LAX sucks

As far as airports go, you would expect Los Angeles to be up there, a shining example of westernised, polished infrastructure. Sure, the footfall of nearly 60 million passengers per year is ridiculously high and it must take quite some organisation to orchestrate the constant plane arrivals and departures, but, Americans stereotypically do glossy well, and I was disappointed.

LAX was a bit of a dump.

In many places the floor was littered, international departures had few chairs and limited facilities, the internal flights lounge was pretty shabby (do not read shabby chic!).

Maybe I just didn’t get to see the good bits? Military folk get a bit better treatment in the form of a private area with free showers, snacks, internet access and napping facilities, this information blasting out every half hour and ending with We thank you and salute you for your service.

At one point, I looked around at my fellow upright sleepers and thought, fair play, we had a choice, and there’s far worse than spending a cold night hugging your bags and passport. Uncomfortable, yes, but also pretty safe, and for the odd occasion, absolutely fine.