by Veena Krishnan

Created on: May 29, 2009

Travelling can provide one with so many experiences which can become learning experiences for life. To gain maximum benefit from ones travels a keen sense of observation definitely helps. If one is traveling by air then our power of observation is put to the test right away at the airport. You enter the airport terminal and you see people everywhere - a wide variety of people with a common goal. They hope to board a plane and be off on their journey.

The light traveler breezes in with barely any luggage on a trolley. Perhaps he is the busy business executive - here today gone tomorrow. Another trolley has just entered the terminal over loaded with luggage, the person pushing the trolley hardly visible behind it. The backpacking traveler prefers to bear his burden and is happily independent of trolleys. There a traveler is struggling with his trolley - its wheels have a mind of their own making it rather difficult for the passenger to control it.

A family of five, pushing two trolleys, look like experienced travelers. The father and the oldest child are managing the two trolleys while the younger girl is tailing her mother with her own little stroller bag. The mother is carrying the baby but the baby is protesting and wants to get down.

A man pushing his trolley is making his way to the airline counter. While the mother waits her two children are busy arguing about something. The mother turns around and chides them to stop and they do, at least temporarily.

A child, tired of holding on to his mother's hand, is protesting and wants to walk around independently. He is probably missing the familiar spaces of his house. Two older children are looking around drinking in the new sights and excited at the prospect of traveling. One little girl is catching up on her sleep. She has made herself comfortable on her mother's lap and has dozed off. Perhaps she was woken up early to start the journey to the airport. A baby's wails are heard. The mother is trying to distract him with a toy. The toy interests him and he stops crying, but for how long?

The passenger with the overloaded trolley is now at the airline counter. He is trying to put his luggage on the weighing scale with out toppling the remaining pieces of his baggage.

At the adjoining counter the luggage is weighing more than the permitted amount. The excess baggage fine is being discussed. Not a pleasant start to his journey.

Above the existing din the public address system comes on announcing that a flight is ready to board and requests its passengers to proceed for security check. This is followed by a security announcement cautioning people not to leave their luggage unaccompanied. In all this commotion you see people having a conversation on the phones, last minute farewells and wishes for a happy journey, instructions to the ones staying back, or conveying their change in travel plans. Hopefully the right messages are understood despite the noise and chaos.

Soon these people who shared a common space temporarily will be flying in different parts of the world and new faces will replace them and begin their separate journeys.

Your travel experiences have begun and what you benefit by it is what you make of it.

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