Comments on: Now Boarding: Why the Airport is a Metaphor for Life

By: brian

brian — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:07:44 +0000

I always wonder in airports, where are people are going, what are they doing there? Indeed airport are nether zones. You're not home, but you not THERE yet either…

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By: Lady Kibeth Nehema

Lady Kibeth Nehema — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:56:29 +0000

I'v always fealt that you could tell about a place by an airport… The quiet single terminal of Huntsville International… the busy multi terminaled Atlanta Airport… portland where it seems as if every one converged on one place but still wearing jakets… or Honolulu International whitch has many terminals but still seem quiet and peace full… There are always cheesy pictures or sayings of these places… like all the Nasa and Space perafanelia at Huntsvillle, or voice saying Mahalo over the intercome in Honolulu, it might not be what the place is truly about but I have always fealt that an airport attempts to show you the culture and places outside it's walls.

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By: Claudia Perez

Claudia Perez — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:02:41 +0000

No matter how often you go thru airports, in my opinion they are always like " Intrenational territory", they belong to everybody and nobody,.. And yes, they are packed of stories waiting to be experienced,.

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By: VagabonderZ

VagabonderZ — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:35:55 +0000

This is excellent! For some reason I had chills reading parts of it, no doubt a subconscious reaction to buried memories of my time in airports. It is such a polarizing experience…seeing both extremes of the emotional scale…crying from excitement of being reunited with someone, crying from profound sadness at the prospect of never seeing someone again.

Sarah, I also think those are great comments…devoid of a sense of place…that is so true, it is almost dreamlike.

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By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:29:24 +0000

I really enjoyed this article; it brought back memories of my 1st trip to the UK by myself in August 2007. As I sat in the airport, I thought to myself "can I do this?" Even though I was going to the UK where they speak English, I was doing this by myself. There would be no one to guide me through London Heathrow, which was a trip in and of itself. It was my job to get me to my hostel, which I did.

For me traveling has become about the journey and not the destination. I used to think it was about "getting somewhere," but that has changed.

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By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:30:03 +0000

Great article. Sarah, I like your comment about the "nether-zones." It's true, airports really exist outside of normal emotional and physical contexts. They're never a destination in and of themselves, only a means of getting there.

And Kevin, I like the idea of how we bring different kinds of baggage with us. My feelings at airports have run the gamut from stomach-clinching fear to jubilant ecstasy. It all depends where you're going, and really, in an airport, that could be anywhere!

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By: Sarah_Menkedick

Sarah_Menkedick — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:03:33 +0000

I like the line about a "temporary reprieve from work, school and family." Airports do feel like nether-zones which blur out personal, cultural, spatial contexts. I have always loved them, but I find they are eminently strange places. Inside the gates, they often seem totally devoid of a sense of place. I feel detached from myself (that is, from the sense of identity I feel being in a certain place), from my departure and destination points…in some blank, white, transition zone full of subtle bleeping and humming noises.

I had a 12 hour layover once in Vancouver and by the end of it I felt like I was no longer fully conscious of who or where I was…I could just watch the Indian men driving carts and the Mexican families drinking coffee and the German kids playing on statues in an awed stupor.

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By: On Da Road

On Da Road — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:44:51 +0000

Hmmm … Very interesting. I guess I have been less reflective … next trip I will have more to contemplate. Thanks for your post!

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