When you're on those long flights, don't you get sick of that feeling that you're stuck in a steel coffin? Doesn't it just get so old and boring after a while, until you could throw those peanuts at the crying baby? Well, now if you follow these five easy steps, you'll be fine.


The offered games on the menu in front of you can provide at least some entertainment. They're worth mentioning anyway. A popular airline in July of 2009 was offering not only violent shoot-em-up Doom, but also Tower Toppler. Too soon? Guess not.


Reading material is very important of course, but make sure you bring the right kind. A few magazines are okay if you're just flying a few hundred miles, but for this, you'll want the big guns. Bring at least four different books of varying length. Nothing too difficult, but not too easy either. Make sure they are of wildly different genres, with similar non-fiction counterparts. Science Fiction and real science. Fantasy or Western and History. Romance and Psychology. Whether or not you'll finish them is not the point. Some people bring huge book and try to finish it on the flight. Bad idea.


The same can be said for music. Don't just bring metal. That will get old after 6 hours of staring at the ocean, or even worse, the people to either side of you because you didn't get a window seat. Bring every possible genre that you have even the slightest interest in. Mix and match. And anyway, if you have only one genre on your ipod or whatever mp3 player you use, you're going to be in for a long flight.


And of course, make sure you have some kind of movie player, be it a small portable DVD player with screen or a full-fledged laptop. A few seasons of a TV show can be awesome for part of the flight, but also at least one really mellow movie, and one really exciting one.


The most important thing, however, is oftentimes the most overlooked. Get the right seat. It is imperative that you not wait until the last moment to book your tickets. Do what you can to get a good deal of course, but never book from a setup that has no seat choice. If you need to, refer to the Airline's website for the seating diagram, and make sure it displays what's been taken before you.


If you want the bulkhead, you may have to book way in advance, but doing so may also give you a better deal as well. If you want a window seat, make sure it's not right over the wing. Some airlines will show this on the diagram. Some won't. If in doubt, don't get a window seat in the middle of the plane. Again, booking early is your friend. One more thing to keep in mind about window seats is, if you're flying along the coast for part of the journey; think about which side the ocean will be on. This will make a lot of difference after 10 hours.


Keep your options open on long flights. You're going to be spending a long time in a cramped space. You have to keep your mind occupied. When you get to wherever it is that you're going, you probably won't need any of it. But it will be worth lugging it all around Europe, if you didn't lose your mind on the way there.