I love a lot of things. I love cats (and most other animals.) I love really good coffee. I love affection. I love chocolate. I also love airports, a place I normally hear others complaining about. I don't see airports as necessary evils which we dread visiting, I see them as beautiful intersections of joy, adventure, and connection. I grew up taking multiple trips a year to Tampa International, despite the fact that I never actually set foot on a plane until Spring Break my senior year of high school, exactly three years ago. Perhaps I really am just strange, but I always jumped at the chance to take/pick up my grandmother or cousins (much of our family still lives in Connecticut) to or from the airport, despite it being an hour away from where I grew up. When I finally did fly for the first time, on an international flight to Dublin, my love for these controversial places only grew.

If you've ever seen the film "Love, Actually," then you'll recall the opening scene where Hugh Grant's character mentions that whenever he feels sad, he looks at the arrivals gate at London's Heathrow airport. We then see footage of actual families, friends, and couples reuniting after their time away, crying and embracing one another with joy. This is one of the examples to explain my positive feelings towards airports, especially because one of my happiest memories comes from the international arrivals gate at Rome's Fiumicino airport. Airplanes and airports connect us with the ones we love, whether we are reuniting with them or they are sending us off on an adventure.

On a much less sentimental note, I love airports because they have come to look much more like malls than travel centers. This is probably the reason I enjoyed trips there even before having ever flown. For some reason, the cute, touristic shops and overpriced Starbucks drinks just make me happy. What can I say, consumerism (or capitalism, but that's another story.) I love walking around the airport, grabbing a five dollar coffee, and doing some people watching. It's always fun to try and guess people's destinations based on their clothing, who's going somewhere warm and tropical versus who's going somewhere frigid. Of course, I don't go to airports just for this reason (I'm not that odd), but let's just say I'm someone who doesn't dread being asked for a ride there.

Finally, as much as I love the actual airport, I also just love the idea of them. To me, airports represent travel, adventure, new experiences. They also represent connections and love and family. Whenever I see a plane fly overhead, I smile just a little bit, wondering where it's headed or where it's coming from. People always fly because they have a a reason to, whether it's work, or family, or just for fun, My mind starts to wander and imagine, and if yours doesn't and all you see is a plane, then that's okay to.

So there, you now have heard of a person who loves all things relating to airports. And planes. And long flights and unnecessary layovers. I love them because of all that they are and all they represent, and you should try to open your mind to them too. Flying won't seem like such a horrid experience, I promise. And of course, if you ever need a ride to the airport, now you know who to call.