9 Easy & Simple Ways to Kill Time during Airport Layover

Most frequently or not, airport layovers can be inevitable for the travelers. The thought of being stuck in an airport with time to kill can be nerve-racking for even the savviest travelers. So you are trapped in a 5 hour layover, what do you do? You probably hunker down with a magazine or start chewing candies in Candy Crush – But do 5 hours fly so easily? I guess I have to choose the opposite number… Then, how do you kill the time during layovers? Why not be active enough to find creative ways to entertain yourself between flights… How? We are slowly getting into it…

Sleeping Kills Time like Nothing Else
Yes! You heard me; long breaks at airport can be the right time to get your eyes shut & relax like a child. If you are like me who doesn’t need a second invitation to lie down for a sleep, the terminal bench is the best to get some Z’s. Depending on the versatility of various airports, you can have sleeping sections or special sleep chairs that can help you get the ideal sleep. If you have never slept in the airport before, this wonderful guide — sleeping in airport can help you get over the line of anxiety.

Time to Network your Social Connections
Free time offers you privilege to surf through the internet browsing system and make endless social connections. Most airports offer free Wi-Fi hotspots for the travelers, which gives you opportunity to connect to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.How about you update a status in FB mentioning the long layover you are facing at the airport? How about a dummy selfie to upload in Instagram? You can also make video call with your family or friends.
Make sure you have enough battery in your cell phone before hitting the trip.

Work out & Meditation
Oh Hell Yeah!Tap on your gym shoes & Buckle up! It’s time for some exercise. Nowadays, many airports have yoga studios & fitness facilities that offer free areas for travelers to work out before they get in their flight. Carve out your personal space and get on with some deep-breathing & muscle relaxing exercises. Stretch up with few rounds of push-ups and start the cardio workouts. No gym? Don’t worry, you can charge down for a lap or two around the gate and terminal to start the blood flow.

Create a Quick Reunion with Find My Friends or Hemisphere
Hey! May be your friend is hanging at the same airport but you don’t have any clue about it. A quick way to locate their whereabouts is via Find My Friends if you are using Apple Phones or Hemisphere, if you are on Android. Hemisphere and Find My Friends can be said as the alternative successor of Google Latitude that retired on Aug 9th, 2013. Did you find your old friend at the airport? Eat up all the leisure time by having small reunion with your friend. Amazing, right?

Hunger Invitation – Eat like a King
​The terminals of various airports are packed with high-class restaurants offering dining and drinking facilities. Take a sneak peak of your favorite food before you march down to the board. If you are new to the airport and don’t know much about the culture, the regional cuisine should be the first choice of your hunger invitation. If you have missed some food during your packing, this is the time you pick up plane food. (Remember: Don’t eat a lot before boarding. A bite of local cuisine, or a burger and a beer can make up for your appetite)

Give yourself a Treat
Whether you are flying for the first time or are a frequent traveler, pre-flight massage is an ultimate dream. Well, you can be your own fairy and fulfill the dream. Numerous airports all around the world provide spas and massage centers to keep up with the tempo of travelers. Skim the butter from your nerves with a muscle-tingling massage, before you take the board. A facial treatment is another option you have with long layovers. Make sure you don’t forget the time of boarding, while you are having a time of your life. Trust me! It happens: D

Enter the Zone of Audio-book and Podcast
Do you love reading? May be airport is not the ideal place for you to test your reading skills. Most flyers find it daunting to concentrate on their novels or magazines at airport. Why?
The uttering high-pitch volume of travelers, screeching of children, turmoil caused by rolling bags & frequent announcement – it’s enough to distract any good reader. The answer to your problem – Audio-books. If you are a reading freak, you may want to connect to sites like Audible that gives you 1.5 million options to choose from. Learning has never been such easy, right? Looking for more entertainment? There are hundreds of thousands of free podcasts to browse from that can be your source of entertainment at any given day. Don’t forget to join your favorite podcasters and download loads of audio-books before your trip.

Do you love Shopping or Window Shopping?
​Sometimes, I feel like airports are walking-talking shopping malls that have planes only for the purpose of showcasing. I’m just being sarcastic but somehow, the words reflect the true culture of airport nowadays. I mean, it has every single thing you will find in a freaking shopping mall. Nonetheless, if you skipped shopping day during your tour, airport shopping gives you a wonderful chance to shop few items for your friends and family. Where else can you buy some decent tax and duty-free items rather than the glorified airport complex?

Friendly Tip: Usually, the airport items are pretty high stacked in terms of price… So you may want to have some window shopping before hitting the purchase zone…

Enjoy a Movie or Series with Netflix
Who doesn’t get bored with the repeating airport television lineup? Unless you are CNN addict monster, you have to admit that the television in airport just gets over your head. What is the solution? Netflix – Oh Yeah!
Get away from those infomercials, trying-to-make some news kind of jokes of television. It’s time to watch your favorite show on your phone. Join the community of Netflix with an easy sign up procedure and get into the zone of your all time favorite movies and series. Note: If you are flying abroad, Netflix may not work. But wait! There may be another way around. See how you can watch Netflix internationally

In Conclusion:
This is it! All kinds of activities you can do to keep yourself away from the devil of boredom… I skipped some genuine tools of leisure time like playing games, as it is the most obvious thing one does during layovers. I gave a list of my 9 favorite tips that has helped me kill my time during layovers over the years. I hope it helps you in your journey too… Have a safe flight!