I just got back from celebrating my grandmother’s 90th birthday. As much as I wanted my family to join me for this momentous occasion, I must admit that there was one benefit of being on my own--the travel.
I'm not a big fan of flying. I get nervous as soon as I book my flight. There actually was a time when I could fall asleep to the hum of the engine before the plane even took off. Now, I sit there with my stomach churning and pits dripping, while giving myself pep talks like "God would never take you away from all of your children" or "There are more deaths related to cars than planes."
Anyway the travel experience is much more enjoyable from start to finish when you go it on your own.
For example, checking into the airport is so much easier when you are not schlepping your kid's crap. When you are not counting heads to make sure no one has been left behind. When you are not loading 4 pairs of shoes, 4 backpacks, 4 jackets, etc. onto the security check conveyor belt and then reloading it all back on each kid.
When you fly alone, you can actually be semi-productive. I was able to enter addresses in my address book, read a little and type up a few blog posts (thank goodness for my laptop) and even take a little snooze. Not to mention, I created a DVD already of all of the photos I took at my grandmother’s party! Woo hoo!! If I had the little hooligans cherubs with me, I'd be playing cards, tic-tac-toe, or coloring ponies.
The flight is more relaxing too. You don’t have to separate fighting children and you don’t have to keep your tray table down the entire flight because someone doesn’t want to have their drink on their own tray. Plus it is nice to sit in your seat with out a head in your lap hoping that your legs will stop tingling or that your bladder won’t burst.
And getting off the plane is a breeze! Checking my seat pocket and area takes mere seconds. When I travel with the kids I have to sift through all the candy wrappers, empty chip bags just to make sure a DS or book isn’t left behind. And I always end up carrying someone’s backpack (or even a kid) because they are “too tired.”
Although traveling alone was a lot less hectic and even quite enjoyable there was one big downside--I missed my family.
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