Talking Travel with Step Back from the Baggage Claim, Jason Barger

Jason Barger already knew a fair amount about people before he headed off his 7-day, 7-airport travel spree to do nothing but watch them interact. He’d spent many a spring break leading adolescents and adults on house-building ventures in Mexico, a trip that took him through various airports with a band of travelers of all ages, for example.

Wanting more fodder to further develop his ideas about airport behavior and what it says about humanity, he decided to airport hop logging thousands of miles and observations as he zig zagged across the U.S. While he watched people either shine with behavior that would make Mom proud –or in such a way that if they were a piece of luggage no one would claim them, Barger honed his ideas about how the airport is a perfect metaphor for modern day life.

The result was Step Back from the Baggage Claim, a book that Barger hopes people will leave on a bench somewhere for someone else to pick up once they’re done reading it. The result of passing the book along will be that people will think about how they interact as they move through their day.

Ever since I read Barger’s book, I’ve made my own observations about airport interactions. It does seem he’s onto something. Over the past months since his book came out, gaining steam through venues like the Washington Post and ABC News, I’ve kept up with Barger’s efforts. Yesterday, there was a post on his new video.

Today is a Talking Travel interview with questions Barger answered through e-mail in between a trip to the Dominican Republic to help with a house-building effort there. If you are looking for a tasty bite to eat that’s not expensive while passing through an airport, Barger has a suggestion.

With Thanksgiving travel rapidly approaching, listening to Barger’s advice to step back from the baggage claim is not a bad idea.

Now that people know that you’ve written a book about airplane and airport behavior, do you feel like the “Dear Abby” of travel? Does everyone have a story to tell you and want advice?

It has been fascinating to see that “everyone has a story”. Also, because the airport metaphor has been so highly relatable, people are connecting with it in profound ways.

2. What surprised you the most about your airport hopping experience? Something you didn’t expect to find out?

That we’re on ‘Autopilot’. I had the perception that people were either experiencing a real ‘high’ and excited about where they were headed or a real ‘low’ and miserable about their travels. However, what I observed was that the majority of us look like we’re walking around on ‘Autopilot’ – we’re going through the motions, almost as if we’re in a trance. This was a powerful image for our everyday lives – are we truly alive as we move through our routines? How can we be more awake as we travel from point A to B in life?

3. Have you noticed any connection between how people dress and the airport/airplane experience? Does dress for success work?

Hard to make generalizations on this one, but certainly an indicator of how a person is ‘entering’ the airport environment. Some are laid back and comfortable and some you can tell are all business.

4 Do you think it’s possible that very nice, sane, considerate people actually turn into jerks at the airport? If so, why? Is it catching?


Yes, for some reason it appears that the airport is a space in the world where some people alter their normal behaviors. I choose to believe that people are good and want to be kind to others, but it appears that the stresses and uncertainty of the airport environment often brings out the worst in people.

5. Have you ever seen Improv Everywhere’s stunt “Welcome Back?” where In case you haven’t. Here’s the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjej2V_yh5k (In this video, actors meet people at the airport with signs, flowers, balloons and applause to welcome them home. They find people to welcome based on the names scrawled on signs that drivers hold–those who are at the airport to pick someone specific up.)

Wonderful. It is amazing what positive ripples it sends to everyone in the area when others feel ‘welcomed’. It reminds me of a time years ago when I went to the airport with some friends of mine to pick up another friend coming home. We dressed in suits as if we were secret service and ushered the person off the plane. It got a great response from all!

Okay, here are some quick airport questions. They can be about ANY airport, not just the ones you chose for the book.

6. Which airport has the coolest feature and what is it?

Detroit’s ‘cosmic tunnel’. It is a great deviation from the norm. see this blog entry for specifics http://www.tripso.com/today/wow-that-was-cool-a-trip-through-detroits-cosmic-airport-tunnel/

7. Which one is the most comfortable for hanging out?

Seattle. I love the Seattle airport. Beautiful high glass windows looking out on Mount Rainer, thoughtful seating arrangements, variety of creative eating options, and just a well thought out design contribute in positive ways to the atmosphere.

