Throughout my life I’ve traveled so much, for both work and pleasure, that I’ve developed this strange love-hate relationship with airports and airplanes. I mainly think they’re a necessary evil…they’re the gateway to the world, although often times they’re simply not fun. I, however, liked focusing on the positive they bring to people’s lives…not only they have made the world a much smaller place but they have helped us connect on a much deeper level. That, by itself, is just remarkable.
I don’t recall my very first time on an airplane because I was way too young, probably around 4-5 years old. Nevertheless, I do have vivid memories of the airport I frequented the most while growing up in my native Iquitos. Of course, I’m talking about IQT, basically a sweat hut, which hasn’t changed much over the years and, decades later, remains being a very unique airport. In comparison to my home airport these days (ATL, supposedly the busiest airport in the world), IQT is simply a joke but boy, what a special place it was and still is! For starters, you don’t find that many airports where you can greet your family and friends just a couple of minutes after landing!
I also remember very well the one time when, flying from Lima to Iquitos, we were caught in a horrible storm. The plane shook helplessly, and we all thought we were going to die! Luckily, we didn’t, but after that experience my mom made it a rule to ALWAYS take the very first flight because she had this idea that storms only happened in the evening. That translated into getting up at dawn for every single flight we took from then on, particularly when we went back home after our annual summer family vacations in Lima. I guess mom always knows best though…we never encountered a similar situation again!
I am convinced my passion for traveling was officially born while going through those experiences. Definitely, being raised in such a remote place made me very curious about what else was out there and, as a result, I started craving to know what the world had to offer. And the contrast between the positive (e.g. spending time together traveling as a family, seeing familiar faces at the gate, etc.) and the not so positive (e.g. the delays due to bad weather or technical problems, going through security, etc.) on every single trip just made the whole thing a lot more exciting! It may be the unknown what makes traveling all worth it and you just have to embrace it!
I wrote most of this piece while I was flying to Punta Cana last week, on a work trip which, fortunately for me, also included some downtime that allowed me to play a bit. And as I made it through Immigration and Customs at the airport, I couldn’t help it and I smiled at how much it reminded me of the airport in Iquitos, only in a larger scale. After all, the world may be very diverse but you may also encounter similarities everywhere you go.