What Can I Do On A Long Train Journey?

The British are not known for their amazing abilities to talk to strangers.  However, talking can often be a very pleasant way to spend a long train journey. Of course, perhaps chatting is not possible, and then there are a plethora of things one can do.  When I was a small boy, I had an 'Eye Spy' book, which meant that I could look for things that I saw on the journey and tick them off in my Eye Spy book about train journeys.  If you have children, you could make one of these for them.

If you have an iPod or MP3 player, you could spend the time listening to music or an audio book, you could read or listen to a personal radio.  You could of course sleep, whether you are tired or not, but personally I always feel like a badger climbed into my mouth and died after sleeping on public transport, but sleeping is a great way to 'time travel' to the end of your journey.  You could read, a newspaper or book, there are often newspapers scattered around on trains.  If you can afford a first class ticket, you might consider this as it is often more comfortable, better ventilated in summer and less noisy or crowded.