Picture this, you are travelling on some form of public transport, whether it’s a bus, train, tram…let’s just face it, it’s boring. There’s not an awful lot to do, apart from stare out the window, looking at the uneventful surroundings passing by. However, there is usually an incident from the local yob, which generally results in either a removal from the transport or a punch up with the driver or conductor. It can also be quite fascinating to listen to the aggravating Nokia ringtones, which go off at completely irrelevant times. Warning for regular public transport passengers, watch out for the ticketless youths who pretend to be asleep when the conductor comes around, and it’s always amusing to watch certain individuals get on at one stop, and spend the whole train journey in the toilet until they arrive at their destination.

Also, don’t think for one minute the ‘quiet zone’ is actually quiet. Look forward to the variety of mobile ringtones, pointless conversations on the mobile, e.g. ‘I’m on the train, I’m on the train…’ and last but not least, the iPod user, who thinks their music can only be heard by them.

As a regular public transport user myself, I do know an awful lot from my frequent journey’s back and forth, how to keep yourself amused on one of these journeys. If you have recently become, or are a regular public transport user. Perhaps the tips below may help those long, tiresome journeys turn into fun and exciting ones. They may leave you wanting to travel by public transport more and more often, let’s just hope.

  • One item that was invented to help you survive long journeys was the iPod. Okay, it wasn’t just created for helping you survive lengthy journeys, it was created for many other reasons too. But it is one of the ‘most purchased items’ of the 21st century, and here’s why. It can hold between 240-15000 songs, it runs on a chargeable battery (so don’t worry, you won’t need to carry a charger around with you, because that would be too much extra baggage for you!) And the good thing is, it is pocket size, so it can just slot into your pocket. The volume on it can go as loud or quiet as you wish, so you can block out those previously mentioned annoying Nokia ringtones, or the local youth shouting at the ticket conductor, because they refused to get off the transport due to a non-existing ticket. They were warned!
  • Reading, yes I know what you are thinking, too much effort to get a book out, open it, and strain your eyes attempting to read the small print. But surprisingly, once you get into a book, you’ll find you wont be distracted by other people for much longer.
  • Long journeys are in fact the perfect opportunity for catching up on yesterday’s homework or last week’s coursework with the deadline now exceeded.
  • For the more technically minded teenagers, perhaps bringing a DVD player or Laptop could pass the time.
  • You could always send a quick text to your mate asking them to ring you back for a chat or to sort out this evening’s arrangements, because you’ve got no credit- again!
  • Why not wonder around looking for the obligatory newspaper that has been discarded or stuffed down between two seats somewhere.
  • If you’re really bored, you can always people watch- looking at their facial expressions, their sense of fashion and working out what job they do.

So, when all the above are put into action, perhaps travelling by public transport wont be the same as it used to be now!