Sovereign Ground

(Please note that the pictures here are unrelated to the rant, I just had some pictures from Croatia to share, and a post that I've been thinking of for a while, so I put the two together. Feel free to ignore one or the other - but not both)

One of the rivers that winds around Ljubljana, Slovenia, a very pretty town

Where most of the rest of the pictures come from, Plitvice National Park in Croatia

Plitvice is a series of stepped lakes with waterfalls and hiking trails on both sides

I am going to say something that many may find strange, or even disturbing. I like airports and train stations. I really do. I love the frantic chaos, the constantly shifting and tumbling destinations and times, and watching the reunions and departures. But most of all, I love the sense of potential and anticipation I get, the feeling that something is about to happen, whether I’m departing or arriving. Please don’t think I’m a total lunatic; I get annoyed in airports, I hate it when my train is delayed, I can’t stand the people who line up for reserved seats 20 minutes before they open the boarding gates, and I don’t like farewells. All of that is easily overshadowed though, by the thought that I’m about to go somewhere.

Plitvice is considered one of the most beautiful places in Europe, and I would agree

It is also full of tourists, but since I was hiking before and after the daily rush, you won't see many in my photos

If you go, I recommend staying a couple of days to really see it all; it's stunning

For me, airports and train stations are the ultimate physical expression of transition, of boundary zones, where I’m leaving one place and going to another, and that’s always exciting. Beyond just physical boundaries, they are also a grand stage where most cultural and emotional boundaries are made more elastic. They are places where people’s guard is down and emotions run high. You can see the most tearful good-byes, joyous reunions, and out-of-proportion anger over a 20 minute delay in boarding caused by making sure the aircraft that is going to fly you over the ocean is in good working condition. It’s where you see people walking around in short-shorts in Minnesota in January, parkas in Cancun, and pajamas with pillows during the middle of the day. They’re places where it’s perfectly acceptable to be eating ice cream at 9:00am, having pancakes at 7:30pm, and drinking 24/7, because after all, you just flew 17 hours and you’ll be damned if some teenager behind the counter is going to tell you that they stopped serving breakfast at 11. Throw in kids on their way to grandma and grandpa’s, overweight businessmen in suits running at full tilt with a carry-on flying behind, dogs in mesh satchels, and the persistent and pervasive odor of Cinnabon, and the only thing a circus has to top it are lion tamers and elephants (and I haven’t been to an African or Indian airport yet, so I may even be wrong about that).

My favorite airports are the ones that service a large number of cultures and geographic areas, Istanbul in particular. Where else in the world beside the UN do you see so many faiths, peoples, and cultures together under one roof in relative peace and quiet. The fact that they are peaceful and quiet because they’re exhausted from travel or worry that their incoming train is an hour late is irrelevant to me. In fact, due to their essential similarity (I haven’t been in an airport yet that I couldn't navigate directly to the restrooms or food court) and the fact that they typically operate at least one step removed from local mores and customs, I’m proposing that all airports and train stations be designed sovereign ground, like embassies. They shall be places of diplomacy, cultural interaction, and refuge, disconnected from place and time, with sincere apologies for the delay and free Wi-Fi for all.