Do You Make Friends at Airports Too?

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu… We didn’t take vacations when I was a kid. We were pretty poor, so it just wasn’t something that was a priority. As I moved into my early twenties, travel sounded exciting – but seemed so out of reach, since it was something that I’d never done. {I mean, I live here in Washington state, but had never been to the beach – even though the Oregon coastline is filled with beautiful places. And I’ve still never visited my northern neighbor, Canada!} The last time I’d flown was 10 years earlier, on a short trip to Nevada with my mom. Until the past year… I’ve flown to 6 different states in the last year! Here are a few of my faves…

I took my nephew on his very first trip on an airplane earlier this year – we were invited to the Nike Young Athletes Innovation Summit, at the Nike World Headquarters. It was a good thing that I’d flown to Texas about a month earlier, since I was scared to death on that trip. I’d only flown twice in my life before that, the previous time had been over 10 years before, and I’d NEVER flown alone! But making it through that one made me feel more confident when taking Cade on this trip – and we had a blast together – some awesome auntie-nephew bonding time. Here he is, at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle… He stopped and said, “If my dad was here, he would want to go this way!” The kiddo cracks me up.

My absolute favorite trip of the year was to New York City, to attend BlogHer ’12. I had never been to BlogHer, and never been to NYC. So I was crazy-intimidated. But thankfully, I’d spent the past year flying back and forth across the country, managing my way through tons of airports and crowds, which prepared me well for the chaos of New York. One of my favorite things when traveling is meeting new people – the random stranger from overseas sitting next to you at an airport bar, who shares their wild life story. The sweet old lady on the plane who’s never flown before, and asks you to hold her hand. The hot airforce guy who sits with your while your plane is delayed, and gives you an overly-thorough explanation of how plane mechanics work {that you only listed to because he had cute dimples. Shhh – don’t tell Mike! Lol.} So New York was a blast to me – so many amazing people to see and meet.

Speaking of meeting cute guys at an airport… How adorable is this little movie? I mean – they had me at, “I’m a blogger too!” You totally have to watch it, and tell me what you think of the surprise ending. This is so me – while I may not fall in love at airports {I think Abby’s daddy would be pretty mad if I did that on a regular basis…} – I do make boatloads of new friends. I’ve actually exchanged business cards with people from across the country – and even a few from overseas. I love getting a random email, or comment on my blog, from someone that I met during my travels. If you’re that type too – you will love this video. If so, be sure to share it too! Learn more about the scene stealing surprise at the end here: http://bit.ly/TGGPbP.