What keeps you occupied during long airplane trips?

DVD Videos

I don't fly. I drive. Driving occupies my time. I try to stay at motels that have WiFi access because I hate dial up.
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There is no better way to pass the time on a long flight than to listen to your favorite tunes on the best music player... the iPod. For international flights, I can take the full-sized 40GB model but for cross-country routes I prefer the smaller Nano.

The JBL Onstage system is great for listening to music and passing the time away in hotel rooms and it is small enough to throw in a suitcase.

Kevin

Until this year I read books or magazines on flights. Then I bought a laptop. On a flight from Houston to San Diego I broke it out and watched Batman Returns. I really enjoyed it and it made the flight really short for me. But, it PISSED off the person in the middle seat next to me to the point and unbeknownst to me she mostly stood in the aisle for the whole trip. So I can see both sides. I know I would NOT like someone to do that to me now that I think about it. I definitely do not want cell phone access on planes for the same reason. So I suggest the airlines supply noise-canceling headphones on request and blindfolds for the non-techies who fly so I can entertain myself. Am I bad?

Why pass the time when it can seem like no time has passed at all?!

I just get very little sleep before a flight, and then let myself get knocked out on the plane.

When I wake up, 8 hours are gone without any problem - and I don't have to tire the battery on my music.

When i can i like to be part of the personnel in the cockpit

Escorting Kids to the restroom during critical parts of the in flight movie.

I am in a flying lull right now, but my laptop will be standard for me. (I 'll probably watch movies while flying)

I used to read and take pictures while flying

-Ben

using my Sony CLIE UX50 with Pocket Tunes 3, a 2 Gig Memory Stick and all the WMA files that will fit on said stick. Through my Aiwa noise cancelling headphones.

If I get really bored, I fire up a rousing game of Bejeweled!

While I chose sleeping, sleeping is not what I would choose if I had a real choice.

I am a contract trainer. I teach people how to install, configure, and secure computer networking equipment (routers, switches, firewalls, IDS).

This year I expect to travel around 26 - 36 weeks.
So I fly a lot. I would love to be able to use my laptop to do research, class prep, pleasure reading, and play games. But unless you are in first class or have an aisle seat it is a hassell to crawl over people to get you stuff out of the overhead bins and crawl back to your seat. The airline I use don't have power outlets in the seats so you only get 2 hours max before you have to do the crawl thing again.

Now that I've flown with a particular carrier enough to be upgraded to first class many times, it's not as bad as coach but still no power only battery.

As far as the additional noise, well with the background roar of the engines and babies crying I've long ago purchased Bose noise cancelling headphones. By the way they are great.

Frankly, if the airlines get the go ahead for Internet and cell phone access during flights, I say the airlines should build in computers maybe into the trays that are on the backs of the seat in front of you while the headrests contains the monitors.

How hard would it be to have a server on board to supply hundreds of 2D games like Mario Bros. chess, backgammon, or word puzzles and so forth. Most airlines already have in-flight movies. Use the same headsets for the computers. Instead of charging $5 for the headsets to listen to the movies charge $7 and also give access to the computers as well. PCs to surf the Internet or play these games would not have to be so beefy.

While I do travel a lot and enjoy the places I go to.
With these kind of changes, the getting there could also be fun as well.

It is so nice while on the plane mainly because it is one of the only places where there is no cells phones, No co worker and most of the time no one asking you questions so all I have to do is sit back and listen to my MP3 player to all the music I love with OUT interruption, Since I was the DJ ALL the music on my player is the best.

My favorite activity on a plane is looking at the HOT female flight attendants and their gorgeous, shapely bodies as they walk by my row numerous times during the flight. Chatting them up while taking a stretch is fun, too. I consider myself especially lucky if there is a HOT girl sitting in the same row as I am. It sure makes the uncomfortable seats more bearable!

I never run out of power. I can do it in a cramped space. I can pick up where I left off after I have had to get up to let fellow passenges in or out. I can bring exciting reading. I don't suffer atrocious airline sound or see bad movies in sub-VHS quality with views obscured by headrests and stewards. If my eyes get tired, I can plug in my MP3 player with my in-ear Shure headphones and block out most all of the sounds I don't want to hear..

an iPlod.

Creative Zen Micro. I'd put it up against an iPod Mini any day of the week. Everything the iPod has plus FM radio, recorder, and replaceable battery.

I fly a lot, well I used to. And since ''used to'' refers to me being a kid, flying alone across country to visit family, I usually read books, listened to my CD Player (yuck... who has CDs anymore? ...lol) or slept. sometimes I might be seated next to a nice old lady that would talk to me.

Drinking !!!

I work. I work on my Powerpoint presentations which I'll be giving --- I'm a keynote speaker. I'm personalizing the presentation to the upcoming client. I've downloaded all the files, pictures, info that I need prior to leaving. I have everything I need and a zippy IBM Thinkpad to work on with an extra battery in the DVD slot.

I put in the 3M privacy screen, a set of earbuds so I can pay attention to the audio effects, and I work work work. I try to ignore the stupid, useless, boring and intrusive sightseeing announcements from the pilot, the rotten service of inedible crap from the harried and hardworking flight attendants, the curiousity and garrulousness of my seatmates. I pay extra or work hard at getting an exit row so I have the room to work without the seat in front leaning back and destroying my screen.

Then, when done with that, I put in a training DVD to hone my Photoshop skills.

On the way home, I put in the DVD drive and throw in a current movie that I choose instead of the pap the airlines throw at me.

I mostly read to keep me distracted. I'm the sort of person that simply can NOT sleep on any form of transportation. This can sometimes be extremely frustrating as when I went from Melbourne to London via about half a dozen other stops on a cheap flight. 36 or so hours later and feeling like death I finally arrived and slept for 15 hours straight without even changing position.