Tuesday, June 29, 2010

2,400 miles from my sandwich

I'm sitting in the Phoenix airport on my way to the Western Economic Association meeting in Portland. There I'll be presenting a paper on minor league baseball attendance and top prospects. I'm discussing a paper on NASCAR, and I'll be attending a lot of sessions on Sports Economics. I'll try to blog some impressions over the next couple of days, if I don't fall asleep at dinner given I'm on EST-dad time.

On my trip today I tried to bring a sandwich. Experienced travelers know airport food is generally low quality and high priced. So I bought a really tasty sandwich at Whole Foods today. But I left it in my fridge at home, so no tasty sandwich for me.

Why is it more people don't pack food with them on a plane?

Food spoils so you need to buy it shortly before you leave. But you also have to do lots of other things last minute, so your opportunity cost (value of your time) is higher just before a trip. Also the cost of carrying something is higher than when you say go to work, since when traveling you have to carry a bunch of other stuff. Then finally you have to remember your sandwich, which is harder since you have to remember things you don't normally have to think about (did I pack tooth paste, my hotel's address, and my flight time).

Hope my wife enjoys the sandwich!
Bookmark and Share

2 comments:

The Mapes-Gitter Family said...

I ate it for breakfast. Roast beef with balsamic onions and blue cheese. It was delicious.

love,
Marie

Britt said...

I have eaten many a mooshed PB&J while traveling.

Is jelly a gel? Can you get a PB&J through security anymore? Are coldcuts a safer bet? (I'm pretty jealous of your roast beef with balsamic onions and blue cheese!)


Granola bars, gorp, fresh fruit... all better than overpriced, unhealthy airport fare.