Coming and going

Some of the most valuable experiences of my life have revolved around travel, and some of the travel I've done is just for work, either way I tend to enjoy the experience.

Travelling for work is not quite the same as travelling for personal reasons although I'm often left with a similar feeling of excitement; I guess there's a particular feeling about airports, probably due to the cross-section of people found there from many countries, socio-economic demographics and ages and all with their own reasons for being there...all complaining about how costly airport food is too I guess.

It's a bubbling cauldron of humanity really and I airports interesting.

I enjoy people-watching - airports are good for it; I have seen such funny things, very sad goodbyes, happy greetings, stern businessmen working, vacationers full of excitement, stars and notable people in transit, deploying and returning military personnel, children causing mayhem, (adults causing mayhem also), people sleeping on the floor, serious emergency situations, arrests, excited people, sexy air hostesses, and just about everything in between and it's really cool to watch humanity in action doing what they do, being human.

I've also had my share of drama like when I arrived for a flight home at 19:00h (7pm) for a flight that actually left at 07:00h (7am)...that cost me a new ticket and another night in Sydney. Another time I was delayed by twenty four hours due to an electrical storm and another storm caused a late departure from Helsinki airport to Heathrow in the UK...I had to run like a crazy man to get my connecting flight to Singapore then Australia - Not much fun at Heathrow. Overall though it's been a reasonable experience whether travelling for work or personal reasons.

Them main problem with travelling for work is that the destination isn't always enjoyable as it's work, even if it's a cool destination.

I don't find destinations all that exciting when on work trips as I usually have to pack into them a lot of work and end up in my hotel room working until late into the night so I am prepared for the following day; I also hate not being in control of the timing, bookings, hire cars, hotels and such things; relying on others to do that can be problematic. I usually don't sleep well when away from home either. But the need to fly is part of my work and I have no choice but to do it...at least I get the entertainment-factor from the airports on the way out and back in though...and that greeting when I get home is nice too, it's always a nice moment to see my two girls after being away for a period of time which will be happening soon.

I thought I'd put the question out there to you folks to see what you think about airports and, more specifically, if you have any airport airline related stories you'd like to comment on.

Have you had good or bad experiences, seen funny things or had a good or bad thing occur like me above? Have you had delays, missed flights or even been arrested by the APO on a flight...(Air Protective Officer)? Have you had a terrible goodbye or an amazing greeting at an airport, been deported or denied access through customs? If you're up for it, comment below.