Recently, I flew from 海角社区官网to Siem Reap on a multi-layover trip that took roughly 27 hours from takeoff to final landing 鈥 my lengthiest flight in recent memory, and without the comforts of bougie class to take the edge off.
Is it possible to make such long-haul travel slightly less dreadful and discombobulating?
I posed the question to a few of the Star鈥檚 travel contributors. Here are their hard-won tips and some of my own:
Explore beyond the duty-free shops
鈥淚 always look for fun or unexpected things to do at an airport,鈥 says Ontario-based travel writer , who has visited at least 145 countries and all seven continents. 鈥淚鈥檝e taken a , where they actually drive you around on the tarmac and explain the operations of that huge airport.鈥 At Singapore鈥檚 Changi Airport, famous for its seven-storey indoor waterfall attraction, you can also find and a , he adds.
Another example of entertainment in transit is Istanbul Airport, recently ranked the best airport in the world in the Cond茅 Nast Traveler鈥檚 Readers鈥 Choice Awards. Here, travellers looking to pass time can visit a 2,000-book library, a games-equipped youth zone, and the culture-focused , exhibiting hundreds of works on loan from nearly 30 other museums.
Singapore鈥檚 Changi Airport is home to a famous indoor waterfall, as well as a free movie theatre and a sunflower garden.
Joshua Kettle / UnsplashLeave the airport and come back later
If the layover is long enough to allow it (and there are no issues exiting the airport, such as visa requirements), I鈥檒l look for something more interesting to do in the city.
During one layover in Vancouver, for example, I took the train to get lunch at a dim sum restaurant. On another trip, with many hours of free time to kill at LAX, I used to find luggage storage and spent the afternoon at Venice Beach, about a half-hour cab ride from the airport.
Quiet the wailing-baby soundtrack
鈥淏efore takeoff, download a white-noise playlist to drown out the thrum of crying babies and the drone of the plane,鈥 says , an Albertan now based in Australia and Lonely Planet鈥檚 destination editor for Oceania. 鈥淚f you forget, check out the plane鈥檚 entertainment system 鈥 they often have a white-noise playlist in the music section.鈥
Nova Scotia-based travel writer always downloads a full season of a show onto her phone and brings noise-cancelling headphones to drown out screaming children. 鈥淎s a mom, the last thing I want to hear is other people鈥檚 kids when I鈥檓 travelling without mine!鈥 she says. Similarly, I pre-load my with free digital books and magazines (borrowed from the 海角社区官网Public Library), then pop in a pair of earplugs as soon as I sit down.
Bring your own little luxuries
For Lockhart, these include a pair of soft-soled slippers. 鈥淚 choose a pair that are washable, so I can comfortably go to the washroom without needing to put my shoes back on.鈥 Other essentials in her plane kit include Hydralyte for electrolytes; a silk eye mask; preservative-free eye rewetting drops (鈥淎 game-changer 鈥 it鈥檚 like a bath for your eyes鈥); a face mist (like Aesop鈥檚 Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol) and a face moisturizer; and a lip balm.
Lockhart also carries a reusable coffee cup with a sippy cup-style lid: 鈥淔light attendants are happy to fill it to the top with whatever you choose 鈥 whether that鈥檚 coffee or wine,鈥 she explains, 鈥渁nd you鈥檙e less likely to spill if there鈥檚 turbulence.鈥
Pack a 鈥渜u茅 ser谩, ser谩鈥 attitude
鈥淚 try to see travel as an adventure when things go wrong and keep a sense of wonder about things,鈥 says Brown, who has learned to expect delays and itinerary changes. That said, her plan-ahead strategy includes always bringing more snacks than she thinks she鈥檒l ever need, plus a toothbrush in her hand luggage, and a $20 U.S. bill, which you can use to buy a coffee (even an extortionately priced one) pretty much anywhere in the world.
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