Six Relatively Easy Ways to Spend Time on the Long Way

I was inspired to write this topic by a recent trip-trip to Russia (4 trains, several buses in 5 days) and the experience of previous no less intense and long trips.

So, actually, what is the problem? Every person who gets on a train (plane, bus) gets at his disposal several tens of hours of free time. Which, if desired, can be spent with the same efficiency as on the "mainland". But, believe my experience, most people do not take advantage of the situation, full of calm and contemplation.

Surprisingly, many of my friends who fervently insist on the benefits of time management and measure their every hour on the “useful - useless” scale, after boarding the car, recline with shapeless amoebas and don’t do anything useful at all times. I personally observed situations when passengers didn’t read, talk, listen to the player on the bus for 12 hours, for example. In general, did not do anything. As many as 12 hours, and sometimes more! How much time - and all in vain ...

The problem, in my opinion, is that most people simply do not know how to occupy themselves on a long journey. I will try to help them by suggesting six relatively simple ways to effectively spend time on the road.


All options related to inhuman fatigue (illness, etc) are not considered in this article. We are talking about people who, in a normal (working!) Situation, by chance (boss) get into transport.

1. Read
On the train (plane, bus) they usually read the press (from experience: a pair of thick newspapers or one magazine is enough for a maximum of one hour) and books (the speed of reading may depend on the text). As a rule, it’s more efficient to take a book (and more than one) with you on a long journey. Moreover, mind you, a book can be directly related to your professional activity: “C ++ Programming”, which you had long dreamed of reading, or “Network Marketing,” which has been waiting its turn for six months. Thus, knowing about upcoming trips, you can pre-set aside books for reading on the road.

It’s more convenient to read on the train and on the plane than on the bus: there is practically no shaking. But on the bus, when he is traveling on the highway, you can read while sitting by the window. In any case, it is necessary to take into account the degree of lighting: on trains in the evening, bright light is turned off, and buses simply do not turn on. Take care of your eyes, and if it is already impossible to read, go to other ways to effectively spend time on the way.

Today, there are more modern reading options. You can use a device for reading books in electronic form (I will not give a link, there are quite a lot of them on the market). You can read from the screen of a laptop or mobile phone / PDA, since there are plenty of reading programs today. You can carry any large library with you. This, of course, is more convenient than books (for example, you can read in the dark), but there is a problem of energy consumption. Read about how to charge electronic devices on the go.

Reading text in electronic form also makes it possible to read articles and texts that have not reached their hands in the daily rush. I myself put (copy) the articles electronically into a separate folder, and then I read them on the road with a PDA. In my opinion, this is a good way to read what you do not have time, but really want to.

Finally, you can simply print everything interesting to read on the road, but at least it is not environmentally friendly. Let's think about nature, according to WWF advice .

2. Listen
In the train (plane, bus), many listen to music. In my opinion, listening to music during the day is inefficient, although it may be useful and beneficial, etc.
I suggest everyone listen to podcasts. Fortunately, there are now a lot of them on different topics (I will not give the link again, everything is already located). Efficiency is determined by content.
Have you ever listened to podcasts?
Have you listened to radio podcasts *** or podcasts ***?
So a long way is an occasion to try!

You cannot read in the dark, but you can listen. You do not want to “shine” with your laptop / PDA / etc., But you can listen. Do you want to just look out the window? But at this time you can listen!
In my opinion, podcasts are a universal and useful tool for spending time on the road. Personally, I listen to the recordings of radio programs "Echo of Moscow" , which I did not manage to hear for a week.

Almost all podcasts can be downloaded in mp3 format, so you can listen to them using your phone, player, PDA, etc.

You can also listen to audio books. Fortunately, there are more and more of them on sale (and online). I am sure that listening to a book (like reading) incredibly develops the imagination. Plus useful and practical. Just recently, I listened to Nietzsche "So said Zarathustra" ... A huge, I tell you, impression of the philosopher reading the chant.

Modern devices for playing music can last quite a while (for example, my IRiver player holds ~ 20 hours), so they are irreplaceable on the road. Phone, PDAs will require charging - more on that below.

