We just returned from a family vacation and I now realize why it is easier to travel alone especially when I am flying. In my job I fly about once a month and love doing it so I thought flying with my family would be just as great. Well it wasn’t but it also wasn’t horrible….just messy!
When I fly solo for work it is very smooth because I have a system of how to do things. The first thing I do is park in the same lot every time because it is the cheaper option thus saving my company money. Next I head into the airport. Since I have achieved a certain level on my preferred airline I no longer have to pay to check a bag & have priority check-in. I use my medium sized hard sided luggage and check it each time I fly. It’s just nice to have the extra room plus then I only have to carry my backpack through the airport. So I go to the priority desk, check my bag and then head off to security with my boarding pass loaded in the app on my phone. Lucky for me I have Global Entry (thanks to the hubby a few years ago) so I always have TSA Pre-Check. It really does speed up the security line so I love it. I then make my way through the airport, grab a snack and get to my gate. In my airport this means taking subway type trains, people movers, really tall escalators and even shuttles depending on which of the gates I am flying out of. It is like Planes, Trains and Automobiles but without the amazing humor of John Candy. (Does anyone else miss that comic genius? He was just so funny.) While I am waiting I usually people watch or check emails on my phone. Then it is time to board and again thanks to my status I am in group 2 no matter where I am sitting on the plane. Then it is just sitting back and working or watching a movie. Once the plane lands I just take my time getting my bag and then head to my hotel. It’s just easy and efficient.
That is the opposite of what it is like traveling on vacation with my family. It’s not even all of us, just me, the hubby and out youngest (Becks aka AutismGirl). So let’s just start with parking at the airport. This is a big thing because of the many choices. Do we park in the economy lot or the daily garage and if it is the garage do we park in 1 or 2? This is a conversation that my husband has out loud with himself as we are driving. Just as he decides it will be garage 1 he opens up a new debate because the thinks the best idea is to drop us off at departures, park the car in garage 1 and then join us. That way we can check-in and check the bags. I remind him that the free first checked bag only applies to him and I because Becks doesn’t have status. The debate of where to park starts again and finally it is determined that we are all going to garage 1 and using the underground tunnel to get to the main terminal.
Once arriving in the terminal we go to check-in and find out that both of us have been upgraded to first class. (It’s a 10:30 pm flight to Florida on a Friday so no one is on it.) Now we have an issue because Becks cannot fly by herself in Economy Plus. This starts another debate about what to do. Should we decline the upgrade, should one of us take the upgrade with her and the other sit in the back or should we pay to move her into first class with us? At this time I decide to talk to the agent to explain the situation. I produce the letter that we have from her doctor that confirm her Autism diagnosis and ask what they can do to help. They make a couple of calls and the next thing we know all 3 of us are in first. Woo Hoo…way to start a vacation!
Now comes security which is hard for her but it is going to be easier this time because it is after 8:30 pm and no one is at the airport trying to get through. Plus we have TSA Pre-Check so it will be smooth sailing. I put my bag on the belt, grab a bin for her iPhone and headphones and now we are ready to go through. So I go first, then she run through which she ends by jump on me and almost knocking me down. Hubby gets through too after a debate about his belt buckle and if it will set off the detectors. So off we go to the gate. I decided to have Becks guide us to see how she does. So she looks for the signs and gets us to the place to head out to our gate. I should mention that this point I am carrying my backpack with my laptop and she is carrying hers with all her stuff. The hubby has nothing but somehow ends up with a glass case, iPhone, iPad and other items that are also in my bag because he didn’t think he needed to carry a bag. (Seriously!) We get to the gate and wait. While I was sitting there I could not people watch or check my emails because I am answering constant questions from the hubby. Now, he flies often enough to know how things work so this is not nervousness…it is just something that I take as trying to annoy me to death after 9:00 pm.
Time to board so we get in our line. Becks and I are sitting together and the hubby is a few rows up. It was so nice and she was great. She watched a movie on my iPhone and drank juice. Overall first class was nice. Then we land and she is really tired but also excited. It’s after 12:00 am and she needs to crash. We go pick-up the bags which was easy because no one else seems to be in this airport either. I then tell my husband that instead of taking the shuttle to the hotel we are just going to take a cab. That creates another debate about cost, time efficiency, etc. I am at a breaking point and just want to lay down. I have worked all day and just want to go to bed. So I grab Becks and head to the cab stand. Luckily the hubby joins us so we all get to the hotel. We check-in and crash!
***Please notice that this one family flight took 4 paragraphs vs 1 for my solo journey.***
Thinking back on all of this I have decided that solo travel is great and the reason is because I am making all the decisions. There is no other adult I have to work with or watch have an out loud debate with themselves. It is just me, the airport and my airline. I know things happen on trips that cause issues but I can handle them easily. (Once in Luxembourg my plane got cancelled, they redid the flight and I ended up flying into a completely different airport in England 4+ hours later than I was supposed to originally.) Family trips require compromise, patience and other things I am just not good at when it comes to other adults. This family trip was just a great example of the title for my blog. That life is messy and (thank goodness) I DON’T MOP!
Please like, follow and share my page if you are enjoying my blog.