My Love and Hate Relationship with the Airports

in #travel7 years ago (edited)

5026_94864453710_589536_n.jpg

Airports remind us that nothing is permanent. It's a foreign country where everyone leaves, return or not come back anymore. It can be a sad or a happy place, and here we seem to be all equals - travelers. We are going somewhere, somewhere far away. We are leaving or coming home.

The airports remind us that it is easy to just leave, come back or never return. I have this love and relationship with the airports, and it's a surreal feeling. There's no thinking, I have to make choice - should I stay or should I go? Once the airline makes the final call, I have to go.

It seems easy, when you have the money and a good passport, to just go anywhere and soar above the limitless sky, and within 48 hours, you can be where you wanted to be. It is such a relief once you are already on the plane, you paid for that freedom, whether it is your own money, your time in your company or your belongings you have sold. Even if that freedom is forever or momentarily. Everything has been arranged and paid for - single meals, coffee, wine, snacks, movies to watch. A well-deserved flight.

I love the act of leaving, especially if it means going somewhere for another adventure. This is how airports make me feel really good, and it makes me excited. It is the best time of my life. The noticeboard is my life flashing before me, a glimpse of the future.

The airport is my home, a free place to sleep. I'm happy enough to find airports with comfortable benches. But what if it's like the KL airport where I had to sleep on the cold floor? A free space where I could feel a bit safe for the night would be good enough for me. I have to adapt to the changes and embrace discomfort when it arises. That is how I grow and become strong. Home is everywhere.

I am usually on my own in the airport, and that means having all the burden to decide for myself. To look for the check-in, the gates, deal with the immigration, having some of my stuff checked, packed, suddenly getting the required return ticket and all other inconveniences on the spot. It seems that the freedom to be on your own can be such a big responsibility. Such a stress, I see myself wandering around and figuring everything out on my own, and sometimes I feel helpless. I don't really want to be alone dealing with the airport stress for the rest of my life.

Airports seemed to have given me a childhood trauma, an irreparable damage to my heart. Imagine at such a young age, you were waiting for someone you dearly love, to check out the new toys he might have brought for you. To be loved and be in his arms again, only to find out you were just waiting for a dead body. Like something being delivered, cold and empty. I didn't understand what was happening and why I was there waiting. It was quite a shock to deal with the mystery of death. It was really a mystery, the real cause of death. The airport can show you that someone and something so beautiful could no longer return - forever. I don't have to know everything anymore, I learned to embrace the unknown. From then on, I no longer wait.

What do I hate about airports? A perfect place to witness emotional farewells and to even experience it myself. I said goodbye to someone I loved and agreed to meet each other again. That was the last time I saw him. The airport is a place to build your future, but it can also shatter dreams.

Airports can also bruise my ego. I feel sad when I'm leaving people and I feel terrible being left there on my own. Passengers share the same sentiments when flights get delayed, and we all hate that expensive airport food court. We don't know if we will be welcomed in the new country or not. It is an emotional rollercoaster ride. We are all transients here, coming and going, we are all equals. We entrust our lives to the airplanes. What lies ahead, we don't know yet. We can only enjoy our brief moments in the airport.

I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.
― Jack Kerouac

What do you love about airports?

Sort:  

Mmm, I hate airports 😱

Hmmmmm, scared to fly? 😄

Here's my full 13 cents and a 🌟.

Airports must be holy places because I hear more people invoking the name of god there than anywhere else.

Hahaha people must be always worried there lol.

I feel sad when I'm leaving people and I feel terrible being left there on my own.

I agree. Having dropped off loved ones at the airport, the drive home is just as lonely as when I'm the one who is dropped off at the airport. Although, I feel like being the person who is not traveling gets slightly more lonely. At least when you're going somewhere new, you have something to look forward to. If you're just driving back home, you're going back to an empty home.

We are all transients here, coming and going, we are all equals. We entrust our lives to the airplanes. What lies ahead, we don't know yet. We can only enjoy our brief moments in the airport.

I feel this way about life for humans on this planet :)

Although, I feel like being the person who is not traveling gets slightly more lonely.

I know this, it's sad to be left behind.

Thanks for your wonderful comment as always!

i like to check out foreign cigarettes in the gift shops. I really enjoyed Iceland for their collection.

But yes, the airport stresses me out. People look serious and not too happy . . . the anticipation of reaching another destination with so much security involved is bleh.

hope all is well :)

Gift shops can offer a lot of interesting stuff but can be really overpriced. Especially that airports are isolated and we don't have any other places to do our last minute shopping.

I agree with people looking all serious lol.

Thanks for sharing! 😊

I love your love of airports ! 'tis a love lost to me. Forever I fear.

I hold no romanticism for airports, anymore- I did, but I think I have just 'airported out', to be honest.

They are just a function of travel for me, nowadays.
(saying that, this time now, is the longest I haven't been on a plane trip since I was 20 - so who knows...maybe I will get it back again. I hope so.)

Their toilets depress me......

I know. You just inspired me to write about airports lol and the pending toilet story...I'll find the courage to write about it, hopefully, people will not unfollow me lol.

it cant be as embarrassing as my escapades (gulp) - can it?

Trust me this time pls.

i do wish you would stop saying that..

I feel the same way.

The best part of airports for me is getting past security/passport controls then you can finally breathe again in the commerial space before your flight or on your way out.

Getting past controls is the best thing for me too! Thanks for sharing.

I love just that feeling that I'm free and that I'm travel the world. The same as I like this, my family probably hate it :D

I know right, there's also some kind of air in the airport, like feeling free!

@diabolika
what a pretty post, you described so well everything you can feel in this mysterious place that can make us switch from laughter to tear, this door to the unknown.
I also lived moments very strong emotion
your post is beautiful
@geemo-from-paris

Your words are also beautiful. Thanks!

@diabolika
thank you, it makes me very pleasure

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by diabolika from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

i can't say what i love but surely i hate the security check when u have to take off "almost" everything :D

Totally I agree with you. The security check is such a pain.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70455.47
ETH 3561.82
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.71