It’s no stretch to say airports can be overwhelming and even demoralizing at times. Considering about 750 million people travel through airport security in the United States each year, minor frustrations can easily multiply, for the frequent flyer as well as the occasional traveler. But what if we took a breath and stepped back from it all? What if we stayed positive and patient during these daunting traveling experiences?

Upper Arlington native and Hilliard resident Jason Barger believes that if we all commit to traveling more gracefully – with more compassion and tolerance and civility – we can begin to change the world. This belief is drawn from a nonstop week of travel through seven American airports and what he saw and learned and chronicled in a book, Step Back From the Baggage Claim.

“It’s the small actions that have always solved some of the world’s biggest problems, so maybe if we just start by trying to travel with a little more patience and understanding toward each other, in time that will become the norm,” he says.

It’s a simple idea and an ambitious goal. But Barger isn’t sitting around waiting for change to happen – he’s out facilitating it himself.

The inspiration for his “movement” comes directly from his book, which was released in July and has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler and more.

The path to becoming an author was long and a bit serendipitous for Barger, a 1994 Upper Arlington High School graduate. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Denison University and originally hoped to work in a professional sports marketing/sales environment, until a very different offer came his way.

“The day I got a call from the Chicago Bulls with a sales team opportunity was the same day I had lunch with (the Rev.) John Ross from Camp Akita,” Barger says.

Camp Akita is located in the Hocking Hills area and is owned by First Community Church, which has two Columbus locations. Throughout college, Barger worked as a counselor in the summers and Ross asked him to return one more time.

“He wanted me to be a staff director after graduation, and I figured I had one more summer to do what I wanted before getting serious about a career, so I told him I would,” Barger says. “That decision sprung into a chain of reactions.”

From 1998 through 2008, Barger’s duties at the camp and the church gradually increased. He facilitated programs, became the high school director and eventually the camp director. He led international and local service projects, which included serving homeless people outside of the shelter system in Columbus and building houses and aiding an orphanage in Mexico.

“There were anywhere between 150 to 214 people coming on these mission trips just to help people who were literally living in the dirt. Our idea was to clothe the cold, feed the hungry and share dignity, respect and love,” Barger says.

He continued to cultivate that idea for a decade before deciding to move on to something new. He wasn’t sure what that something was, however.

“I was ready to tie a ribbon on that work and make a new step into the unknown. I felt I had done something with great value that meant something to a lot of people. But I was ready for the next challenge,” Barger says.

Although he had no job lined up, an idea had been marinating in his mind for some time. It was an idea influenced directly by his mission trips.

“I’d be in airports on my way to help people and I’d be watching this sea of people traveling, knocking each other down just to get what they thought was theirs. They had this sense of entitlement and disregard for others. I started thinking about how different it would be if we just took a more helpful and compassionate spirit and traveled a bit more gracefully; how much of a difference that alone would make,” Barger says.

One night, he brought up the idea of writing a book to his wife, Amy, who responded favorably. The next day, he booked the flights to lay the foundation of his book – he spent seven days flying 6,548 miles to seven cities without leaving the airports. He studied 10,000 minutes of human interaction at these airports, which were chosen purposefully for their locations in various parts of the country – Columbus, Boston, Minneapolis, Miami, Chicago, Seattle and San Diego.

Barger returned home with stories that painted every range of emotion, from the man who opened up about a sick father, to a woman who laughed about almost missing her flight because of the security line.

“This security guy searched through her stuff and her tidy pile of clothes went everywhere. When he walked away and left this pile, she just grabbed everything and started running to her gate. She noticed everyone was watching her and smiled and said, ‘It’s not easy doing this in heels.’ She wasn’t complaining at all. As she ran by, more and more people smiled and it was like she had this ripple effect. Her spirited attitude affected everyone. I thought it was the perfect example of traveling gracefully,” Barger says.

He has plenty of other stories from his experience – both touching and disappointing. He was pleasantly surprised whenever witnessing small acts of kindness, and he predicted the occasional rudeness, particularly around the baggage claim. But what struck Barger the most during these seven days was the travelers’ apathy.

“It smacked me in the face how on ‘auto pilot’ we tend to be. It seems we’re all just in a trance going through the motions,” Barger says. “I think this would change if we slowed down and realized life is about more than just going from points A to B with X amount of things to accomplish.”

His objective with the book/movement is to encourage people to take a step back and commit to being more compassionate and patient toward each other – “to put loving and positive ripples into the water because they spread fast and we affect people much more than I think we realize.”

“I’d like people to move from being passive observers just going through their daily routines to being active participants,” Barger adds.

Barger remains busy promoting the book and the movement and what comes next is still up in the air. But he promises he has many more ideas, including another possible social experiment in another busting public venue. In the meantime, Barger will continue being active in his church, with his family (he and Amy have three children, Will, Benton and Brooke), playing basketball (he played for Denison) and doing the best he can to practice what he preaches.

“I know it’s sort of an ambiguous concept to make the world a better place,” Barger says. “But if we just step back and appreciate each other’s uniqueness and help each other out every now and then, I think it can happen.”

Alicia Kelso is a contributing editor for Upper Arlington Magazine.

BONUS:
Barger has done numerous speaking tours to promote his movement. He has created a “blog tour” asking travelers to share their own stories; he’s currently scheduled for book signings at stores and airports; he’s created a Facebook page for the book and is also on Twitter (stepbackbook); and he has a new video that has recently gone viral: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_IDxaMTmZQ.  

For more information about Barger’s book, tour or the movement, visit www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com.