Lux in the Eco-Age

Recently I’ve been dwelling in airport lounges. It seems in this eco-age of conservative spending and reduced carbon footprint, the luxury of travel remains one escape portal.

The need or want to go somewhere else prevails. We can scrimp and save by web hopping deal sites for good prices but we still want certain luxuries to sweeten the experience.

Our package deal includes meals or quality snacks and access to movies, music and games via our in-flight personal entertainment systems. I wonder why we kid ourselves when our personal entertainment system is merely a touch screen, the concept itself - a pacifier.
Aren’t we still in cattle class, with limited leg room in close proximity to other self-serving passengers? The fact that we can be satisfied and subdued by food, visuals and sound is sad in itself.

I can’t help but be tempted by the consumerism of airport retail. Isn’t that the whole point? There are copious amounts of things to buy, half pointless and fleeting but tempting none the less.
Maybe that is part of the romance of travel, we have saved and daydreamed about a holiday, we have been frugal in our search for a bargain and now we are here, the airport or transition room. We have money in foreign currency, how about a souvenir, giftware or chocolate bar to enjoy the experience a little more? Shame the token in itself is easily forgotten and misplaced.

For all the luxury and opulence of travel, there is the structure and procedure of security and due process. Post 9/11, the world will never be the same, for better or for worse. We still want to travel and experience the sights and sounds of different cultures despite our fears and potential threats.

The power of decoration and distraction!