People of the Road, Part 19

Miami International Airport is the 12th-largest airport in the country, and the largest hub for travel to and from Latin America. In addition to airport staples like Brookstone and cheesy souvenir bodegas, the airport hosts shops with “Latin” flavor/product and a duty-free mini-plaza for those flying out of the country. Like any airport, Miami International has its share of bars and mini-lounges for the wayward wanderer to take the edge off the day. Concourse H has two: a standalone bar lined with Heineken bottles and a more typical lounge roped inside a food-court area with a Pizza Hut.

Perhaps you enjoy the greasy waft of airport pizza when you down your well-earned beer, or you need the screeching cacophony of tired families finally getting food.

No? Then smart you might be twice-rewarded for choosing the Heineken bar if chance has you ordering a drink from chipper, gregarious Mathew.

Like millions of travelers who flock to the area each year, Mathew loves the warm weather of South Florida. That fits, since Mathew was born in a small town called Danville, Pennsylvania, and visited Fort Lauderdale on and off for three years. His last visit was, in fact, his last: after two weeks of vacation, he rented a place for another month – and has been in Florida for almost 22 years.

Part of what drew him to Florida and away from small town Pennsylvania was the diversity, and the diversity keeps him here – that and his partner, who he met three months into living in Fort Lauderdale and has been with since.

“There’s a lotta diversity down here, a lot of hetero and homo, it’s a very good mix,” Mathew says.

Florida agrees with Mathew so much he hardly has a cross word for the state, except for traffic.

“The busier traffic isn’t so bad; because of this wonderful economy, more people are moving away,” he says.

Fort Lauderdale may not always be Mathew’s port of call; in four to five years, he might move to somewhere more low-key, like Melbourne, Florida – a small town with warm weather. But that’s for settling down – Mathew still has his heart set on travel someday.

“I love Reno. It’s a beautiful area, I’ve been there three or four times,” he says. Interesting tidbit: Mathew drove cross-country to visit his dad when he was younger, from his home in Pennsylvania to California along the same I-80 I drove along a month ago.

Thanks, Mathew, and good luck with Melbourne!