I don't mind the travel days when I'm going somewhere. Even if I have layovers along the way, I look at them as just part of the overall experience. I recently had two travel days and decided to keep track of the things I observed along the way:
*I'm thinking about how 5-minute friends are such a big part of travel. I just made my first in the security line, by handing a guy his boarding pass when he left it on the table and walked away.
*I'm at the gate plenty early. There's hardly anyone else here. So why did that woman just sit RIGHT BEHIND ME and start arguing with someone on her phone?
*I lose track of time when traveling; days of the week, times, it all stops mattering. It's all about how many days are left and how many sleeps remain.
*A big hairy tattooed biker dude on the other side of the gate just tore the plastic cover off of a magazine, with his teeth, and is now holding up the centerfold to make sure everyone else waiting for the plane has a good look.
*Once you get up in the air, it's a much different perspective to look down at the clouds than up. You see the layers. That always blows my mind a little.
*I packed four books but just bought a new one at the airport, just to have a book that isn't anything more than a vacation read. It was ultimately a good decision.
*This flight attendant is smacking her gum like she's trying to qualify for the gum-smacking Olympics.
*I tried listening to some music, but with a jet engine basically in my ear I can only put on albums that I know really well. If I can't hear all the nuances of the song, my brain needs to know it well enough to fill in the blanks.
*A girl about 20 years old just sat in the terminal beside me, carrying her purse and an iced coffee. I just realized that I've never been to a Starbucks in all of my Seattle visits. I don't know if that's a travesty or I should be proud.
*I feel like a combination of James Bond and Mr. Science Fiction Adventure Guy every time I use my phone as a boarding pass.
*Just from watching everyone as they walk by my seat while getting on the plane, I know exactly which four wannabe alpha male passengers would assume they'd be in charge of the group of survivors.
*Oh man, this tiny bag of Veggie Wheat Thin Chips the flight attendant just gave me might be the most delicious thing I've eaten in a month. Or maybe I just haven't really eaten anything so far today.
*The terminal at the Denver airport is so full right now. People are trying to jostle past each other and navigate around all the others sitting on the floor waiting at their gates because there aren't any available chairs. This place looks like a bunch of soon-to-be refugees trying to get out of a city where some kind of natural disaster just took place.
*There are few things as welcoming at the end of the trip as the sight of all the lakes on the ground when the plane begins its final approach into Minneapolis.
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