don't know how you manage to get those shots through the glass windows. Pretty amazing! I also like the interior shot of the Atlanta airport -- the mirror image design of the lights and floor tiles give an interesting perspective.

Oh, PLEEEEEZE...I am still back on the &quot;hhoking up with the stewardess&quot; (steward<b>ess???</b>and the &quot;free drink&quot; joke.

I like to listen to music and usually end up dozing at least a little. I don't do a lot of paperwork on the plane, plenty of that when I get to where I'm going.

I don't chat up my neighbors much, but will exchange pleasantries at the beginning and end of the flight.

I'm an aisle guy although I rarely get out of my seat during a flight. That may have to change now that it is unsafe to use the restroom in the airport. Never know when a senator will be in the next stall.

I ALWAYS bring a book to ward off anyone speaking to me or being to &quot;chatty&quot; throughout the flight. A hello, and &quot;light&quot; conversation is fine but to much of a good thing can ruin my flight! Short or long I bring a book to read. I can never sleep on a plane and how I envy those you who can!! All the way home from Hawaii to PHL I couldn't sleep!!

If its a domestic flight across country I sometimes set there and wish I was driving. That way I could see something. On occasions a three or four hour flight seems to take longer than a two or three day driving road trip.

My last flight was aboard a Song jet with video screens at each seat. They have a trivia game in which you compete with other passengers. Got to be quite competitive--even at the end of a red-eye (btw--I won!);-)

I have no idea what I do aboard.

Before boarding: 3 martinis and a valium.

Just before take off: I pop an ambien.

No &quot;fake naps&quot; for me.

i buy 2 or 3 gossip mags like people and us. it is pretty much the only time i take the time to read them.

iamq~ you are my kind of guy! and would obviously make a great seatmate on a flight (nobody likes a chatty-kathy).

Yodel

put my carry-on tote in the overhead bin, then stand on my seat &amp; take it in &amp; out, up &amp; down, rumble around in it looking for stuff, about 1/2 dozen times during the flight...

I think I have sat in the middle of you two.

Get drunk and eat a lot of garlic. You would be surprised how quiet it is around you.

First and foremost: I drink. I'm not a pill-taker, and wine takes the edge off my unreasonable fear of flying. I also read (bring my own) and do crossword puzzles. I'm a much happier camper in first class - I wish we could always afford it.

I get sick quite easy. I am very motion sensitive (can't even sit in the rocking recliner). So most of the time when I fly I am praying that I don't get sick. Has not always worked though.

Oh, also, I never sleep and I puff a lot.

cmc - what is so bad about doing a bit of a manicure on the plane? Is there something offensive about cuticle cream, cuticle pushers, or hand cream? I could see your point if someone was snipping off pieces of fingernail (one could land on you or stick in your eye) or putting on nail polish (fumes), but other than that, I don't see what what the issue would be.

manicure on the flight? for me the smell of nail polish remover gives me a headache. also, any kind of perfume bothers my sensitive nose.

I sleep as much as humanly possible. I'm still trying to figure out the ideal number of Tylenol PMs, but for my usual LA to Chicago flight, I take one prior to boarding and two once on the plane. That gives me about 2-3 hours of iffy sleep. Sometimes I combine it with a glass of white wine. (Yes, I realize this isn't the healthiest combination - suggestions welcome.)

j_correa, no problem with a rubbing a bit of unscented hand lotion. It is attending to a manicure, clipping nails, etc or using any kind of polish, heavily scented creams which I find off putting. It may be simply a personal preference, but I think those kinds of things are best saved to be done in private not the close quarters of an airplane.

i agree, it's just plain gross (to tend to personal hygiene on an airplane - yes including lotioning, filing nails, and pushing back cuticles). YUCK
:-(

Manicures as I do it doesn't seem to be a problem then - as I said, I don't clip my nails, use any polish (or polish remover). I don't use heavily scented creams either or creams with any scent - they give me migraines too and make my skin itch so it is unscented, hypoalergenic all the way for me.

I could see the point if the manicure created strong fumes or refuse though.

What about other things that people usually do in private like applying make-up? Is there an issue with someone putting make up on in her (or his, I suppose) seat before landing?