Erinn Goes Abroad

Airport Culture

I wrote this entry about a month before I embarked on my journey to New Zealand. I always meant to share it on my blog, but quickly forgot it amidst the whirlwind that accompanies an international move. Anyways, I rediscovered it and hope you can relate to my insights on airport culture.

January 2010—

Airports. These places are of myriad interest to me. I’ve spent a lot of time in Hartsfield-Jackson [Atlanta’s airport], but more so this week with trips to Toronto, Lexington and soon to be in Tampa. The spirit of an airport is one of haste with an edge of fury. It’s a petri dish of swarming bacteria… festering and driven by primal instinct. The traveler archetypes are all here. I spot a stoic serviceman dressed in muted camouflage- void of identity and off to face an uncertain future. Strolls by the avid business traveler dressed in a smart blazer and leather loafers. He has a garment bag slung across his shoulder- no doubt another suit for the convention he’s off to. He protectively grips a plump laptop-laden briefcase.

… I find the uniqueness of luggage eye catching. Like a dog to her owner, the bag seems to correlate with the passenger’s persona. Children, wide-eyed and curious, drag multicolored, monogrammed pods which, quite frankly, seem futile in their attempt to hold very much. The vogue diva pulls along a Louis Viutton that intentionally matches her handbag. I double take- is it possible that she sports matching stilettos too? She’s gone an instant too soon to verify… no doubt to be swept off to an exotic destination.

Then I spot the less descript voyager with hodge podge luggage in tow- leather rollers, backpacks, tattered duffles. Perhaps infrequent travelers.

And last is me. Once an infrequent hodge podger, now evolving into some else, something I cannot yet describe.

At the various gates situated along the terminal, conversation happens. I hear a chuckling flight crew stroll by, business transactions made over cell phone and perhaps most importantly, idle conversation among strangers.

“What brings you to such-in-such destination?”

So the conversation goes and unlikely connections are born.

Yes, the airport is a breeding ground for the unusual. People of all shapes, sizes and constitutions, just like their luggage, are in one place stampeding towards the unknown. As fleeting as these moments are they lay foundation for the rest of the journey