how to fall in love with airports
pilots hate her: use this handy trick to overcome airport idleness. featuring sketches, musings, and an in-flight playlist
audio version:
i love airports. i love getting there four hours before a domestic flight. the title of this substack isn’t clickbait - if you want to sigh with bliss every time your flight gets delayed, here’s what to do.
just get a journal. if you want a recommendation, i use an unlined A5 moleskine. but you can use anything: a notepad, a book you’ve finished reading, i’ve even used the back of a receipt. the journal is only the vessel.
now, all you’ve got to do is look around. really, the trick to being engaged, therefore not bored, is to pay attention. this is what you need to know: looking is not just done by your eyes. it’s done by YOUR eyes. it’s not what everyone can see, it’s what YOU can see. lemme explain. that guy over there, on his phone - is he playing candy crush, or is he texting someone? who would it be - is he wearing a wedding ring? is he texting his wife or answering work emails in an effort to avoid her? what about that couple over there - how long do you think they’ve been dating? is it their first holiday together? where are they going? obviously, you don’t know any of this. the difference between a fact and an insight is paying attention. there is a person at the airport, waiting for a flight. that’s a fact. but then interrogate it a little more. ask your eyes some questions. put some perspective on it. and most importantly, tell yourself a story. and then, journal it.
i’m using the word ‘journal’ here and avoiding the word ‘draw’ because the concept of drawing scares a lot of people. when you’re told to draw, even if it’s you that’s given yourself that direction, a magical thing happens where you have this expectation that you’re meant to be good at it. and then you put something on a page, it stares back at you and shames you for being the worlds worst artist and also how embarrassing for you to think that you could ever draw in the first place and actually you know what, how dare you ever draw again, rot in hell for your crimes against any of the teenage mutant ninja turtles’ namesakes. and so, you don’t draw again. i get it i get it i get it, ive been there, man, i still AM there. i hate maybe 80% of the drawings i do, but i dont need to like the drawings, because what’s important is the insight.
so, why airports?
because you’re busy. since WHEN do you get a spare few hours to just look around? how can you justify wasting time observing? why put the energy into drawing random people, especially if your drawings end up sucking? here it is: you’ve got nothing better to do.
at the airport, you could be that guy looking at his phone. or you could be you, looking out. journalling is gifting yourself a time machine, so you can take yourself back to a specific moment whenever you flip to a page. you have a few hours. use your time wisely, because you have all the time in the world.
listen in order for your ascent, your time in the air, abroad, and finally, on your way home again, ending just before the wheels touch the tarmac. i hope you saw something cool. hope you drew it - sorry, journaled it - so you can go back there whenever you want.
see ya at the terminal,
yeevz