Make a long layover bearable

Layover Survival Planner

This kit is free ~ print it straight from this page (File ~ Print ~ Save as PDF).

Back to the kit pageAll printable kits

Print this before you fly and fold it into your passport pocket. When the layover starts, spend five minutes on the planner page ~ a layover with a shape beats a layover you just endure. The bingo card is for when the shape runs out.

Map your layover

Five minutes at the arrival gate turns dead time into a small itinerary. Fill in the lines, then follow your own orders.

My next gate and how long it takes to walk there
Boarding time MINUS thirty minutes = my hard return time
The meal plan ~ what and where
The outlet plan ~ where I charge and for how long
One nice thing I will actually do ~ walk, window, book, nap
Water bottle filled? ~ find the fountain BEFORE you sit down
Where my passport and boarding pass live for the next few hours

Airport bingo

Five in a row wins. Prize: smug satisfaction and a story. Play solo or against whoever is stuck with you.

Someone sprints past dragging a roller bag
Gate change announced with a sigh heard rows away
A dog in the terminal (petting optional, wanting to obligatory)
Someone asleep in a truly impossible position
The charging station with every outlet taken
An announcement nobody can understand
Matching family vacation shirts
Someone watching a show at full volume, no headphones
A pilot walking somewhere with great purpose
The seven dollar water bottle, purchased anyway
Someone doing laps like the terminal is a gym
A goodbye hug that goes over ten seconds
FREE ~ you are at an airport (write your gate here)
Two strangers becoming friends over a delay
Someone rehearsing their overhead-bin lift at the gate
A kid asking the single best question of the day
The moving walkway walker who takes it standing still
An airport worker who is genuinely funny on the mic
Someone unpacking their whole bag at security
The boarding-group huddle forming twenty minutes early
A stranger heroically guarding a seat that is not theirs
Someone eating breakfast food at a deeply wrong hour
The lone traveler with the paperback, living correctly
A wave through the window at a plane (any age waver counts)
Your own boarding call ~ the winning square

The layover go-bag

Pack these in the personal item and any layover shrinks to size. Tick them off the night before.

  • Charger AND the wall plug, together, in one pouch
  • Empty water bottle to fill past security
  • One snack that is not sad
  • Headphones that were charged on purpose
  • A layer ~ terminals pick a temperature and it is wrong
  • The paperback or the downloaded episode ~ offline entertainment
  • A pen (customs forms find you when you least expect it)
  • This planner, printed, folded, ready
  • Gum or a toothbrush ~ hour four freshness changes everything
  • One empty folded tote for the things you swear you will not buy

Questions

Is this really free?

Yes ~ print it, use it, hand copies to the whole row. If it saves your layover, the paid kits on the downloads page are the bigger siblings.

Does it work for short layovers?

The planner page matters MORE on a short layover ~ the hard return time line is the whole game. The bingo card is for the long hauls.

Do I need anything besides a printer?

A pen. That is it ~ no app, no account, no battery. That is rather the point.