Today's airline travellers 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 passen- gers 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, boring 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 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 an 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 is the last time you actually sent someone a postcard?  Practically every airport bookstore has postcards relevant to the city or state your 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 late, these 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 just 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 have 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 quite 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 by 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.

Article by: Terry Hudson