Ode to the Journey:
The Trouble with Modern Travel
Originally published in The Greeley Tribune, October 19, 2024.
Pypr and Saxon McCloud in the cockpit of "the airplane restaurant" in Colorado Springs Colorado circa 2018. Photo/Stacy McCloud.
Being the esteemed McCloud
travel ambassador, I plan the trips
by purchasing a travel book on that
specific destination, and I usually
study that book and maps
a month before vacation.
Every time I fly in or out of Denver, I’m reminded of (and slightly irritated by) how the road getting to destinations used to be fun. They have now morphed into experiences dreaded by many. Grins and laughter in security lines have turned into downturned smiles and lines of people with RBF.
Hordes of once-excited adventure seekers have mutated into seemingly unhappy human drones waiting in long lines, riding trains without smiling. Empty faces, no exhilaration, no joy, no anticipation for sun, surf, or sand—just the hollow eyes of my fellow travelers.
They gaze off into the distance as if they’re following their feet up escalators, through parking garages, down bleak corridors of endless construction, through security checkpoints, down escalators, and emerging through a door to what you might think is their imminent deaths. Few travelers look up, even fewer make eye contact, and most stare unhappily at their devices as if to avoid their next travel assault.
TSA and security seem to be nightmares as if the protocols keep changing and the agents aren’t kept in the loop. It’s no wonder they often seem as though they hate their jobs. As efficient as TSA is, if they contracted Chick-fil-A, they’d be both efficient and friendly!
Collin McCloud, stuck on an airplane between his wife and mother-in-law, on a past trip. Photo/Stacy McCloud
I arrived too early at Denver International Airport, anticipating early morning traffic, construction, and long security lines—typically the norm at this airport. As I killed time at the Denver Chophouse at Concourse A, I tried to recall a favorite quotation about traveling—it was something about not being about the destination but instead enjoying the road getting there.
I racked my brain as I tried to visualize a wooden plaque I’d recently seen in a Costa Rican coffee shop. I can recall the trip well—the coffee shop was on the road to Arenal, and we were on our way to the iconic active volcano. The trip was one of our favorites ever!
When Collin and I go on trips, we usually each pick two destinations, write them on pieces of paper, put them in a hat, and the one drawn is the winner! Then, being the esteemed McCloud travel ambassador, I plan the trip. I begin planning all trips out of the country (except all-inclusive and Mexican destinations) by purchasing a travel book on that specific destination. I usually study that book and maps a month before vacation.
Collin watched as I did just that. After watching me study and cross reference on the computer, he was confident we’d have another great adventure. We never tour with a group, and I usually pick excursions that take a little extra to get “off the beaten path” and require a little less “traditional” travel. Naturally, these are far more adventurous.
Due to our busy schedules, we expect a great degree of relaxation on every journey. Our vacations typically start when we leave our driveway, full of excitement for the imminent escapade.
Stacy McCloud’s son Max, relaxing during a layover in 2024. Photo/Stacy McCloud
Stacy McCloud’s son Saxon, relaxing during a layover in 2024. Photo/Stacy McCloud
With wide eyes, he asked what I meant. As the travel ambassador, I made the executive decision to make absolutely no decisions, and I had made no lodging reservations. Naturally, I had highlighted, researched, and circled destinations in the great Costa Rican Fromer’s travel guide, but beyond that, we were flying by the seat of our pants.
I decided that since it was the rainy season, and most areas had plenty of vacancies, this was the way I wanted to tour. We would stay where we wanted until we didn’t want to, and we’d commit to nothing except being together, discovering the country and each other. This trip would redefine enjoying the journey. With no specific destination, it was the BEST TRIP EVER!
As I finished breakfast by myself, I realized my flight home was boarding in 5 minutes and asked the Chophouse server for my check. I finally remembered the quotation I was trying to dig out of my muddled memory. “It’s not the Destination, It’s the journey”—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Naturally, Emerson was talking about life in general, but isn't life a cluster of experiences, minutes, and moments that define that life? This day, my journey began on Highway 85 out of Greeley, and the destination was my 40 beautiful, tree-filled acres beckoning me home to northern Kentucky.
I headed to Concourse A—home to the once-great Frontier Airlines. It also houses JetBlue, making Denver’s Concourse A, in my opinion, one of the saddest, most dismal concourses in traveling history. Their gates, with the bright lights above my head paired with the dirty chair beneath me, make me imagine the lighting and furniture of an interrogation room. Ironically, according to Yahoo Life, April 2024, DIA is one of the most expensive airports. Frontier Airlines used to lead the industry in delivering fun seekers to their exciting journeys; happily serving beverages and doling out smiles with warm chocolate chip cookies that matched their warm personalities.
As I wandered the Concourse, it reminded me of the squeals of laughter from small children, heading to new destinations and parents equally excited to introduce their families to new destinations. I remembered flights to Las Vegas filled with bachelors and bachelorettes heading to their last hurrah before their nuptials with their wedding parties. I recalled my trips to exotic destinations to scuba dive, hunt, or discover. These flashbacks are home to airplanes packed with excitement, exhilaration, and faded memories spoken silently starting with “Remember when.”
Stacy McCloud’s daughter Pypr, relaxing during a layover in 2024. Photo/Stacy McCloud
Unfortunately, now human drones shuffle into flying vessels of titanium and aluminum that pack in the unanimated people who file one by one into metal sarcophagi. Seats have shrunk and no longer recline, legroom has disappeared, and free use of the bathroom and a small cup of ice water are the only amenities.
Airline attendants no longer have humor, and so few, it seems, even remember when their jobs were fun or exciting. They’ve been relegated to distributing drinks to patrons who seemingly packed away their manners and excitement in luggage tucked away, awaiting their destinations where they will hopefully be unpacked and used well. They must have misunderstood Emerson’s quotation as “It’s not the journey, it’s the destination.”
After finding my shrunken seat, I thought about how far the airline had fallen from the great blue skies. I laughed as I imagined inventing an airline bathroom door that requires a credit card swipe to enter. The first person to invent this will surely capture Frontier Airlines as their first client and die a wealthy inventor. After all, life really is a journey—enjoy yours.
Stacy McCloud’s younger children getting ready to enjoy their travel day. Photo/Stacy McCloud
In August, we flew into San Jose airport in Costa Rica. We took a taxi to our remote, boutique hotel and then enjoyed a nice romantic late-night dinner on the patio of the hotel’s restaurant to close the day. The hotel boasted beautiful outdoor showers. We enjoyed a glass of wine, and then washed off the day’s travel and started to kick off our vacation. After our shower, we poured our bodies into the plush bed for a relaxing night’s sleep.
We slept in the next morning, and Collin ordered a nice light breakfast and delicious Costa Rican coffee delivered to our room. As we lazed around, he asked around a bite of mango what our plans were for the day. I explained our agenda was to check out of the room and grab the rental car. “Great plan, easy day” was, I’m sure, what was going through his relaxed brain. As he sipped his hot coffee, he asked where we were heading in our rental car. I casually replied, while looking at him over my own coffee cup, “I don't know. Where would you like to go?” He nearly spit his coffee out, thinking I was joking, and it took him a minute to absorb that I was not.
#beautyinthebeasts #skingirl #archerygirl #thetroublewithmoderntravel #OdetotheJoureny #travel2024 #lovemyfamily #airlinetravel #makingmemories #liveyourbestlife #enjoyyourjourney #mccloudlife
