On the plane, I was impressed by the elderly gentleman playing chess on his iPad. He stared at the same screen as I walked past him on three washroom breaks. “I want to be him when I’m old,” I thought, comparing his chosen activity to the 123 screens per second approach of the average TikTok user I also passed on the way to the bathroom.
And no, the older man playing chess wasn’t senile, staring at the same screen for no reason (I don’t think)!
And so, how can we cure boredom and grow our intellectual prowess when we travel, you wonder? I’m glad you asked! Try cultivating these four helpful strategies:
1. Cultivate an innate curiosity for the wonders of modern travel technology!
The technology they have is fantastic nowadays at airports! For example, while waiting to board a flight, the announcement said, “If you try to board the plane out of order from the group number you are assigned, our system knows and will automatically alert us!”
Aren’t you glad for the prowess of modern technological innovations?
“Plus,” I thought, “the group number is printed on your ticket in bold letters, and the people who check your tickets can read.”
Still, take a moment to be impressed, friend!
2. Cultivate a deep understanding of every detail of the flight emergency plan!
“Jump onto the evacuation slide and move AWAY from the airplane,” we were told in the safety demo. After this talk, my husband and I put our heads together to remember the relevant details. “But once we’ve jumped onto the slide, what direction should we travel again?
Was it TOWARDS or AWAY from the plane?
How will we keep all these details straight?” we wondered.
Thankfully, however, we have an opportunity to stretch our minds as we deeply ponder these details!
3. Cultivate suggestions for improvement to help the airline you are travelling with!
On our first travel day, two airplanes returned to the gate for “flagged maintenance concerns.” Really! Who cares about stuff like that?
We have been ignoring the check engine light on our car for WEEKS, for example, and nothing bad has EVER happened!
And besides, we want to GET THERE FAST!
Thankfully, there are people like us who can offer suggestions to the flight maintenance crew on behalf of all of the customers surrounding us, all of whom had similar thoughts to ours, as we could tell by overhearing their exultations after this announcement!
4. Cultivate thankfulness!
My strategy is to consider how things could be even worse and to develop thankfulness for how things are!
For example, I left my four-footed companion at home*, so I’m thankful we don’t also have to find the “relief areas for service dogs,” which seem to appear randomly at the worst timing, in addition to navigating our lost baggage, our lost connections (and where DID that other child go, anyway?)!
And cultivate thankfulness.
The point is that maybe you won’t grow intellectually, on second thought, but you’ll have fun even amidst the ridiculousness of life! And that sure beats being on the verge of having a stroke, like the guy standing next to us in line almost did, as his face turned purple and he blurted incoherently and randomly during our wait in this lineup for 1.5 hours.
It SAYS “Customer Assistance”!
I’m not sure how his “having a stroke” strategy works in his favour, but we all have our methods!
I hope some of these helpful strategies work for you!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Footnotes
*My dog IS a “service dog” because he is a sleep aid. (His sleeping example reminds me that if I had food and time outside today, and someone loves me, I have nothing to worry about, so I can sleep, too!)
Photo credit: People on plane by Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash
Restoring Life 