The Corporate Road Warrior: Airport Lounge Me

[Voyages Groupe Ideal]

Who doesn’t love an airline lounge when you have time on your hands and you need space from the swarms of people flocking around those tiny connected chairs in an airless waiting area of a gate?

Corporate road warriors - Let us Unite and pay tribute to the holy "lounge."

Those relaxing open spaces with giant TVs, cocktails (virgin and otherwise) and that great “hotel lobby” smell.

Sidebar - reading - optional - Hotel Lobby Smell Defined: You know when you stay in a really nice hotel and you walk into the lobby and the air conditioning brushes against your skin and there’s this very pleasant scent that you can’t quite identify except you are sure you smelled the same scent in an outdoor sportswear store at Mont Tremblant or Whistler Blackcomb and the great thing is the scent stays on the clothes you buy for at least a few days so people think that you smell especially good – not that you don’t?

As a matter of fact, I know a few corporate road warriors who would like to set up camp in the lounge and instead of going on their business trip, just stay there and enjoy the atmosphere. No one would know the difference because every time someone new came in, you would just look like you were waiting to get on a plane. Only you would know and let’s face it, the best secrets we keep in life are the ones that only we know (that’s deep).

 

You could bring some work with you and send a few emails, create a slide presentation, connect on LinkedIn, tweet on Twitter, Check in on Foursquare (risky because they may wonder why you are checking in from the lounge for 3 days straight), watch YouTube videos, call a friend that lives in whatever city you are in and ask them to meet you for a bite or a cocktail before your plane leaves (even though you are not getting on a plane and you are really in your home city where – let’s face it – if you really wanted to see that person – you would have done so before you took this big voyage to the airport lounge).

But there is one person you can share this adventure with … your travel agent – yes that loyal, supportive, compassionate and extremely well travel networked (made up that expression) individual who you tell all sorts of things to when you are on the road. They're sort of like therapists. They care about you so they listen when you speak and they do everything within their power to ensure you have a comfortable, well-oiled business trip. They also jump right in when you need to plan a family trip or a romantic couples weekend or when you miss your flight because you fell asleep in the airport lounge.

So there are two great things happening in this post (other than the brilliant monologue). I will number them.

1 – You get to hang out in the airport lounge and you don’t have to go anywhere and it’s air conditioned and it smells good and there are cocktails and snacks.

2 – You can share your secret with your travel agent and they won’t tell anyone and if and when you do decide to get on a plane and head to that meeting you are missing while you hang out in the lounge, they will get you there.

Voyages Groupe Ideal - Ideal Travel

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