Traveling around the world is one of the best experiences that somebody could have, but being at the airport for hours probably doesn’t sound as interesting as the rest of the trip is.
And it gets even worse when your flight gets delayed or canceled or you simply booked the cheapest flight with the worst layovers.
Actually, this has happened to me (and not only once), so I will be telling you a little bit about MY airport stories and the stories that I have experienced while being in transit for hours.
What is the first airport story that I experienced and what tips would I give to first-time travelers?
I know from my parents (and photos), that I have been traveling abroad since I was 6 months old, but of course, I don’t remember any of those trips.
The first story that I remember is when I was about 7 years old, and the plane almost left me behind. I realized that when I heard my name in all the speakers of the airport, I just started to run randomly everywhere without knowing what to do or where to go. I ended up making it to the flight, and since I was a minor traveling by myself the whole flight was waiting for me. Literally, I just jumped in the plane through the service door (for the ones that don’t know where the service door in a plane is, don’t worry, I wouldn’t know that if it wasn’t for this) and went to LA to visit my father’s family.
After this story I want to share two of the most important tips while in layovers or even just being at the airport for hours:
1. Always know where your gate is, it doesn’t matter what time you arrived at the airport, you need to keep an eye on this by regularly checking the TV monitors in the terminal. Sometimes gate assignments change!
2. It is ok to walk around the airport and take advantage of the duty-free but always set an alarm for when you have to go back to the gate.
What is my favorite airport story? What did I learn from this experience? How can this experience help future travelers?
After this experience, I have had lots of experiences at airports, but my best airport story is from Fiji.
I went to study abroad in Sydney, Australia. The first time I decided to come back home, I got the cheapest and longest flight from Sydney to Mexico City, in total it was about 45 hours of traveling.
So I had a layover in Fiji, then one in LA, then one in Dallas, and finally Mexico City.
I left Sydney at night, so once I arrived in Fiji I decided that it was a good time to get a shower before my long flight to the USA. Once I finished showering and I left the bathroom, the airport was EMPTY.
Yes, you read correctly, empty, all lights off, not a single soul in there, duty-free closed, seriously nothing to do, or see, or nobody to speak with.
After a couple of hours (yep, more than two hours in a dark empty airport), I heard some noises, all lights started to come back on, and then people just started to appear everywhere.
So if you thought that an airport doesn’t sleep, you are wrong! Go to Fiji to see it for yourself!
From that story, and some other experiences, some other tips I have for you are:
1. Maybe not everything is closed in a regular airport, but always keep in mind that it may happen somewhere, so have your phone charged, and always travel with water and a snack!
2. If you are not used to long flights, my biggest recommendation is to not sit down at the airport, just walk, walk and walk as much as you can, once you get to the plane you won’t want to get up at all, and you might even be able to sleep better on the plane.
3. My last tip for you will be, ALWAYS look around. If you are a social person, you will be able to meet a lot of travelers like yourself and make new friends. If you are more of an introvert, you can still get to see the people around you and learn a little bit about them through their actions.
Once I heard a quote that I loved: “You see sincerer kisses in airports than in weddings,” and it is a shame because I love weddings! But after hearing that quote, every time I am in an airport I always look around and it is true. There is so much love and excitement in an airport that even being there for hours may not seem like a lot surrounded by fellow travelers and their stories.
Good luck in your travels, and don’t forget that even if it seems like you are wasting your time, being in an airport can bring you some quality time that you wouldn’t get anywhere else.
#OpenyourEyestotheWorld
