Four Ways To Pass The Time On A Long Haul Flight
AD – This post was written in collaboration with Mary Davis but all thoughts and opinions are my own
As someone who doesn’t tend to venture too much outside of Europe a long haul flight for me is few and far between, but my recent trip to St Lucia was 8.5-9 hours each way which is quite a good chunk of time when you’re flying in the sky having an inadvertant digital detox. I absolutely love long haul flights as it’s chance to take a step back and take it easy but I like to be prepared with an array of things to pass the time well. Here are four ways to pass your time on a long haul flight.
Catch up on movies during a long haul flight
Movie watching is essential when you’re travelling, whether you choose to use the airline’s in house feature or take your laptop and watch some movies on a streaming platform like Chili for example. You can look up the movies ahead of time to make sure you don’t waste 20 minutes scrolling like you would on a Friday night going through Netflix. Due to our recent move and just how busy life has been I felt like I’d missed out on a bunch of movies so I watched Christopher Robin and Crazy Rich Asians during my outbound flight, although I was very tempted to re-watch A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Have an in air skincare routine
Now I’m very tempted to do a whole post on my essential skincare routine for a flight as I finally feel like I’ve nailed it but a long haul flight can be the perfect time to treat your skin. It’s very drying being on a flight and the recycled air isn’t the best for your skin so I find taking care is a must. Usually I’m not a fan of face wipes but on a flight they can be super refreshing. I don’t wear makeup on long haul flights so they’re less about removing makeup and more about refreshing the skin. I have recently bought the Summer Friday’s Jet Lag mask which is a great thick moisturising mask you can wipe off in ten minutes so I pile that on around half way through the flight alongside some eye cream and some nourishing serum in between.
Finish the book you’ve been putting off
We all have that book that we’ve been putting off reading, maybe because we don’t have the time to really invest or it’s quite a heavy book that requires real attention but a long haul flight is your chance. I made the fatal mistake during this trip of taking a book I only had a small amount left so I finished that alongside part of another book meaning I had far less reading material for when we arrived in St Lucia than I’d have liked. Next time I’ll be planning my quantity of reading material far better.
Listen to some podcasts
Can you believe that before a few weeks ago I had never listened to a single podcast?! Neither can I. In a world where everyone seems to have their own podcast it took me a long time before I jumped on the wagon. Ahead of my flight and holiday I followed a bunch of podcasts and downloaded an array of episodes from them all so I had plenty of listening material to test run the podcasts and find out which ones I loved. I’m going to do a full post on my favourite podcast picks but with most running at 30-40 minutes it was a great chance to start listening.
What do you love doing on a long haul flight?
Pin It
20 responses to “Four Ways To Pass The Time On A Long Haul Flight”
Leave a Reply
All About Me
Rhian Westbury
Travels and Destinations
Nothing currently planned
Podcasts are such a good way to pass the time! I like to pack one of those adult colouring books to play around with whilst I listen!
On the flight out, I usually try and catch-up on some TV/films that I’ve downloaded but not watched yet – or I try and use the time to write a blog post. On the flight back, I like to look through all my photos and edit them, then have a little sleep haha! x
You’re so good editing photos on your flight home, but you travel a lot so I guess you’re used to it x
Was crazy rich Asians good? I fancy watching that. I love reading when I’m on a flight, as much as I can with a pre schooler anyway haha
Yeah it was really good, I loved both the movie and the book x
I love watching movies on a plane. I lead such a busy lifestyle, it’s not something I actually get to do very often so I always look forward to it.
Long haul flights can be a great time to switch off from the real world. I do find it is an ideal time to read and forget about time. Podcasts are a really good idea, just sit back and enjoy.
Would you believe I’ve never been on a long haul flight? I’d definitely read some books!
I slept through my two long haul flights and watched a couple of films.
I wish I could sleep more on long haul flights but I just can’t get comfortable most of the time x
Great ideas! I have actually never been on a flight at all before (hopefully that will change soon!) but I think I would probably find a good book to get stuck in to as I rarely seem to have time to read day to day.
Ohh fingers crossed it will change soon! x
I do love catching up on books when I fly! Never been on a flight that long though, definitely needed the tips!
Great ideas here. I always take a new book on a flight to try and distract me but we have never done long haul before.
I do all those things. Planning what I am watching on a flight is big for me (I get nervous flying) so if I am flying Virgin long haul I always check out the flims on their website in advance.
That’s what I did for our flight as it was Virgin! So many great movies x
Always take a book with me! This is such great advice though, so useful!
Some great tips here. But my favourite is the skin care routine. Such a great idea.
I’ve never really gotten into podcasts but I do find it’s a great time to catch up on reading and some movies
Laura x
I love long haul flights, I go between reading and watching movies, both favourite activities of mine. Mich x