Travel

Your Carry-On Companion: Fun Ways to Stay Entertained While Traveling

One of the biggest challenges that we face when travelling is how to fight boredom and keep ourselves entertained during long layovers, flights, train rides, car journeys, or even just a long commute to and from work during the week. The average person spends at least one hour travelling to and from work while others can have much longer commutes depending on where they live in relation to their work place or if their job entails travelling abroad for business.

Happily there are many carry-on companions that can offer fun entertainment while traveling offering solutions that can educate, stimulate your brain, or provide relaxing entertainment whilst you are traveling to your destination. Whether choosing a favourite film, playing a game, or reading your favourite book on your smartphone or a digital device, you will have so many choices that before you know it the “fasten your seatbelts” sign will be on and you will be landing.

Entertainment Options When Travelling

There are several different offline entertainment options that you can enjoy that are not only fun but can provide mental stimulation and even have educational value. What better time to learn uninterrupted than on an eight hour direct flight?

Podcasts and audiobooks can offer thought provoking discussions as well as enjoyable stories. You can download your favourite podcast or book before you take off from platforms like Spotify or Amazon Kindle Audible who offer thousands of different choices and genres. Audiobooks and podcasts are perfect for individuals who get motion sickness whilst travelling as there is no need to look at a screen. Even if looking at a screen does not cause any issues if you are an efficient multitasker, you can enjoy an audiobook or podcast whilst you are doing something else.

Offline mobile games and apps are another perfect way to wile away the time. Many apps can be downloaded and played offline. Your progress will be stored and then updated when you go online next so there is no worry of losing any of your progress.

Explore Some of The Popular Games To Play While Travelling

Are you setting off on holiday or a business trip and wondering how you can wile away your time? If so then you should explore the best games to play while traveling that will keep you entertained whether with family or on a solo journey.

Classic boardgames like Chess, Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Scrabble have been adapted for digital platforms and can be played with friends or solo. These online games do not require the same amount of space as the traditional versions and can be easily played on a device screen. They also keep track of your score so there is no need to use a pen and paper to track your progress.

There are many social offline casino games that can be enjoyed as well such as poker and blackjack or Online slots. These online games are a far cry from the clunky old machines that are played in the pub. They can be easily downloaded to your smartphone and many of them can be enjoyed offline playing with fun money. These video game style games are the perfect way to immerse yourself into thrilling fun as you travel to your destination. Many of them can be played for free or by using a casino bonus. Check the bonus page on leading online platforms to discover which one has the best free spins bonus offers and can be played offline as well.

Time to stop staring out the window at the clouds and win some extra money which will enhance your holiday budget. If you want to practice your language skills before you arrive at your destination consider downloading Duolingo which makes learning a new language fun with gamification features and virtual challenges that will keep you coming back to learn the next segment. Not only will this keep you entertained on your trip, it might even come in handy when you are trying to order dinner at a restaurant or asking for directions.

MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) are a perfect solution for gamers that prefer playing with their friends or in large groups. These multiplayer games can be downloaded and played on a tablet, smartphone, or any other device of your choice keeping you connected with friends when you are travelling and abroad.

Platformers are games that can be played on a handheld console such as a Nintendo Switch where you can enjoy the thrill of playing timeless games like Super Mario or anything else in the library, you simply need to download the game of your choice and off you go.. Alternatively there are other options to explore such as Hollow Knight which is a very complex and lengthy game, however you have loads of time to kill so why not spend it in a virtual universe.

Social games are perfect if you do not want to play games with other members of your party on your road trip. These games are played on social platforms such as Facebook or other social media sites that feature games. Candy Crush is one of the most popular games that are played on social platforms and can offer moderate challenges and progression which does make it rewarding and so worth exploring.

Online puzzles are another way that you can keep your brain challenged for short or long periods depending on what you enjoy playing. Games like online Mahjong offer quick bursts of fun gameplay where you must race against the clock to match all of the pieces on the board. Word search puzzles are also very stimulating and not only improve your observation skills, they also teach you new words and help to improve your existing vocabulary.

21 Questions is a perfect group game for those individuals that want to test their trivia knowledge. No gameboard or props are needed to play, just a creative mind that needs to create questions that can challenge the others in your group. The rules are simple, the game starts with one person asking a question, the rest of the group must try to answer it and the person that responds the fastest with the correct answer wins the round and then gets to choose the next question and so on until 21 questions have been answered. The person that answers the most questions correctly is the winner

Uno is a timeless game that many of us played for hours on end as children and can be played by two or more people. The rules are straightforward and players need to remember to should UNO when they are down to their last card, otherwise they will be penalised.

If you are travelling with younger family members then keeping them occupied is crucial so bring games and other activities to keep them occupied and you will no longer be plagued by the question, “how much longer until we get there?”.

Brantley Jackson, dad and writer at 'Not in the Kitchen Anymore' is well-known in the parenting world. He writes about his experiences of raising children and provides advice to other fathers. His articles are widely praised for being real and relatable. As well as being an author, he is a full-time dad and loves spending time with his family. His devotion to his kids and love of writing drives him to motivate others.