SEEKING SELF

I'll never forget the day that I spent 8hrs in Amsterdam, at the airport. It was April 20th, held in layover after a flight from New Delhi, India, my partner in travel, Andy and I passed 8 hrs dreaming of exiting the airport into a city full of cultural delights we could only imagine. It seemed our VISAs to enter India did not qualify us to actually visit the city of Amsterdam, so dreaming was what we were left to.

Amsterdam, home of the world famous red light district, a city where your personal liberations are not so liberally harassed, a city where bicycles, my favourite mode of transportation lie willy nilly flowing, through the streets of cobble just waiting for you to take them for a ride. Amsterdam, the land of art, fashion , and sensually stimulative creative passion...Your airport is a little lacking.

Like being trapped in a cell, the waiting lounge of the airport offers mild entertainments, an assortment of over priced under quality food options and a heck of a lot of places to buy things you don't need, for the people you forgot about until the moment you were trapped in the airport. (Disclaimer: there was probably a high rollers lounge I was unaware of though likely couldn't afford in any case.)

One of the better attractions to this airport, was the fantastically intricate lego version of the airport itself. Even from its windows, one could see the city awaiting it's visitors upon their arrival. Sorry little lego people, you were just like us, trapped, stuck in that one place, until you were let back through that gate.

One sometimes thinks of silly things, like bribing a guard, like sneaking out and forcing them to deport you, I mean, you're going home anyway at least you'd get that little taste of wild adventure. There is little adventure left in travel, everything safely mapped and measured, underwear that will dry faster than ever, making sure your most delicate areas are always most comfortable, the internet to tell you everything about everywhere. Andy and I had actually just been coming from some serious adventure, though I'd have to say we could have done that one a bit differently.

India was a moment for us, where we realized how life is full of pain and privilege, it doesn't matter where you are coming from but where you chose to go from there. The world is full of a teeming variety of options, but that day, we were left with only the option of, Airport. We made the most of it and we that much more appreciative of our return.