Wow, I sure hope we get some extra comp time to amp up our diet/exercise/financial planning/sleep/rehab/stress management/marital counseling/doctor visits/time to take the kids to boot camp!

While I’m always a perfect angel on the road (ahem), I have certainly seen others act not in their own best interests at conferences. So, beast wins.

Or maybe not. Another recent survey of more than 1,000 business travelers conducted by Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott found that, despite all the hassles of traveling for business, we feel pretty good about being on the road: 88 percent report feeling positive emotions—confident, knowledgeable, interested, calm, excited, eager, well-connected, and happy—during a trip. So it brings out the best after all?

Uh oh, again, maybe not. “‘While more than half of frequent business travelers say they work twice as much when on the road, they also experience a certain feeling of freedom,’ said [Shruti Buckley, vice president and global brand manager, Fairfield Inn & Suites]. ‘Sixty percent report feeling free to do whatever they want, which is empowering, as is getting their job done.’”

While I’m sure Buckley meant self-empowerment in a positive way, it’s just as easy to think that’s exactly what underlies all the bad behavior. Give us a little freedom, and we quickly use it to dive to the bottom. It’s the flip side of the Marriott’s survey findings that they’re gaining happiness from meeting new people (affair alert!), and trying new foods (good-bye, waistline), although the 59 percent who say “coming home from a trip is like a honeymoon with their spouse” is a bit more heartening.

So, does being on the road give us the freedom to cut loose and indulge in bad behavior, or does it free us to develop into better homo sapiens?

The board kept telling us our original flight was on time, however, so my husband went to check to make sure it didn’t somehow come back online despite the e-mails. The woman he asked told him that yes, the flight was still delayed beyond anything useful to us, but it was too much of a bother to change it because she would have to do it manually. Then the TSA guy started complaining to me about how all the rule changes make his life such a pain and went on a rant about the powers-that-be.

And so on. We tried to remain true to our sunny selves, but it was just ugly, and doubly so for happening in a place that I have always experienced about as good an attitude on the part of the people who work there as is possible in a stressful place like an airport.

So I’d like to take the opportunity to ask that, before we shoot off a sarcastic reply or roll our eyes or snort in derision or take out whatever we have going on on those around us, let’s all take a deep breath and try to connect with the people we’re dealing with as fellow humans on a journey together. While I did shoot off a complaint (did these companies and organizations know how their front-line staff were behaving? They should), I also tried not to react to the nastiness in kind.

Let’s start off with a baseline of kindness and proceed from there. It not only will make life a bit sweeter for the people were dealing with, but we’ll find our own moods starting to lift a bit too.

(Thanks to the MeCo Listserv for the pointer!)

Now I was curious to know what else there might be, so I did a quick Google. I like this one from Trifter.com: The reason they turn off the cabin lights for airports and landings is “so your eyes adjust to lower levels of light. If there’s an accident and they have to activate the emergency slides, studies have shown that you will be able to see better and therefore be able to evacuate more quickly and safely.”

What’s your favorite air travel tidbit?

Mac users who search for hotels on the Orbitz online booking service are initially directed to more expensive hotels than PC users, Orbitz acknowledged last week.

Orbitz Chief Executive Barney Harford said data collected by Orbitz shows that Mac users were 40% more likely than PC users to book four- or five-star hotels.

I’m all for smart data-crunched marketing, but if I’m going to be typecast, I really don’t want it to be based on the type of computer I use.

But what really creeps me out is the way it flirts with you. Sample quotes from the video: “I’m so versatile, I could be used for just about anything.” Um, OK, but all I really need to know is which baggage claim my suitcase will be coming in on. “I can say what you want, dress the way you want”—say what? What does your blouse have to do with my baggage claim question? And then there’s “…and be just about anything you want me to be.” Eeek! OK, if I take that at face value, can you be Darth Vader and aim a death star at the person who kicked my seat for the past five hours? I didn’t think so.

Anyway, check it out, and if you can explain why these things are worth $180,000 apiece for six months of rental time, please let me know. All I can envision is more noise pollution, probably crowding as people play with its outfits and try to get it to be things other than an airport info dispenser. Ick.

FYI, If you’re looking for more on international meetings, we have some exhaustive resources on MeetingsNet.com as well, from international destination updates to tips, trends, and how-tos; cost-saving strategies; legal advice; research and white papers; holiday, currency and time-zone resources; and customs and government resources on our International Meeting Guide.

What’s your favorite travel tip?