JEAN PHILIP DE TENDER

The last 18 months I haven’t been travelling a lot. At the heart of the pandemic I did only a handful of flights compared to the 100+ per year I used to have. Now I’m back on the road and it feels good. Although I feel particularly at home in Geneva and Brussels, I love the nomad life that my job brings.

Airports have always been my favourite bubble but then the bubble-within-the-bubble is the lounge. Flying and lounges are probably no longer what they must have been decades ago, when flying was pure luxury with all the perks that come with it. Today, taking a flight has almost become taking a bus, where I meet the same people on the same “bus” from and to work. But still they are a nice escape from a hectic life and I have my best ideas there. Nomads love no man’s land. I always go to the airport on way time and I retreat in a lounge. The Zaventem Brussels Airport once is the best, and I am not saying this because I’m Belgian. The Lufthansa ones in Frankfurt and München also feel familiar, with their meat loaf on the menu. And then everywhere there is always a Priority Pass one around, offering you local snacks.

The challenge of a lounge is to pick the healthy option. 90 % of the food and drinks is crap, so you need to make a deliberate choice. These days, the buffets have been replaced by plenty of little plates and a more limited choice, with more crap food on offer.

Last in Geneva I was sitting in front of this guy. Looking up from my computer I stole this picture, which was telling so much. The lounge was closing at 19.00 but at 18.55 he made sure he had some reserves …