The 14-hour queues at the Port of Dover have eased, ending a weekend of discomfort for thousands of motorists. However, Kent police have refused to rule out further delays in coming weeks, as the combination of increased security checks and chronic understaffing bite into the port’s efficiency. So, if you’re planning a trip to Dover this summer, here are the best ways to distract yourself from any potential boredom.
I-spy
You might think that I-spy would get old fast, but inventiveness is your friend here. Look at your fellow motorists. What are they doing? “I spy with my little eye something beginning with S.” “Someone squatting to wee between two Transit vans?” “Correct!” See? Hours of fun.
Explore the local area
The A20 between Folkestone and Dover can be an area of breathtaking beauty, with sea views and endless greenery to distract you from your hellish conditions. Get stranded in the right place and you could go and explore the Abbot’s Cliff sound mirror, or the Samphire Hoe nature reserve. Or, if you’re diverted off on to a smaller road, there’s a canine beautician in the village of Ewell Minnis.
Use your iPad
If you’ve got children, then you’ll know what a godsend an iPad can be. Load it up with enough games and films and your little ones will be in heaven. However, if delays outlast an iPad’s battery life, don’t despair. An iPad can still be fun! Why not let your kids use it as a mirror, or a fancy plate, or a pillow, or a frisbee?
Make friends
In motion, other drivers are your enemy. But stuck in traffic, they’re potential friends. Get out of your car. Have a chat. Make connections. Fall in love. Get married. There’s bound to be a licensed registrar in one of these cars, surely. Marry someone. That’ll kill some time.
Dehydrate
One fun way to distract yourself from the searing monotony of an endless traffic jam is to constantly berate yourself for not packing any drinks, and then slowly obsess about how thirsty you are, and chide the council for not handing out more water to motorists, and angrily fixate on anyone who had the foresight to bring a drink, and then wonder what urine tastes like, and then pass out.
Abandon your car and make a new life in Dover
I mean, Dover’s nice enough. Property is cheap and there’s a WH Smith and everything. Forget about your loved ones and move to Dover with the new wife you just met in the next car. That’s better than spending three more hours in a traffic jam, right?
