There comes a time in your life where you decide to travel outside the country completely on your own. The forces that push us towards this decision are unknown but one thing is constant: Layovers. Long flights are punctuated by those endless hours of sitting around your boarding gate, waiting for the flight to arrive.

It’s always nice to have something to do during this time. After recently plowing through nine hours of waiting time in Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, I have deemed myself a travel expert and will thus enlighten you on what I did to make the time fly.

1. Explore the area

You can’t go exploring without prior knowledge of your boarding gate. So, when you find your gate, you can wander around the surroundings in concentric circles, straight lines or whatever path you choose to take. It is a great way to pass the time and know what facilities are available for you to use. Downsides: You have to take all your stuff with you and ugh walking.

2. Window shop

Nothing eats up time like wandering into expensive shops with no intention to purchase anything. You can enjoy the sight of the riches, browse through stuff you may actually buy and basically look for what to spend your money on. Retail therapy will always be an option if you are willing to go for it. Downsides: Same as above and you might be tempted to spend the money you don’t have.

3. Sleep

One of my all-time favorites is sleeping. Find a cozy position on the hard chairs, stretch out and sail away to dreamland. The downsides are that you may wake up with an achy back and/or someone could steal all your stuff while you sleep. Okay, that has never happened to me but I still think it is a strong possibility, especially when you’re alone. So, let me rephrase: sleep lightly, possibly with limbs stretched over your belongings as a makeshift security system.

4. Visit a restaurant

One of the features of many airports is a food court nearby. You could go there to eat and replenish your strength. It’s also a great location to people watch (next). The downside is food costs money.

5. People watch

This is another favorite. When experiencing boredom, take a seat and just look around. Look at the people around you. Make conversation with them. Try to guess their backstories. Create cool backstories for them. It is a great way to exercise the mind and fuel creative imagination. Downside: someone may catch you staring and think you’re weird.

6. Play free games (if provided by airport)

This depends on the airport. At CDG, there were gaming stations filled with old-school arcade games and PS4 games, all free. I am not a gamer but I still went over and had a blast for about three hours. I literally lost myself in arcade games like PacMan and Donkey Kong as well as PS4 games like Street Fighter and Lego Avengers. It is a good way to spend the time alone. Downsides: Sitting or standing for long periods of time is strenuous and not all airports provide this.

7. Abuse the airport Wi-Fi

When free Wi-Fi calls, it is our duty to answer. Have fun using your social media for hours or watching funny videos or whatever it is that you do. Downsides: Airport Wi-Fi may not be speedy; Airport may not offer free Wi-Fi; Social media timeline may not be popping.

8. Make a new friend

Find someone in a similar boredom rut as yourself and start talking. It’s a really simple and easy way to pass time. You might end up meeting someone amazing… you never know. Downsides: Talking to people takes confidence; it might be awkward at first; ugh people!

9. Read a book/watch a movie

Ah, the classics are being thrown in now. Read a nice book to pass the time. If you have a laptop with movies, watch a couple of movies. Of course, these are obvious and are just put here on a last case scenario basis. Downsides: If you’re a quick reader, you might finish the book too early and thus be empty handed.

10. Catch up on work or something

The best time to do your work is when you have nothing better to do such as during a long layover. You get to finish the work now so you can be free of it later. The downside is that it’s boring. But, productive boredom is surely better than comatose boredom.

There you have it! Now go off into airports armed with inside knowledge on surviving layovers. Thank me later.