Kill Time While Traveling with Free Apps

Visiting a new place can be an absolutely thrilling experience — favorite trip memories can so often be described as exciting, amazing and even a little scary. Not all parts of a travel experience are fueled by adrenaline and endorphins, though; namely, the boring bits in between one’s departure point and destination.

You know what I’m talking about. The airport layovers, the cramped bus commutes, the long stretch of a train ride and more can dampen a good travel experience with bouts of boredom if not combated properly. Luckily, smartph­­­one users can easily fill — and kill — any boring hours that may crop up on their adventures with a host of free, fun applications.

Duolingo

This free app is for those travelers who not only want to kill time, but want to squeeze in some education, as well. With Duolingo, users’ foreign language abilities are put to the test through mini-games. Users can challenge themselves or get social and spar with friends, all while sharpening their multilingual abilities.

Flixster

For those extra-long layovers or commutes, travelers can browse their Flixster Collections page, a free app allowing users to browse movies and TV shows from various sources. Certain movies are offline compatible, meaning you can watch them even without an Internet connection. Flixster also allows users to browse box office selections, watch trailers, read reviews and manage Netflix queues.

2048

This app also gives your mental muscles a chance to flex while providing an entertaining way to pass idle time. The free app, which is a puzzle game, has simple rules — users slide similar tiles together and, once combined, the tiles will add to a new number. Every time you slide a tile, another tile adds to the same row or column. Users must reach the number 2,048, without filling up the whole block, to get the highest score.

Of course, a plethora of well-known apps such as Pinterest, Instagram and Vine are also effective tools to rid yourself of boredom while waiting to reach your next destination, so I encourage you to browse your phone’s app selection next time boredom strikes and see what’s out there — before you see what’s out there.