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Here is the corrected version:

How's your Tuesday?

It's the last week of February already. Blink of an eye and February is gone. But the quality newsletters won't stop here at Rentless.

Well, when we travel internationally, one thing is very crucial, and that is a layover. It's not just about international flights either. It happens on domestic flights, too.

And it's a headache. From the outside, you might not feel much difference, but if you look carefully, it's an issue worth talking about. So let's talk about it today.

A layover is simply a stop between two flights.

When a journey has more than one flight, the plane lands at another airport first, there is a waiting period inside that airport, and then the next flight continues to the final destination. That waiting time is called a layover.

It is similar to changing trains during a long trip, where there is a pause before the next part of the journey begins.

Now that you understand what a layover is, the next question is, what do you actually do when you are stuck at an airport for hours? A long layover drains your energy before you even reach your destination. If you can manage it well, it can become one of the more interesting parts of the trip.

The first thing to understand is that not all long layovers are the same, and your approach should change depending on how much time you actually have.

This is the most deceptive range. Three hours feels like enough time to relax, grab a meal, maybe browse a bookstore. But airports are designed to slow you down. Walking between terminals, finding a seat, and waiting in a food queue adds up faster than expected. Find your departure gate first, then eat, then sit. Never the other way around. Know exactly which terminal your next flight leaves from before you do anything else, because terminal changes in large airports like Heathrow, Frankfurt, or JFK can take 30 to 45 minutes alone.

This is the range most people are dealing with when they complain about layovers. Long enough to be frustrating, short enough that leaving the airport feels risky. But there are certain options here.

If the airport has a transit hotel or rest pod, and many major hubs do, including Singapore Changi, Dubai International, and Amsterdam Schiphol, book one. Even two hours of horizontal sleep in a quiet room does more for your body than six hours slumped in an airport chair. Some of these are affordable, some are not, but the cost is almost always worth it when you factor in how you will feel on the other side.

If sleep is not the priority, use the time with intention. Many airports offer free city tours for transit passengers. Dubai, Singapore, Seoul, and Istanbul all have programs where you can leave the airport, see the city, and return within a few hours completely free or at minimal cost. This helps you use your time in the best way.

If you are staying inside, airport lounges are worth considering even if you are not a premium passenger. Day passes for lounges like Plaza Premium or independent lounges can cost anywhere from £30 to £60, and for that, you get a seat, good food, showers, and wifi that actually works. Against the alternative of sitting in a crowded departure hall for six hours, it is an easy trade.

Anything above eight hours should not be spent entirely inside an airport. At this point, the airport is no longer a waiting room. If your visa situation allows it, and for many nationalities in many countries it does, check into a transit hotel near the airport, because the prices drop significantly once you exit the airport. Most major hub cities have airport hotel corridors, areas within 15 to 30 minutes of the terminal that exist specifically for travellers in this situation.

Before you leave, though, do these two things. First, check whether you need a transit visa to enter the country. This depends entirely on your passport and the destination country, and getting this wrong means you will be turned back at immigration. Second, set a conservative return time. Budget at least two to three hours before your flight to get back, clear security, and reach your gate, more if the airport is large or the city traffic is unpredictable.

If leaving is not possible, an 8 to 24-hour layover inside the airport is still manageable with the right mindset. Break the time into blocks. Sleep first if it is nighttime. Eat a proper meal. Find a quiet corner away from the main terminal flow, most large airports have underused seating areas on upper floors or near less busy gates. And protect your devices, long layovers are where phones die, and chargers matter a lot.

Regardless of the duration, the single biggest factor in surviving a long layover is information gathered before you arrive. Know the airport layout. Know which terminals connect internally and which require re-entry through security. Know what the lounge options are. Know whether your airline offers any complimentary meals or accommodation for long connections, many do, and most passengers never ask.

A long layover is only as bad as your preparation allows it to be. The airport does not change, your approach to it does.

There is a reason a 3-hour layover can feel like an entire day. There is actual psychology behind it, and once you understand it, you start to see layovers very differently.

The first thing to know is that airports are deliberately designed to distort your sense of time. There are no windows in most terminal waiting areas. Natural light is either blocked or artificial. There are no clocks placed prominently on walls the way you would find in a train station or a bus terminal. This is partly intentional. Airports and the retailers inside them benefit when you lose track of time, because a disoriented traveller is more likely to wander, browse, and spend. The environment itself is working against your sense of how long you have been sitting there.

The second factor is what psychologists call the watched pot effect. When you have nothing to do but wait, your attention collapses inward, and time becomes the only thing you are tracking. Every minute feels heavy because your brain has no other task to process. Compare this to a moment when you are deeply focused on something, a conversation, a book, a problem you are solving, and you genuinely lose track of an hour. The clock does not slow down at an airport. Your perception of it does.

There is also something called anticipatory stress at play. When the next flight is the only thing standing between you and your destination, your brain treats the layover as an obstacle rather than a neutral period of time. That framing alone makes it feel longer. You are not just waiting, you are waiting for something to be over, and that distinction matters more than most people realise.

Understanding all of this is useful because it tells you exactly what to do about it. Give your brain an actual task, and the layover shortens. Change your environment even slightly, move to a different part of the terminal, find natural light if it exists, step outside if you can, and your perception resets.

Layover is not an issue, but if you know how to manage it in the best possible way, it’ll be useful to you.

The goal is to make your experience more amazing every damn time.

Thanks for reading. See you on Thursday!

See ya!

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