The third place.

After home and after work, is there somewhere else you like to hang out? What about the local pub or your favourite coffee shop ala Friends? It could be a place where everyone knows your name and Norm sits by the bar pontificating on the merits of Sam’s beer. It’s a place of comfort brought on by familiarity.

So what about that weekend away place, that you can now afford to fly to, because airfares have become so cheap?

Sociologists defined that third place as being somewhere you are just as comfortable as home or work. Starbucks used to be the third place for a lot of people, till they shut a whole bunch of them down. Now the low cost carriers would like to convince you that you can have cities and destinations as that third place. Somewhere so easy and cheap to get to, that you do it on a regular basis and as such become comfortable with the surroundings.

Are they wrong?

Airfares cheaper than bus fares certainly go a long way to encouraging people to get off the lounge and find that third place, even if they didn’t know they were looking for it. For me that third place is slowly turning into Melbourne. I’ve become acquainted with its laneways and arcades as I mooch around for my next coffee, because $49 fares should not be taken lightly and be bought at every opportunity. Australia has an airfare price war breaking out at regular intervals and you should endeavour to use them to find your third place.

Internationally, airfares are cheap enough from Australia that you could find your third place within Asia and get there on a regular basis. The locals remember your favourite meal or drink and you know just where to buy that special gift. How great would that be?

I don’t know how much time you have left to find that third place, as the airfares we have had for the past few years, will slowly disappear as airlines raise their yield and bring their profit agendas back into line.

Starbucks did you a favour by closing down. Get on a plane and go somewhere different. You never know, it could turn into your third place.