Michelle Panting

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Airport Routines

Michelle Panting
Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport
I'll confess, I'm one of those weirdos who actually enjoys flying. I mean I'm not a huge fan of being squished up next to strangers and I don't love waiting at the back of the plane while everyone takes their sweet time getting off and I panic about making my connecting flight (even though I always do: knock on wood). But what I love about flying is the sense of adventure. I'm going somewhere. I feel rejuvenated by this knowledge. 

The other thing I look forward to when I fly is my airport routines. Despite the amount of travelling I do, I am very much a creature of habit. I read my favourite blogs in the morning over breakfast, drink a glass of water as soon as I get to work, put on eye cream and lip balm every night before I go to bed; these little bits of predictability soothe me. And perhaps because I don't fly as often, I look forward to my airport routine all the more. It's special and exciting, but soothing at the same time.

Here's what I do. Once I've gone through security, I find my gate. Then, I head to the airport store and buy two things: a fashion magazine (usually Vogue or Elle) and a pack of peppermint gum. I don't open the magazine or chew the gum until I've boarded the plane and found my seat. I begin chewing two sticks of gum and reading the magazine during preparations and take off, then I switch to a book or movie further along in the flight. When the flight attendant comes around with the cart, I ask for a glass of water and a glass of soda water. When we start to descend, I switch back to reading the magazine, and begin chewing two fresh sticks of gum. Every, single, time. 

Part of what makes the routine special is that these aren't things I do at home. I'm not regularly a gum chewer, I don't subscribe to Vogue or Elle and I rarely drink soda water. So when I'm flying, I always look forward to these little treats. It helps to make the whole experience more pleasurable, because, let's face it, soaring through the air in a stale metal tube, closely surrounded by annoying strangers in Economy isn't really anyone's idea of fun. I really only love it because I know I'm going somewhere, and I'll get to sip soda water and look at glossy pages filled with models along the way.

What about you? Do you have any special airport routines? I'd love to hear about them.