Doesn't make any difference whether you are heading to the shore to cool off, to a city you've never been to before or to the mountains to take a hike. It's peak travel season, and before you go you've got to get your ducks in a row. That might mean a rolling suitcase and packing cubes, an extra phone battery and a hat with the floppy brim, not to mention that list of restaurants from your bake sale buddy. If you do your homework you can anticipate most of the issues and needs you're going to run across, and lay in the goods and knowledge to navigate most of them.
Most, that is, except for the people. No matter how much you pack, how much you research, how much you prepare, the one thing you can't account for is your fellow travelers, and there will be a lot of them. Domestic travel is up, with some reports indicating an over 200% increase over last year. International bookings are up as well, by some reports up over 170%. And while recent developments in Washington have some saying that international arrivals will be chilled, even that category is up 5% over last year for the first quarter. All that means that going there, being there and leaving there will bring you face to face with way more human beings than you encounter at home.
Those people come in all flavors. There are those toting suitcases and those slinging backpacks. There are loud ones and pushy ones, fast ones behind you and slow ones in front of you. And all seem to have a phone out and are more intent on looking at the screen than what's in front of their face. Most are harmless if no less annoying. But all can make navigating restaurants, museums, airports and even just plain old streets a challenge.
You can't avoid them, but you can recognize them and try and steer the other way. It might be one who gets on the plane late and then tries to cram a too-big carryon into an overhead bin, crushing all the other bags in sight. Or those that decide the best place to stop and have an extended conversation about where to have dinner is in the middle of the doorway to the next gallery. Or the person with a cough or other obvious malady which should have kept them in their hotel but rather is out and about infecting others. Other than holding your tongue and your breath, not much any of us can do.
Then there's Turkish Airlines. They've chosen a more direct approach to combating one particular scourge, the so-called "aisle lice." Those are the folks that, regardless of the pleadings of the cabin crew to remain in your seats until parked at the gate, and then let those in front of you get up and disembark first, jump up immediately. They grab their bags and push towards the front, generally clogging up the aisle for all.
But do that on TA and it could cost you. According to a notice from the Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation as detailed on HalkTV, a national broadcaster, "Passengers who act contrary to the rules set forth in the circular may be subject to an administrative fine of 2,603 TL" which is about $67. Crews are now supposed to warn passengers right after they land that they should "Yerinizde kalın yoksa!" (Stay seated or else!)
As the carrier that serves the most countries in the world, there's a reasonable chance that the policy will spread. And not just to that situation, but to other infestations as well, such as the related "gate lice" that swarm boarding areas before their group is called. If it's successful it might set a new precedent, enforcing civility and good manners with a stick instead of a carrot.
Assuming you're not one of those offenders (you're not, are you??) the best thing you do to cope with all these types is to chill out and roll with it. After all, in 99% of the situations it's not a zero-sum game. There will be plenty meals left to be had, coffees to sip, pictures to be taken and quiet to be found after they move on. And no matter when you get on the plane, everyone on it leaves at the same time and lands at the same time. So put your earpods in and take a deep breath; you'll be there before you know it.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford loves to travel, preferably off season. His column appears weekly via email and online on Substack and Blogspot as well as Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
