Back when you were sifting through the UCAS brochure it probably seemed like a brilliant idea to go to Uni as far away from home as possible. Now reality has set in and perhaps you realise traveling 450 miles to get home is not only expensive but it’s also time consuming.
Naturally your parents presume the six hour train journey will be dedicated to your studies, surely there is no better time to read that book on quantum physics or write the essay about 20th Century American Literature you’ve been putting off. But you had a house party last night and your heads a bit tender. Three hours sleep makes reading a book about the nanoscopic scale impossible and you can’t face opening your laptop.
Five ways to pass the time
Travelling solo?
The red bull you had for breakfast means you are wide awake and restless. You start looking through your bag in the hope you get inspired, post its’ come out, it’s too easy to just sit and doodle…
Artist October Jones became an internet sensation when he posted his train drawings on twitter in early 2014. Since then, many aspiring cartoonists have tried their hand at turning commuters into well-known characters. Why not kill some time on that long journey home by having a go yourself?
Post it Guess Who?
Once you exhaust your drawing skills but not your post it supply, how about a game of ‘guess who’? You all write the name of a celebrity on a post it and stick it on your mates forehead, making them ask question like ‘Am I female?’ etc. until they guess who they are. Of course, this only works if you have travelling companions; or if there are like-minded, bored strangers in your carriage!
Mad Libs
Mad Libs is an app ideal for any English Literature students still wobbly with their adjectives and adverbs but wanting a laugh at the same time. You ask each person to fill in a gap in the sentence that requires a noun, or an adjective etc. without giving them the entire sentence. Mix this game with a vodka and tonic from the buffet car and it should throw up quite a few laughs.
http://www.madlibs.com/apps/40_new_mad_libs_ios_app_is_available_now
Never have I ever
All the people in your group put out their hands. Each person then takes it in turns to make the statement ‘Never have I ever…’ such as ‘never have I ever belly danced, skinny dipped, ordered pizza to a neighbour’s house’ etc. If you have actually done something someone else mentions you put a finger down. The person who still has at least one finger up when everyone else has their fingers down is the winner. The prize is up to you, perhaps dare them to do one of the things mentioned…
Would you rather?
Would you rather live one 1,000 year life or live ten 100 year lives? Would you rather be attacked by one duck shaped horse or fifty duck sized horses? Would you rather be stuck on a train for five hours with your mates without food or in a car for five hours with your parents but with pizza? Hours of fun trying to find suitably cringe worthy ‘would you rather’ scenarios to make your companions squirm. Just be aware of the other passengers!
So you see, a long train journey doesn’t have to be a case of getting from A to B, it is possible to actually enjoy the journey and have some fun. Of course, if your parents ask, you finished the essay and started the next one. Just make sure you take the post it saying ‘The Queen’ off your forehead before they meet you on the platform…