What Do You Do in a Plane for 25 Hours?

It turns out that Australia is pretty far away. When you look up the flights on Expedia, next to the flight times there’s a little note that says +2 days. I don’t even think they’re taking into account relativistic effects with that number. I’m heading for Sydney on Monday, and that means I’m looking at 25 solid hours trapped in a metal tube with strangers who talk like Crocodile Dundee. I’m considering trying to dig my way directly through the Earth instead.

My question for you: what’s your gadget strategy for long-haul flying? I’m going on board with an iPod, a laptop and a PSP, but somehow that array of hardware seems pitifully inadequate as a barrier between me and psychotic boredom. Even taking into account my satchel of grey-market pharmaceuticals.

There must be something I’m missing. Maybe Qantas has hypersleep now.

Related Topics: News
  • http://youtube.com/churchhatestucker Church

    You might try “books.”

    It’s archaic tech, so you might have to dig around a bit to find one, but the power requirements are insanely low. You’ll find that they hold the equivalent of around thirty hours of audio in a compact form-factor. (The “Stephenson” branded ones are even longer.)

  • 0megapart1cle

    Sure, you get a long playtime, but there is too little voice acting (other than the voices in your head, but I tire of them quickly), and the cutscenes are so quick, they practically seem like static images. Gameplay is repetitive, and replayability is low. And multiplayer is nonexistent! The Graphics are positively archaic!! (I keep waiting for a terminal window to pop up, but it never comes!)

    So yea, I give these “books” a 1 out of 10. Maybe the sequel next year, they will up their game.

  • meredith81

    If hypersleep existed, I think I’d use it even on short flights. I hate air travel. I have to second the books, though. It has to be a really good one, but that’s the one thing I find keeps my attention better than anything else. Throw in a couple of movies and a game, and you should just about make it. Good luck.

  • gratiaplena

    My GOD. 25 hours without internet access…that’s almost as bad as the Trail of Tears. I can’t even comprehend it. It’s a suicide mission. Suicide.

  • tereglith

    I, too suggest books – if a system has been around unchanged for four hundred years, it has to be good. I don’t, however, suggest books about the insanely complex mechanics of every part of a plane, or dangerous weather patterns, or say, Shangri-La, or things like that – try ones that would scare you on a cruise, like a book about giant squids or something. For a flight that long, I would suggest a page total of around two to three thousand – fifteen hundred for thick prose or small type.

    Also, take a couple of games that you can play for along time without actually noticing the passage of time – i.e., you sit down to play for a half hour and find yourself quitting three hours later – that don’t require internet access. Crazy as it may seem, there are some out there. Like N. That would be a good one to download before you go. http://www.wayoftheninja.com

  • tereglith

    Woops – I thought that was the link, but apparently it’s not. however, they probably have a place where you can download it at http://www.numa.net

  • tereglith

    Crap! I thought that was the N User Map Archive. Oh well, never mind about N. It’s been around so long, you probably have it anyways.

  • Emma

    im gonna be real, just drink.
    dont drink right away though..it’s not that good of an idea
    but seriously the flight ITSELF is 25 hours? doesn’t the plane need to stop and get some gas or something?
    i once had a 2 hour flight + 8 hour layover + 10 hour flight
    which is alright i guess…
    the layover was painful and the after 10 hours was even more painful stuck in a window seat with two large men..
    anyways
    drink, play some psp, watch some movies, try to sleep
    do u get at least an outlet for your laptop? b/c that’s not so bad..
    a few episodes of naruto and 25 hours is gone..

  • Kemper

    Watch movies/tv shows on the I-Pod and laptop until both batteries die. Then read until you realize you’ve been sitting in the same position so long that blood clots are possible, and that you are so tired of reading that you have become illiterate.
    .
    At this point, a combo of your gray market drugs and liquor will kill a few hours. Passing out will buy you a couple more hours. You’ll still have 10 hours to go, but the entire plane should have gone completely insane by then so there should be lots to do as you fight for survival against the hordes of passengers who have gone feral seeking more batteries for electronic devices.

  • tereglith

    Ooh, yeah, you may wanna sneak on some sporks to protect any extra batteries you bring. Most lethal weapon you’re allowed to bring in a carry-on.

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