Being stuck at any airport is generally the definition of a nightmare - you want to be somewhere else (mostly at home with your family), but you're in a state of limbo surrounded by 'fellow-travellers' who are really just strangers sharing your unwanted, uncalled for, space. So, what to do? There are only so many drinks, burgers, wraps, boiled sweets and chocolates that you can consume; only so many hours that you can trawl through business things on your trusty laptop; only so much battery power left anyway; and only so much people watching that you can indulge in. You might tire of your book or news magazine, or then again you might want to save these delights for the hours in the aluminium tube in the sky to wile away the tedium. You need a diversion, an entertainment to fill the (hopefully not too many) hours of waiting and watching the information screens.

Might I suggest window shopping? Every airport has its shops, from the small provincial airport with its single booth, newspapers sweets and souvenirs place, to your international hub with what amounts to a Mall once you've cleared security checks: so much to see, so many temptations for your cash and card. For me these shops are all about dreams and wondering - just how can people afford those expensive watches, those diamond encrusted morsels, and those hundred pound bottles of whisky? What would I do if I HAD that amount of disposable income? I once bought a ticket at the Fancy Car stand at Heathrow - £20 to get my name on a database somewhere: must have been in holiday mood.... needless to say I'm not driving around in the Aston.

It's also fun to check out the new technology, the latest releases in CD, DVD and paperback. It's good to sniff around for the last minute souvenirs - highlights for me are the set of fine tip black ballpoints purchased for my wife on the way home from Tokyo; the bottle of Pumpkin Seed Oil I found on the way out of Austria; and mugs for my son's collection from Chicago, Barcelona, Madrid, Gothenburg and Seoul.

Great diversion, but hold on to your cash, keep your card in its wallet, take a break and get back to people watching - the best thing of all.... where is he/she from? Where are they going? What's their story?

Fill in more time by going for a wander - check out activity around the different gates, time the trip to yours, see if there are any more shops around the corner. Try out the different moving walkways and escalators - for me Barcelona has one of the best of these - short but bouncy with a great view of the planes.

Of course you could always develop a hobby if you travel a lot - plane spotting, anyone?

One caveat though - keep checking the information boards, and don't get too carried away that you miss your call!

Andrew is a qualified TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher, with 15 years experience of the global Automotive Industry as a Sales manager with an International component and systems supplier. Now a Lecturer and Pig Farmer.