I know, how silly of me to be advocating for one of the most collectively hated places. But after flying my fair share the past two years I’ve gone to Davis as an out-of-state student, I’ve developed a new outlook on this once dreaded activity. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, or spring break, I find myself once again driving through Woodland on my way to Sacramento Airport. I should mention that this is only a convenient twenty-minute drive.
Maybe it’s just the cafe-lover in me, but something about the airport makes me more productive than any other study environment. Sitting alone in a room filled with busy “on-the-go” people, none of which you know and can get distracted by, with hours to spare without any other responsibilities other than finishing the work in front of you, and with every snack, you could imagine within a 5-minute walk of you? For me, that sounds like paradise. In fact, I’m writing this article in an airport right now.
Now you may be saying, Aria, what about all of the inconveniences and disruptions that come with airports? The long annoying security lines? Struggling to make your bag under 50 lbs? The delays and the struggle to make it to your seat? All of those may be inconvenient, but also avoidable, especially if you look at the airport from a new perspective. I like to arrive at least 2 hours early to the airport, weigh my bag ahead of time, and sit perched in my spot until the last call for boarding. I think just having the mindset that these obstacles aren’t inconveniences, but just another step in the right direction makes the entire experience so much more enjoyable.
So maybe you’ve picked up by now that I don’t actually enjoy airports that much. But ever since moving to California, I’ve found myself in airports so much that I’ve given myself no other choice than to enjoy it. By focusing on the good that can come from airports, like productivity, I find myself less annoyed and stressed each time I embark on that “convenient” 20-minute drive to Sacramento. And every once and a while I still find myself enraged, like when I weighed my bag at check-in to find it 25 pounds overweight while moving out of the dorms last year, but I don’t let that discourage me from feeling excited about my next trip home. So next time I’m packing my suitcase, I simply feel grateful that there’s no way that my bag can be 25 pounds overweight this time.