> a high-pressure commerce zone clamoring for attention I don't want to give and trying to squeeze me

I find air travel mostly unpleasant, but if it's a given that I have to go through the ordeal of security and the flight, I find extra time sitting in the airport quite pleasant. Everybody regards you as in transit and unreachable. Nobody around you knows you or wants to talk to you, and it's easy to find a spot where the only sound intrusions are announcements and nearby conversations. It's so easy to sink into focus on work, or even a book.

Many times I have exaggerated my concern about making a flight so I could catch an extra hour of solitude in the airport.