If it’s not your boarding pass that’s not printing, it’s your bags being too heavy to check through or even worse: someone hogging all the seats when you finally get to your gate. There are about a million and one things that can trigger airport stress on the way to your flight.
They say it’s about the journey, not the destination – but what if the trip is all going wrong? Airport stress can make you wish the destination come a whole lot sooner. To enjoy your travels a little bit more, we’ve got to eliminate the airport stress.
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Through our many travels, we’ve come up with a few techniques to help calm your nerves at the airport. Read on to zen out!
5 Ways to Deal With Airport Stress
1. Arrive super early (even for a 5 am flight).
There’s no predicting what might happen at the airport. Huge lines? Your suitcase breaks? Flight delays? If you arrive early, you’ll have plenty of time to deal with any issues that might pop up. At most airports, there are plenty of things to do – even when arriving at the crack of dawn – so you’ll be able to enjoy what the airport has to offer too.
2. Exercise before your flight.
We all know that exercise is a great stress reliever because it helps produce and release your body’s feel-good endorphins! Who wouldn’t want to feel good before going to the airport? Having those endorphins in your body can help keep you in a good mood even when stressful things are happening around you. There’s a solution to every problem, right?
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3. Invest in an airport lounge – or two.
If you know you’re someone who gets easily stressed at the airport, it could be helpful to invest in a lounge membership, so you know you’ll have somewhere to chill out before your flight or during a layover. How could you not be relaxed with snacks, drinks and free magazines to read? Sounds kinda chill to us.
4. Join a stranger for a stress-relieving drink.
Sometimes just talking to someone else can be a huge help in getting rid of unwanted stress. Also, a glass of wine can be pretty relaxing. If you’ve never traveled alone, that can be pretty nerve-wracking too.
There are a few apps specific to airports where you can check out who’s around and meet up with someone to pass the time before your flight. Maybe you’ll even be on the same one! Check out which ones to use here.
5. Put down your bags and bust a move.
We’re talking about yoga here, but there’s nothing against busting a dance move too! Yoga is a fantastic stress reliever and is sure to get rid of a lot of your airport stress. Just check out how many people do yoga at the airport – they must be onto something! Or if a quiet spot to chill out is more your thing, find an airport meditation room.
