Bracing yourself for a long journey

As exciting as it is to book a long-haul holiday to an exotic island, it's easily forgettable that it takes an absolute age to reach your destination. The mind is focused on the sun, sea and sand; managing to wash away any thoughts of screaming toddlers, turbulence or jet lag. It's only once you hit the departure airport that the reality and the potential boredom, of a 12-hour flight sets in.

Airlines try to accommodate passenger attention levels as much as possible with dodgy movies and semi-broken headphones. It's not a tempting offer. So, how can passengers avoid boredom setting in on a flight?

The majesty of a decent audio book cannot be overlooked when on a long-haul flight. While reading a book provides some sort of escapism, the mood can be disturbed by shouting children or the harsh purring emanating from the plane itself. With an audio book, all the listener has to do is put on some headphones, turn on the noise cancellation if needs be and let the story unfold through the soft - but firm - voice of the narrator.

This allows the listeners to relax and be taken away on another holiday, as it were. A holiday to the imagination. In addition, who better to go on holiday with than Stephen Fry narrating 'Harry Potter', for example?

However, audio books aren't the be all and end all. Many smartphones and tablets allow the user to watch a movie or play addictive games like Angry Birds or Cut The Rope. While progressing to the next level does provide some satisfaction, there is nothing more whimsical than being whisked away to a fantasy world through the power of an audio book.

At the end of the flight, you'll be some way to reaching the end of a small novel. But don't leave it there - after all, you've got another 12-hour flight on the way back!