Hiking like frogger

When you think of getting outside and hiking, you probably have pictures of beautiful scenery in mind. Walking through breathtaking landscapes filled with pine trees, cool mountain breezes and the sweet sounds of nature, but sometimes what started out as a quick trip to the airport to drop of your beloved mother can turn into an impromptu day hike. A hike filled with congested parking lots and the not so refreshing smell of smog.

Airports can be confusing as hell but if you can remember to do one simple thing to alleviate some of this stress, just one simple thing, remember where you parked your car! There is no vortex that put your car in a different location than the one you parked it in. Your car is exactly where you left it! But what do you do when you can't find it?

So you tell your mother goodbye, wish her safe travels and head out of the airport. You jump on the first shuttle bus you see and request the parking lot for Terminal B. Just then, you remember that you did not take a shuttle from the parking lot into the airport. So maybe you should get off the shuttle you think to yourself. Nevermind the fact that the shuttle is taking off in the opposite direction of where your car actually is.

That being said, there is a certain level of self preservation in not asking for help and embarrassment is a real thing. Get off the shuttle, that'll be the solution... right? One shuttle stop, coming up! You hop off the shuttle and start walking to your car, right on past the exit booths because you are a strong, independent woman and you don't need help finding your car. Just one problem, where in the hell is the car? It has to be here somewhere.

Throughout this endeavor you successfully manage to scale several fences, introduce yourself to a number of different parking lots, none of which contain your car, and run across traffic filled roads that cut through the airport's labyrinth-like lots. No supplies, no snacks, just the flops on your feet and a glimmer of hope in your eyes to find the car before you have to ask for help, or die! But at last, there it is... the car! You've found it and it only took you the better part of an afternoon and several near death experiences.

If there is one thing to be grateful for, other than your ability to live to see another day, is that your mother's plane had not taken off before you reached the car. Imagine what she would've thought if she had seen you as you're sure the airport parking lot staff saw you, scaling fences, traversing through fields and darting across traffic. But you made it all on your own and you didn't even have to use the "where's my car parked at" feature on your phone that you may or may not have known that existed until your friends enlightened you to it!

Sometimes you have to "hike for it" when you least expect it. Get outside!