How To Survive An Overnight Stay At The Airport
If you ever have to spend a night sleeping rough at an airport, I would recommend Helsinki.
Helsinki airport has a bit of an IKEA vibe so for those of you who have always dreamed of spending the night at IKEA, this might be just the treat for you.
From a book swap room, to meditative bird noises in the bathrooms, to cardamon buns and rocking chairs — there are definitely worst places to spend a night.
We arrived into Helsinki at 1am on a flight from Krakow. Our connecting flight to St. Petersburg didn’t depart until 8am so it was brush teeth, wash face and find somewhere we could deposit ourselves horizontally for a few hours without being disturbed.
The earlier you set up camp the better as we soon discovered that most of the best spots were taken. We weren’t the only cheapskates who hadn’t wanted to spend the obscene amount of money on half a night’s stay at a nearby hotel. There were plenty of others to keep us company.
There is a sense of being a law unto oneself when you find yourself in an airport in the middle of the night. It’s a little bit like when you nip back to your office to pick something up that you forgot when everyone’s gone home. The lack of activity is unsettling. Without the thrum of the usual machinery it looks bigger somehow, the way…
