100 Ways to Keep Yourself Amused and Productive in the Air

My GoGo is GoneGone!

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TF! I’ve mapped-out a to-do list for my three-hour westbound flight. We hit 10,000 feet and I try to log-in. No Wi-Fi. No way, no how.

The apologetic flight attendant attempts a reset and I get 20 glorious minutes of connectivity. And then BOOM! GoGo is gone again. I see that ominous little red x over the icon. I was in the midst of sending an e-mail. Yeah, it sucks.

But that’s why we all need a plan B.

We’ve come to expect and plan for connectivity on earth and in the sky. Even though in-air Wi-Fi didn’t become a reality until 2008, we now usually feel entitled to it. I remind myself that someone figured out how to connect people 10,000 up in the air to everyone in the world and that’s pretty impressive. It’s a convenience…not a human right.

I’ve started a list of things you can do without Wi-Fi on long flights. Let’s see if we can get to 100. Just add your suggestions (serious or whimsical) to the Comments.

1. Bring a magazine or two along. Flipping pages (old school) can be therapeutic.
2. Download a movie before you board.
3. Resolve to teach yourself a new language and stream a foreign tongue through your ear buds
4. Talk to the person next to you (provided he or she is receptive).
5. Chat with the flight attendants (ditto) when they are off duty.

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