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The Simple Joy Of Being Picked Up At The Airport
It’s both inconvenient and wonderful
Young Traveller
I started travelling by myself when I was rather young. Whenever my barely adult self would return home, one of my parents would be waiting for me at arrival. There is something marvellous about being picked up from an airport, something you only realise when it stops happening.
Naturally, as I grew older and travelled more often, coming home became commonplace. Regardless of what our brains may lead us to believe, life goes on for those who stay. People have jobs, partners, friends and other commitments. We would do the same if we had been the ones who stayed behind.
Greeting Party
Yet, there is something special about taking the trouble to pick someone up. As a child, whenever my mum would drive to the airport to give a lift to a returning friend, I would love to join her. Back then, airports were palaces of possibility that I knew I would want to explore someday. However, there was something else: it felt incredible to be there for someone, to watch someone arrive and welcome them, listen to their fresh stories from whatever foreign lands they had visited.
Picking someone up at the airport is inconvenient. If the public transport connection is decent, it…