Delayed Flight
I just arrived at the Vancouver International Airport and found out my flight is delayed by over 2 hours. My initial reaction was to check for an earlier flight. The check-in agent confirmed there were no earlier flights. I did not stress. I actually embraced the opportunity to hang out in a place that I love hanging out in…the airport!
Airport Love
Why do I love it? I love being among the business travellers in their suits and Tumi luggage. I love passing backpackers chilling at the gates, looking like they are well into their one-year sabbatical from everyday life. People sleeping across chairs during a long layover and others walking in their red-souled Louboutins, dressed like airport travelling is a red-carpet event.
I love meandering through the shops of overpriced travel gear that I want to buy and then picking up a bag of my travel snack that I reserve strictly as my travel treat, Hawkins Cheezies, that I could have bought for a quarter of the price at my local grocery store the day before.
I love perusing through the books that I think I will actually have time to read at my destination and buy one, feeling optimistic or settling for a magazine or nothing at all, when I’m being realistic.
If you give yourself plenty of time at the airport, by choice or by delays, it can actually be a relaxing, enjoyable experience. Just don’t get too comfortable and into the moment like Armando once did.
Sudoku Distractions
I had bought Armando a sudoku book for him to pass the time at the airport because he travels so much for work. He arrived at his gate one day particularly early and got so engrossed in one of the games. He was sitting right in front of the boarding agent the entire time and it wasn’t until he heard a final boarding call for “Armando” that he clued in that they were calling for him. As he quickly gathered his things and approached the boarding agent, she gave him a hasty look of, “Seriously?! You were sitting in front of me the entire time?!”. Armando has never played sudoku again.
As I write this, I realize I only have 15 minutes to get to my gate! Time flies when you are having fun at an airport!
westcoastprairiegirl 