Sunday, December 28, 2008

How to Sleep in Airports


In sympathy with people who are stuck in airports on their return journeys, here are some tips for getting some sleep if you have to spend the night in the airport departure lounge.

Airport benches are designed with rigid arms to prevent people from stretching out to sleep, so it takes some ingenuity to get comfortable.

I spent a sleepless night in London last month. There was a little community of sleepers sneaking glances at each other to see how their neighbors solved the sleep problem. Some made beds out of their luggage carts or their suitcases.

Even though strangers didn’t say a word to each other, there was an unspoken bond between us as we triumphed together over the little trials of our humanity.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

I saw on the news that some airlines have cots. They will not offer them, but if you ask, will provide them.

Terry Banderas said...

Enjoy your blog, art and commentary. I will be back for more.

Murat Kayi said...

I think this is the funniest blog post on Gurney Journey... thanks for the laugh...

Teo said...

I've tried to sleep in many airports. Gatwick was not very comfy. My personal favorite is hugging the edge.

Anonymous said...

Oh, this was a lot of fun. You captured the human condition at its lowest ebb, and we prevailed!

By the way, I read your blog daily and learn quite a lot from it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, talent, and expertise - and humor!

Jen Z said...

I know the feeling of having to while away the hours at Heathrow Airport in the wee hours, I was one of the 'sit it out' types, having tried to sleep the whole time from Australia and being a mere two hours to my destination, Berlin, I couldn't sleep anyway. I drew the airplanes instead.

Unknown said...

your drawings are great! I also love seeing the people around those who are completely sprawled out and asleep, casting a glimpse every so often.

Michael Damboldt said...

Haha, I just came from the New Orleans airport, and saw a good bit of that. Yay for holiday flights and overnight stays.

BipolarBunny said...

Good blog. I recently was sleeping in an airport. I prefer just laying down on the floor and letting people walk around me.

margplum said...

I was "stuck" in San Francisco for three days - I took the discounted room rate ($70/night) and then took BART into the city during the day and played for two days. It sure beat 8 inches of snow in Seattle! As my brother pointed out, what would I do if I got on a plane? There's no way to get to my house from the airport since we don't have snow plows but do have steep hills. So if you're flight gets cancelled, ask about hotel discounts, and also ask the airport concierge - they know everything.

Hannah JS Davis said...

Hahaha, well, I'm skinny enough that I can actually slide underneath the arms of the chairs and sleep stretched out. The only problems arise when I want to turn onto my side and curl up!

Tim said...

HAha, awesome. Thats the great thing about being an artist too, whilst others sit around and stare at the wall or stuff their faces with duty frees we can relish the opportunity to spent 12 hours observing and drawing! Sometimes I even make sure I get to spent a half a day or som in between flights just to get that time!

Making A Mark said...

Brilliant - love it!

Airports are such brilliant places for sketching people doing weird things...........

Erik Bongers said...

Hmmm...perhaps this is not a good time for me to tell that story of that bussiness trip I made many years ago for big company J&J, where I had a 4 hour delay during day time - and thus got a free meal voucher and was able to do some walking in the sun...while in NY the taxidriver who had to pick me up had to wait from midnight to 4 AM...
...and I will defenitely not tell you that the taxi company ran out of ordinary taxis, so they picked me up in a...limousine.

And I will defenitely not try to gain your sympathy by telling you that I was the unluckiest person in the world because I was driving a limo through NY in the middle of the night, so no one was there to see me!!!

No, perhaps this is not a good time...

Derek said...

My wife and I spent a night in the Milan airport when we got engaged. Your guide would certainly have come in handy :-)

Jeff Mahorney said...

Ha! I love these. I'm too familiar with these from our night trip back from Thailand. I hope we were as cute as that couple you drew.

adebanji said...

Amazing coverage, sketching at its best!

anima-base said...

Gurney, It's very fun.
Good post....

Kaeinux said...

amazing illustration! good post :)

amanda ava said...

Amazing
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Abigale Huels said...

I found your blog post on how to sleep in airports quite amusing and informative. It's impressive how you managed to turn an uncomfortable situation into a fun and memorable experience.

As I was reading your post, I couldn't help but think about Walmart Airbed Policy. It's amazing how Walmart has created a convenient and hassle-free return policy for their airbeds, making it easy for travelers to have a comfortable sleeping experience while on the go.

Thank you for sharing your airport sleeping tips and for mentioning Walmart's customer-centric approach. I look forward to reading more of your interesting and entertaining blog posts.

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