Air Travel Is All Indoors

On a recent trip to visit family in Montana, I spent twelve hours traveling there. Except for the minute it took to say goodbye to Tim at the airport, I spent all that time indoors: in a car, in an airport, and on a plane. My return trip was worse. My early morning flight was delayed just long enough for me to miss my connection. I spent eleven hours in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport before I could fly home.

            The trip home might have been better if I hadn’t awakened at 1:30 am with anxiety about catching my 6 am flight. If I’d been sufficiently rested, I might have explored the Twin Cities during my layover. But I was too tired even to read. To stay awake, I walked the length of Concourse C. I walked up and down the concourse, enjoying the art exhibits and the variety of seating, which offered views of the foot traffic inside, and the car traffic out the window. I don’t know how long Concourse C is, but I walked it repeatedly, so I had plenty of exercise, albeit all indoors.

By the time I boarded my plane, I was too tired from being inside all day to be anxious about flying. In the car ride home, I was too tired to remind myself that car travel is statistically more dangerous than flying. I was happy Tim was driving, and that at midnight, there’s not much traffic north of the airport and none once we crossed into Vermont.

Twenty-four hours after waking in Montana, I was asleep in my bed. In that time, I’d traveled 2,275 miles, mostly moving at 600 miles per hour above 30,000 feet. But I’d been out of doors only during the twenty-foot passage from the house to my Lyft in the early morning dark, and from the baggage claim to the curb where Tim pulled up to fetch me at midnight.

Flying is an efficient way to travel, for sure, but I much prefer moving by muscle out of doors: walking, hiking, biking, rowing, paddling, skiing, and snowshoeing. Each sport engages a whole-body rhythm, brings fresh air into my lungs, allows me to admire the passing scenery, spy wildlife, and see where I’ve been. If only I could flap my arms and fly.