8. Which airport has the best personality, if airports have different personalities?

Seattle for the laid back pacific northwest charm and Minneapolis for it’s classy Midwest warmth.

9 . Which airport seemed to foster anxiety?

Miami. Lots of construction, limited seating and food options, and clusters of people add to the normal airport tensions.

10. What airport has the best food find. What is it?


The Quiznos’ pre-made Italian sub that you can find at a Quiznos ‘to go’ kiosk in many airports is one of the better pre-made sandwiches I’ve ever had.

11. Name three airports you have not been to that you would like to if you had the chance?

Johannesburg, South Africa. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Tokyo, Japan.

12. And one more– Based on what you’ve observed from airport and airplane behavior, is there any hope for humanity? Any hope at all? Any?

Absolutely. We all share in the creation of today. We all contribute to each moment based on the spirit we choose to put out into the world. We can begin to ‘Change the World’ by bringing more gratitude and compassion to life in the seemingly insignificant daily moments – such as at the airport. Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the world, start at the Airport!

A look at the Sunday travel sections

There’s quite a lot out there today if you’re trolling around the Sunday newspaper travel sections.

Anytime there is a new story from Tom Haines in the Boston Globe, you know it’s a good Sunday. Haines is simply the best travel writer working today in newspapers. In a typical dispatch, Haines writes from North Dakota — not an obvious travel destination, especially this time of year — weaving the theme of wind into a meditation not only on place and person but on environmental change as well.

The Globe also has a Q&A with Paul Theroux culled from a series of interviews the paper has done with the famed travel writer and novelist through the years.

The Washington Post might have this week’s must-read travel section. Ben Brazil has an interesting take on today’s El Salvador, once Central America’s no-go zone but now a good option for adventurous travelers. But the piece that really caught my eye was the section’s lead story: Staff travel writer Scott Vogel, often wasted on fluff pieces, files a report from Alabama’s Civil Rights trail, no doubt in honor of Black History Month. Such a piece could be formulaic, but Vogel’s isn’t. It’s got an almost Kuraltian pacing and is filled with the voices of locals, who pop up reliably throughout the narrative (it’s always nice when travel writers in newspapers actually decide to quote real people rather than their spouses).

Over at the LA Times, Susan Spano manages to write nearly 2,000 words about vacationing in the French Riviera without seeming to have spoken to a living soul, or at least one she deems worth introducing us to. Thus, a travel piece studded with the dreaded I, I, I….

The Miami Herald has mustered up its cruise gurus — IOW six people who have taken a lot of floating vacations — to answer your questions. This is probably a site you’d want to bookmark if there are some cruise issues you’re curious about.

A few travel sections this week decided to devote space to spring training baseball. The Chicago Tribune has a dispatch from a couple of stringers about the White Sox’s new spring training home in Arizona. The San Francisco Chronicle also dishes from Arizona, specifically Scottsdale, where the Giants and the A’s play in the offseason.

You’d expect the New Orleans Times-Picayune to be pretty much about one thing right now — Mardi Gras — and you’d be right. The paper’s consistently over-performing travel section has everything you might care to read about the city’s carnival craziness.

Lastly, the Philadelphia Inquirer has some good reads this weekend. William Ecenbarger gives us an essay about the various faux pas we commit as travelers without ever knowing it. And I liked this short dispatch from Emily Ward about Croatia’s unheralded wine country. It’s getting to be pretty close to the perfect time of year to head to the Croatian coast, and I have a soft spot for Croatian wine.

Eateries near an airport

We’ve covered the best places to eat inside certain airports, and have given a big nod to the In-N-Out Burger just a mile from LAX Airport in Los Angeles, but here are other dining options in case you have a layover and want to find food that’s worth a bit of effort to get to.

In this Washington Post article, Joe Brancatelli gives a rundown of major airports in the U.S. and where he heads to eat if he has some time. In-N-Out Burger is one of his suggestions.

Here are the first 10 of his other suggestions, along with their distance from the airport. If you’re flying out of one of these cities, I’d also consider these as ideas for where to eat before you head off on an airplane. There’s nothing like a good meal to help face the uncertainties of air travel. Eating close to the airport helps food digest instead of attempting a mad dash across a city to catch a plane.

