Thoughts on an Airport from an Airplane

Can I just say a couple of things about airports? Some people dread the idea of the whole experience of an airport: lines for security, hours of waiting, giant terminals to navigate, extreme pricing on the most basic of necessities. But I enjoy my adventures to the airport. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I start my day in one place and end it somewhere completely different, but I really look forward to it.

I am not a patient person by any means. Anyone who knows me can vouch to that. But for some reason, I stay completely calm and relaxed at an airport, even waiting in the most ridiculous lines. I in fact enjoy arriving early for my flight, just so I can browse the terminals and read a book at my gate. I find that airport bookstores are so fascinating. I always find at least five books I would buy instantly if I had somewhere to store them for the flight. I guess it is because they only have a small space to work with and it is prime real estate so they have to have the most interesting of books, but I still can’t resist the gander. Speaking of books, I get the best reading done in airports and on airplanes. It is probably because I can’t feel guilty that I am just sitting around reading because, really, what else could I be doing at the time?

And I know most people don’t feel this way, but I really enjoy traveling alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love having right company with me, but traveling alone is some people’s worst nightmare. I find it relaxing. People watching is fantastic at the airport because you get some of the craziest people. I just today saw the worst sweater dress ever made!  You see businessmen and military men, you see families and college kids. And then you see sweater dresses…

But if you are friendly, people are generally friendly back. I am always talking to strangers at the airport. I’ve even met someone at the airport and became pen pals half way around the world! I had a man say to me today at the airport that I was too pretty to carry my own luggage, however, he did not offer to then carry my luggage for me for the remainder of my trip…

But thinking back to the beginning, I think my favorite part of the airport is that you end up somewhere else. I like seeing and experiencing new things that the airport is the best at facilitating that. I suppose it is less enjoyable when I am not really going anywhere.

Visiting “Home”

My first visit “home”… it is hard to put into words. I’m sure everyone who has moved away has experienced it. I’ve mentioned before how quickly the time has flown by and so when I rolled into Lake Zurich, it felt like I hadn’t been away at all. Everything was mostly right where I left it. Everything was as familiar as it had always been. But yet, it felt different. Even when I went away to school, when I came home, it was home. When I walked in the front door of my parents’ house, it all felt slightly off. The cat came around the corner and he looked like a different cat (honestly, he looked like the cat that came and ATE the old cat). My old room had none of my stuff anymore. But the weirdest feeling of all was the fact that it just didn’t feel like “home”. At one point I even said that I couldn’t wait to go home and sleep in my own bed.

Don’t get me wrong; I loved seeing my family and friends. Catching up on old times and goofing off with my siblings, those are things that I really do miss. I hate that I won’t be around when my very first niece is born. I hate that I can’t be home for holidays and get together randomly with the family. But this trip has confirmed for me, without a doubt, that this move was the right thing to do and it was the right time to do it. It was time for an adventure!