For so many people, the airport is a necessary evil in order to get on with their vacation. A hassle, perhaps, to take your shoes off at security, give up your fingernail clippers, wait for the flight that never seems to get there only to be trapped in a middle seat between two strangers on your way to Boston while your luggage is headed for Portland. And I guess when you're excited about where you're going it's understandable how blinders come on and the world you're in seems to not matter quite as much as the one to which you're headed. However, I offer a different view.

An airport can be a surprising source of life lessons: joy through reuniting with friends, patience through delayed flights, appreciation of other cultures through observing people, and faith as you wait for your luggage at lost baggage. Auguste Rodin said it well when he suggested "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."

Travel has a tendency to open your eyes by removing you from the comfortable environment you’re used to and placing you in unfamiliar surroundings. Your senses pick up…you notice the smells, the sounds. There are people traveling for business who avoid eye contact in order to get where they need to be as soon as possible. There are college students on their way home for the holiday, joking with each other and telling stories. There are kids running around because they’ve been trapped in a 2x2ft seat for the last 3 hours and parents almost too tired to care. There are people escaping the cold weather to a warmer destination for a few months. There are people going to weddings and people going to funerals. People going to work and people going on vacation. People going home and people traveling to somewhere they’ve never been. And every one of them has a story…airports are about thousands of different lives and different stories all coming together for a moment.

I’ve sat next to the grieving husband who just finished burying his aging wife and listened as he recounted his favorite memories with her. I’ve sat next to the 19 year old student pilot as she planned her next flight and talk about pranks they play on each other in the downtime. I’ve talked with sports teams going to play soccer with the kids in Costa Rica, women traveling together for a “girls week out”, couples on their honeymoon, grandparents traveling to see a newborn grandchild…this is why I travel. I’m a student of people. I love learning about people, hearing their stories, being someone they can talk to, sharing in their excitement. What better place to do it than an airport, a hub for the human spirit?

Next time you travel, avoid the common trap of seeing the airport as the nuisance you must endure to get where you’re going. When your baggage doesn’t make it, take a few minutes to encourage the people working behind the counter and learn about them, their frustrations and their stories. Take it as a moment to just stop for a while and sit, relax, and absorb the life that an airport offers.