JFK Int’l Airport: My Favorite Place in the World

JFK Int’l Airport: My Favorite Place in the World

Photo taken from http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.
Photo taken from http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.

I love traveling, as you and my other three readers may have guessed. I love the packing, the schlepping, the anxiety, the relaxation, the takeoff, the landing, and I love each and every destination that I am fortunate enough to encounter. I am sometimes asked which destination I’ve been to is my favorite, or which experience was the most amazing while abroad, and I have several of each. But when it comes to my favorite place in the world, the one specific establishment that I adore above all else, it is easily John F. Kennedy International Airport, in my hometown of Queens, New York City.

An airport, you wonder? Yeah, when I’m there I wonder it too sometimes. Yet the airport holds so many promises that never fail to intrigue. There is always a destination served that I’ve never been to, and that alone could instill in me the sense of wonder that JFK does so well. But it is much more than that.

Going to JFK usually means that I’m either going somewhere, which is the foremost reason I love it, or it also could mean that I am arriving home. It is my home airport, and landing at JFK means that I am back in New York City, my home, sweet home. Leaving New York is fun, and I am happy to visit all the places that I do, but after a while, JFK welcomes a somewhat tired and cranky me back with open arms. Not every time is my welcome a warm embrace; at times it can pretend to ignore me for a bit, as I go through a long immigration line or get help by the Customs and Border Protection guys (once for several hours!).

In New York City, we have several airports that are technically our “home” airports. Laguardia Airport is more convenient for most people, but it most-often means that the kind of travel to be taken is domestic. Plus it doesn’t have the energy that JFK seems to carry. Newark Liberty International Airport is the next one, but like its name says, it’s in New Jersey. And it, too, has no energy compared to my JFK. Finally, there is Stewart International Airport, in New Windsor, NY, but that is not only quite a distance to schlep to, but it is somewhat of an exaggeration to call this an international airport.

So, that leaves me with John F. Kennedy International Airport, but I’m quite happy with it. Though it may give me a hard time, sometimes, it still takes care of me. I get impatient with it, and it gets rude with me, but in the end, I forgive, if not fully forget.

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