What's in an airport?

So I was thinking this morning as I looked through the many, MANY press releases in my inbox, exactly what does an airport have to do with the travel experience?

As travelers and travel bloggers, we review and critique airlines, hotels, tours, restaurants, cruise ships, hot spots, but rarely do I see more than a tweet or two about someone's airport experience.

Is it enough a part of our travel experience to do an entire blog post about? Heaven knows I've spent enough time in airports to be mayor of some on Foursquare. I've heard fairytale recounts of this elite lounge or that.

What do you think? Could you write a blog post about an airport? Have you? Let me know in the comments! Or link to your airport post so I can get some pointers :)

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Permalink Reply by Jill Browne on October 26, 2010 at 5:21pm

Funny you should ask. The airport in Copenhagen (top of mind for me right now) is wonderful. I'm going to hang out there a bit until I can check into my hotel. Why not. I don't think I could be more comfortable putting in that hour or so elsewhere. I'll be tired and jet-lagged. If I get a meal at the airport and then train into the city, the timing will be perfect. Once I check in I can go to bed and not get up for dinner if I play my cards right. That should fix the jet lag, almost.

When traveling to London I have a whole airport ritual: top up Oyster card, buy Private Eye and The Oldie magazines, pick up sandwiches and snacks to get through that first asynchronous night, and in the olden days, buy a phone card. Get British money from the cash machine. All those little chores are easy to do in the airport. Great people-watching,too, but that goes for any airport.

I'm an airport fan. Should I admit that sometimes I go to YYC for dinner if I'm doing a pickup or drop off? And it's not because of e food.

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Permalink Reply by Jill Browne on October 26, 2010 at 5:23pm

Whoops. The food, not e food. I can't live on electrons alone.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Hunkins on June 8, 2011 at 5:30pm

Nice post Jill - you made my point a lot better than I did below! The more I travel the more I realize how important it can be to enjoy the moment rather than fret about keeping a schedule. Airports are generally pretty comfortable places, especially if you can find a little nook in which to hang out. With wifi (now free at many airports or available at restaurants or lounges) I find the time flies by quickly, and if I'm lucky I can even shoot off a few travel blog posts. Airports are cool!

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Permalink Reply by Keittley Edd Villa on November 11, 2010 at 1:10pm

Nice questions to ask...I am a mediate blogger and fan of traveling all over the world on my age that need to have a family. I am 29 years old and airport and airplanes are part of my daily activities. My friend's uncle had a business on luxury travel reviewed on luxury resort, luxury hotel, luxury boutique. So I rather share it to you for more ideas and information. Hope this could help.

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Permalink Reply by Kerry-Ann on November 15, 2010 at 2:49pm

When we travel we spend a lot of time in airports - usually bored or exhausted and don't really see it as part of the trip rather just as an inconvenience. Got a blog post going out tomorrow about my 6 hour stop over in Santiago airport as well as a blog post dedicated just to the VIP lounge I booked into. I have four more airport experiences planned because some airports in South America are completely madness for first time travellers!

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Permalink Reply by gaylandalford on December 16, 2010 at 12:18am

Hi, I like this Funny ask any airport in Copenhagen.
Taxi To Heathrow Airport

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Hunkins on June 7, 2011 at 4:07pm

Great question Maren and I'm big on Airport blogging partly because I have an Airports blog: www.QuickAid.com and partly because I think we tend to forget that it's about the journey as much as the destination. I've started to *enjoy* longer waits in Airports because they often tell you a lot about the country or region. In Thailand, for example, Bangkok has a beautiful airport with some amazing interior design, shops, and statuary. PEK Beijing is also a new and gorgeous airport that tells a lot about the "new china" in terms of it's size and architecture. I think travel bloggers should blog a lot more about airports, helping other travelers find the best restaurants, shops, and experiences in these amazing intersections of cultures, peoples, and planes.

Here's a sample post about an Airport:

http://quickaid.com/bangkok-airport-bkk-bangkoks-beautiful-suvarnab...

All that said I think Airports could do a LOT more to offer information and experiences. For example only a handful of Airports offer the great regional travel information we'd get at a welcome center for a city.