8 Activities to Bring on a Flight to Greece
The only unfortunate part of traveling internationally is the flight. Oh, what I would give to be able to travel across Europe in a few hours versus the day-long trips it takes to get from North America. Just because a flight is excruciating long, doesn’t mean that it can’t be an easy journey. In fact, if you plan your flights correctly and bring the right amount of activities, the least memorable part of the trip will be the travel (exactly how we like it).
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How long is a flight to Greece?
Traveling from the midwest to Athens took about 11 hours of air travel. Of course, this time frame will vary depending on where you’re traveling from and where you may have layovers, but spending half a day on a plane was pretty standard in my experience.
It’s typical to have one flight get you overseas and then another flight get you to your final destination. For example, the first leg of travel landed in Paris and then the second leg landed in Athens. The first flight was about 8 hours and the second flight was 3.
How to plan flights for the easiest travel days?
Something to consider while traveling to Greece is the time change. Going from Eastern Time Zone to Greece was a 7-hour difference which meant that jet lag can take a firm hold. In this case, it may be best to take a red-eye when traveling to Greece, that way you can sleep on the way there (as best you can on an airplane) because you’re tired.
When you arrive in Europe it’ll be midday the following day, which means you’ll likely still be tired enough to go to bed that night and fight off the effects of jet lag.
On the way home, if your flight is in the afternoon, you’ll arrive the night of the same day you left, meaning you’ll be ready for bed at a “normal time” and can reduce the effects of jet lag.
Once you’ve planned your flights to reduce the amount of time you may need to keep yourself occupied, now you can plan things to bring in your carry-on and how you’ll spend your “waking moments” of traveling.
Activities to do on the plane:
- Watch T.V. or Movies
- Read a book
- Play a Video Game
- Listen to Music or Podcasts
- Sleep
- Work
- Activity Books: Sudoku, Crosswords, Coloring
- Planning/Organizing Life
Watch t.v. or movies
If you gravitate towards movies or t.v. to pass the time or relax on a regular basis, there’s a possibility that doing these things will also make a long plane flight more bearable.
Many streaming services allow you to download shows on your device and watch them while “offline”. This is perfect for planes because even as airlines begin to add free wifi to flights, the bandwidth is nowhere near strong enough to stream movies and shows.
For most international flights, you’ll have a plane that has a viewing screen on the back of the seat in front of you. While this can likely keep you occupied for the duration of the flight, taking a few minutes of time before takeoff to download a show that you’ve been excited to watch and just haven’t found the time for is the perfect way to start a vacation.
Read a book
Reading is not for everyone — finding time to read can even be more of a challenge than finding a book to read. Uninterrupted time on a plane can be a great time to start the book your friend mentioned or develop knowledge in a personal development area of interest.
Because there’s not much to do on a plane and they’re often quite quiet, you’ll likely get a lot of reading in and maybe even be able to reflect more on the storylines. Physical books are great, but if you’re looking to save space in your carry-on while still would like to bring enough books to last a long flight, try a Kindle.
I used to have a Kindle, but now I personally have the Kindle app on my iPad and a Kindle Unlimited subscription. While the subscription may not have the newest bestseller, many titles of interest range from romance to sci-fi to personal development.
Even if you aren’t an avid reader, the Kindle app is free and the Kindle Unlimited subscription is about $12 a month, roughly the cost of one book if you buy one. You’ll get your money’s worth if you read just one book per month.
An added bonus is that if you do want to splurge and buy the Kindle version of a popular novel, Amazon now gives e-credits for using “Amazon-Day” delivery services to reduce the amount of packaging and delivery resources used. These credits can be used on Kindle novels that aren’t within the prime or unlimited libraries.
Play a video game
As a 2000s kid, I grew up on Nintendo video games. There’s something addicting about saving Princess Peach and beating the most difficult levels. Since the Nintendo DS, there have been numerous portable gaming devices released and tons of apps.
There is no shortage of games out there to play. Whether you like storyline games, racing games, puzzle games, or even “choose-your-own adventure” games on your phone/tablet, there are soooo many options to choose from.
If you’re a Nintendo Switch owner and want some suggestions for games to play you can’t go wrong with these:
There’s also always the tried and true Candy Crush!
Listen to music or podcasts
Sometimes it’s enough to just listen to your favorite songs and think. Make sure your music is downloaded via your favorite platform and ready for takeoff.
Another plan of action is to listen to a podcast. Sometimes having a one-sided conversation with a stranger can be both relaxing, entertaining, and productive. Whether it’s a podcast about the latest pop culture, or how to effectively meditate, doing this on an airplane is a way to pass the time.
Sleep
One of the best reasons to take a red-eye flight is to sleep the flight away. Planes aren’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but if you take a flight when you should already be getting tired, it becomes much easier.
Don’t be afraid to slightly lean back in your seat and close your eyes, everyone deserves to recharge on the flight. If comfort in the plane seats is a concern, purchase a seat cushion and a neck pillow before your flight.
A way to take some stress off of your neck while sleeping on a plane is to use a frontal face pillow. This way you can sleep on the tray table or your lap without sacrificing comfort.
Work
Now that airlines are beginning to introduce free wifi on flights you may be able to get some work done. Of course, the connection isn’t amazing, but you may be able to answer a few emails and put the finishing touches on work before closing the laptop for vacation time.
If you have any documents of files that you’ve been putting off, this is time could be used to finally dive into the information.
If you’re traveling on a business trip, this may be the perfect way to get ahead of the game and feel prepared for your tasks before you arrive. That way you’re more calm and collected as you try to navigate a new country and the job responsibilities.
NOTE: you should never work on anything confidential to your company in a public setting like on a plane just to be safe, but if you have simple book-keeping work to do then this will help you tackle the small tasks.
Activity books: sudoku, crosswords, coloring
Simple tasks like coloring can keep you preoccupied for a good amount of time and activity books likely won’t take up a large amount of space in your carry-on.
Mental games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles can occupy your mental space and keep you from constantly checking the travel time remaining. This may also be a nice activity to do with a travel companion and spark some interesting dialogue as you work together to complete some tricky puzzles.
Planning/organizing life
This is similar to working, but on more of a personal level. Think about all of the small tasks that you push off on a daily basis because you’re busy doing bigger “more important” tasks.
Now’s the time to go through unused subscriptions, clear out the camera roll, go through emails, fill in your planner with upcoming commitments and appointments, or even book tourist events that you told yourself “I’ll do that once I arrive.”
Things to remember:
- stand up often
- use compression socks
Stand up often
Personally, on domestic flights, I’ll prep myself to be able to stay put in my seat for the entirety of the 2-4 hour plane ride. If I plan everything correctly, I can get through the whole flight without standing or using the bathroom.
For international flights, this mentality needs to be thrown out the window. It’s not healthy to stay seated in the uncomfortable plane seats for an extended period of time — sometimes up to 12 hours. If you can, book and aisle seat and remember to stand up once every few hours at least.
Use compression socks
Being suspended at high pressures like an airplane for an extended period can cause swelling, especially in the legs and ankles. A simple way to reduce inflammation is by wearing compression socks. While they’re not the most comfortable garment, they are well worth saving you from the discomfort of cankles if you don’t wear them.
Traveling internationally can be an exhausting experience, but on the other side is beautiful sightseeing and memories to last a lifetime. Plan ahead for your travel day to make it the easiest possible by packing activities and giving yourself options to keep yourself occupied.
