Airport stress
Every year, I look forward to those couple of weeks when I can get away with my partner to enjoy some quality time in some distant land. Although we both look forward to a well deserved holiday, there’s always the same little hiccup every year when things get tense between leaving home for the airport and arriving at our holiday destination.
The trip to the airport always seemed to upset the balance of Karma and I could never figure out why. Every year I would analyse the whole experience to find out why our normally tranquil relationship would, for a few brief hours, seemingly fall apart. Had I not left enough time for traffic delays? Had I not got the best deal on airport parking? Had I missed some other detail that was so important to my partner?
In the end, I just put it down to the old saying that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. After years of self analysis, I can at last relax thanks to a recent survey conducted by Leflein Associates Inc for Amadeus North America. Without boring you with the facts and figures, this survey of a thousand travellers (500 men & 500 women) basically concluded that women get more stressed than men when traveling as they tend to worry more about catching a flight or connection. Now this conclusion may very well upset a lot of women travelers who will strongly disagree, but it’s a good enough explanation for me.
Apart from telling my partner not to worry, which can make the situation worse, I can’t really change her perception of what she considers to be a potential problem or not. This survey however has made me realize that, as far as traveling to the airport car park and catching our flight is concerned, we don’t think alike. Like they say, a little knowledge is a powerful thing.
In an attempt to make this year different, I carried out a little research and found that for less than the cost of a good night out, I could bridge the normally stressful period and earn some brownie points in the process.
For this year’s Easter break, I’m extending our normal long weekend by an extra day. Travelling to the airport the day before our flight will avoid any panic over time, traffic, or other unforeseen problems. I’ve booked an overnight stay at the 3 star Luton Holiday Inn airport hotel with inclusive airport parking for the duration of our holiday for just £79. With Internet access, swimming pool and gym I thought it would be the perfect way for us to relax and get a good night’s rest before our flight. If this doesn’t re-balance the airport Karma, I don’t know what will. Rest assured, I’ll check in on my return and let you know how it worked out.