The United States is set to prohibit passengers traveling on 56 routes to the US from the Middle East and North Africa from bringing devices larger than a smartphone on board. That’s why Royal Jordanian Airlines is offering some advice on how travelers can spend their time on a 12-hour flight with no laptops or tablets:
If none of those appeal, don’t despair. There are other things you can do to pass the time:
- Eat an apple, savoring it fully, engaging with each flavor as you would a friend you were once very close with but haven’t seen since childhood.
- Memorize times tables up to 20. If you already know those, memorize as many digits of pi as you can.
- Decide, finally, what your favorite color is.
- This one is a game. The rules are: Say “bomb” as quietly as you can, inaudible to anyone else, when the plane takes off. Say it again once every 10 minutes, getting louder each time. To win the game, people should only hear you saying “bomb” once, when the plane lands, but not before. You must get louder each time.
- Sleep.
- If you are a US citizen, hand-write a letter to your local congressperson offering your views on the laptop ban. Then rewrite as many versions as you can, signing a different name to each.
- Read one page of Ulysses by James Joyce. Then convince yourself you understand it.
- Consider this question: “Is the eventuality of death the only reason we value life?” Alternatively: “Would you rather be a fruit or a vegetable? Why?”
- Make a list of all of the people in your life and separate them into the categories “very important,” “somewhat important,” “not very important,” and “deeply unimportant.”
- Pray that your checked laptop hasn’t burst into flames.
- Think about what it would be like if, instead of sitting on a jet plane for 12 hours, you were on a squalid boat for a month as a refugee whose home has been destroyed.
- Use your smartphone. It’s practically an iPad anyway.
Let us know if you have any other suggestions. Safe travels!