  • AtlantaThe Brake Pad. This is a converted gas station that serves up “pub grub.” It’s four miles from the airport.
  • Chicago— Here are two suggestions for Chicago-style pizza that are not at O’Hare airport. The Rosemont branch of Giordano’s is four miles from the airport and the Park Ridge branch of Lou Malnati’s is seven miles. If you’re heading to or away from Midway, try Giordano’s on South Cicero. It borders the airport. About five miles away is Lou Malnati’s on West Ogden.
  • Charlotte–Eight miles from the Charlotte/Douglas Airport is Villa Antonio on Southern Blvd. where you can find a pork sandwich, Italian style.
  • Dallas/Ft. Worth–Brancatelli suggests taking at 10 mile drive for the Mexican food at Via Real in Las Colinas.
  • Denver–I concur with Brancatelli about this airport. There is not much close by. He did find Blue Bay Asian Café and recommends the Thai food and the dumplings.
  • Detroit–To find good food here, you don’t need to go any further than the Westin hotel that’s connected to the McNamara terminal at the airport. Dema’s serves decent food any time of day.
  • Honolulou–If you can call ahead, try Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar. It’s only a mile from the airport’s runways. I’d say you can walk, but it might be further than it sounds.
  • HoustonChez Nous is in a converted Pennecostal church and dishes out French food worth the seven mile drive from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
  • Los Angeles–Along with the In-n-Out Burger, Brancatelli suggests Mariposas at the Hacienda Hotel for Mexican dishes and breakfast. It’s only two miles from LAX.
  • Minneapolis/St. PaulCafé Levain, about eight miles from the airport only serves dinner.

For Brancatelli’s suggestions for New York/Newark, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and San Francisco, click here. [The photo is from Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar.]

You never know who that subway musician might be …


“Real Good for Free” is a classic Joni Mitchell song (thanks henhenstoll on YouTube for posting this BBC version).

The song is a ballad about Joni seeing a talented musician on the street “playin’ real good for free” and no one paying any attention to him, when she gets fancy hotels and concert halls, and how strange that is. It’s a beautiful song about the guilt that can come with success.

Well, The Washington Post put the song’s principle to the test. They had world famous violin legend Joshua Bell play at L’Enfant Plaza Station in Washington, D.C. at rush hour to see what would happen.

They even asked Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra what he thought would happen, and Slatkin said:

“Let’s assume that he is not recognized and just taken for granted as a street musician . . . Still, I don’t think that if he’s really good, he’s going to go unnoticed. He’d get a larger audience in Europe . . . but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and spend some time listening.”

Slatkin said that a crowd would gather and the musician would make $150.

The results, as you might guess: He made $34. Nobody really paid much attention except a child, and even those who did drop a dollar in his case barely stopped walking to do so. Sorry Mr. Slatkin, busy people, even classical music lovers, barely hear the street musicians on our way to work. And it’s very sad.

This actually took place about a year ago, but the article is still worth a read, and makes you think twice about how well you appreciate what’s around you.

Thanks, Michael C., for the tip on this experiment by The Washington Post.

Protection from the Sun: When Sunscreen Isn’t Enough

It’s not uncommon in Asia to see umbrellas used for more than just a rain shower. Head out on a sunny day in Taiwan, and you could still be dodging them. I saw many women walking down the street in the protection of an umbrella’s shade on a day when the sun’s rays beat down. I would dodge them, wiping off perspiration, hoping that my sunscreen lasted. I’m sure that my freckles made me look mottled to most Taiwanese. Okay, so I like my freckles, but there is that pesky issue of skin cancer.

There’s a company, Soleil Chic with a mission to keep people’s skin shielded from the sun. After her husband died of skin cancer, Lynn Rose began making umbrellas and hats that block UVA and UVB rays. Even if you put on sunscreen, unless you reapply it every two hours, you’re not as protected as you might think.

This article in the Washington Post in August is about how umbrellas are becoming more common for anytime weather in the U.S. For those looking for better protection, Soleil Chic products look like a great option. However, as you travel about, don’t forget you have one of these umbrellas, and leave it behind somewhere. They aren’t that cheap, They are less expensive, however than a pair of high quality sunglasses.