My daily commute takes about 1,5 hours one way. I spend so much time on trains and in railway stations, by now I have perfected the art of fighting boredom when traveling. Here’s what I do to keep from getting bored.
The first thing you need is a big enough bag that is sturdy enough to hold a ton of stuff. The bag I bring with me on a daily basis fits everything perfectly and most of the stuff I carry with me is related to my being able to have something to do on the train. Of course there’s other useful stuff in there, but you will just have to check the video I made a while back to see what’s in my bag.
I always carry my netbook, smartphone, mp3-player and a book. Then there’s the free newspapers like Metro, Spits & de Pers that I can also read. The netbook is in there not only for entertainment purposes: I also use it for teaching and of course when I’m in school to take notes. I have a ton of music on it though, more than on my mp3-player and I listen to it when my player runs out of batteries. I also have a few movies on there and I usually put whatever TV show I’m watching on there as well. Since my commute takes about 1,5 hours one way, it is plenty of time to watch a movie or, one or two episodes from my favorite TV show. Beats boredom every time.
My smartphone is my pal and extended office together with my netbook. It allows me to send and reply e-mails and update my Twitter at will. If I still have a few e-mails left to reply at the end of the day, I can just leave as I can reply them from my Blackberry, which is very convenient and I really don’t know what I’d do without it. There is always more work or uni related stuff for me to do and my train travels have been perfect for that as well. I graded a bunch of tests while traveling and have read more articles than I ever would when I would be sitting at home.
Speaking of reading, every since I started traveling this much, I have also gotten into reading a lot more. During the dark winter months I tend to read less though, as it is already/ still dark by the time I catch a train and the darkness just makes me sleepy. So in winter I tend to opt for dozing off while listening to music rather than reading a book. Today, was the first day I left the house at 7.30 without having to switch on my bike lights so I’m sure that come very soon I will be able to get a decent amount of ready done.
Listening to music is something I can do any time of day, so naturally, my train time is mostly spent listening to music. I have a tendency to just put my player on shuffle and be surprised. Occasionally I’ll listen to an actual album, but mostly it’s just random songs. No matter what I do, even if it’s just sitting there, I am always listening to music. It drowns out the sound of the trains, other people’s conversations and it makes me relax more than anything.
So plenty of things to do during my daily commute: reading, music, watching videos, work and more!
Q: How do you keep from getting bored when you’re traveling?
One response to “How not to get bored when traveling”
I travel a lot too. On a good day, 1,5 hours each way (car, train, train, bus), and when I have a crappy connection it can take up to 2,5 hours. I mostly listen to music, especially in the morning when I am still kind of tired. Also I read (study)books and magazines.