3. See
Watching videos from a mobile phone or laptop will not surprise anyone. So on the road you can watch DVDs, downloaded videos, video castes, etc. It is a pity that this pleasure can not last long (up to 2.5 - 3 hours). Then - to recharge, and more about that - at the end of the article.

In addition, you can just look out the window and think (see below), you can die on a girl in a nearby compartment . Who likes more.

4. Think
How much is written about the roads that cleanse the soul! This is a philosophical issue requiring careful consideration. Without delving too much, I note that a person is on a journey as if in limbo between one and the other world, he is nowhere, he is (practically) nobody. This moment is like no other suitable for pondering your sinful life.problems and plans. Right now, when you don’t have to run anywhere, hurry, call, it's time to sit down and think, take stock, make plans.

The road is the time to look from the side at your life, relationships, work, friends. Now, from far away, much will be more visible to you ("Big is seen in the distance" © Yesenin).

In addition to personal reflection, you can also deal with the decision / planning of professional tasks. Do you need to “build a project”, “prioritize”, “define competencies”, etc.? Or maybe just make a list of tasks for the near future? Pen, paper or laptop - and go ahead, think! Enough time on the way.

5. Speak
This option applies to those who like (want, maybe) talk on the road. As you know, “carriage disputes are the last thing when there is nothing more to drink” (© “Time Machine”).

You can pour out the soul of a compartment neighbor, which, incidentally, is useful from the point of view of psychiatry. And you can discuss the problems of creating web 2.0 sites or the tenets of Zen Buddhism. The most important thing is that the conversation is fun. If not, see other ways to effectively spend time on the road.

6. Play
Games - an indispensable occupation of the passenger. Technical means (telephone, PDA, laptop, etc) are suitable for all 100 for these purposes. All problems again lie in recharging, about which - at the end of the article.

In addition to electronic, there are games using pens and paper. There are many of them, they are designed for one or more people. Look about them, for example, here and here .
Crosswords, scanwords, sudoku, etc. take it here. Although here you have to think (as in paragraph 3), but this is still a game, is not it? By the way, as an alternative, logical tasks and puzzles can be considered. I somehow took on the road a collection of such puzzles and had a rather exciting time.

You can play in the company (see here ), including cards. But the latest options are not for me. Most often I go alone, but I don’t want to play with fellow travelers.

So, I'm sure that you can choose an acceptable option for spending time on a long journey. Notice, I intentionally do not include in the list the traditional way of traveling in Russia: to get drunk, to fight, to forget. I am sure that in addition to beer (vodka), there are more useful and effective ways to spend time (see above).

PS About the problem of recharging electronic devices.
I must say that this is really a problem. Personally, I have not yet decided by and large.
In trains, you can recharge the device in outlets, which can be found in the car. There is a socket in the toilets and the vestibule opposite the toilet at the end of the carriage. Near the outlet is a ~ 220 V plate and an image of an electric shaver.

True, the outlet in the vestibule is accompanied by an inscription (somewhere in the form of a quality plate, somewhere on a piece of paper) that the voltage in the network can change, and this can lead to damage to the device. On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine that for the sake of charging the phone (PDA, laptop), someone will sit in the toilet or in the vestibule. There are other ways to do this.

There are sockets right in the car: in the reserved seat, if I’m not mistaken, the second and eighth compartments - places 8 and 30, in the compartment — exactly in the fifth compartment (places 17-20). The inscription ~ 50 V flaunts on these outlets, but this does not prevent the conductor from connecting, for example, a vacuum cleaner to her.

Finally, there is a socket opposite the compartment of conductors and actually in the compartment. Here, the conductors charge the needy phones (and so on). True, sometimes for money (50-100 rubles), but then - under surveillance or under lock and key. By the way, in any case, the device can be briefly charged by the train head in the head carriage.

To my question, how do the sockets in the car differ from those located in the compartment of conductors and at the head of the train, they answered me that the voltage in them can be tracked by a voltmeter (!), Therefore, breakage can be avoided.

On buses, you can charge your electronic device by agreement with the driver. A power outlet is in the front of the bus, a TV, a DVD player can be powered from it. As a rule, drivers allow recharging not often, but for money.

I will not say anything about airplanes - I flew a little, and when I flew, I did not look at sockets. Colleagues, complement!