I’m off for a bit. Taking some time with the extended famly. Thankfully I have a few friends who are willing to keep the blog warm while I am gone. Please welcome them this week!
Today my friend Katie is here to share a post with you! She is a freelance writer and teacher who should probably be grading papers or changing diapers but is more likely blogging, tweeting, or just overusing social media in general. She chronicles all this on her blog, Sluiter Nation. You can also LIKE her Facebook page too!
We don’t travel much.
That is not to say we don’t go places and do fun things, but we stick pretty close to home taking mostly road trip vacations. I think the farthest we have ever driven was out to Montana, and that was before having kids because I was in a wedding.
I have only been on an airplane three times in my life. The last time was two years ago, and I was alone.
I know tons of people travel alone all the time. In fact, lots of people I know travel alone all the time for business. They go to conferences, work sites, meetings, training, workshops, and the list goes on.
Most people don’t think twice about booking the flights, the hotel, and the rental car. They have a packing routine that is either very precise or totally last minute. They know what to expect in airports and how to order room service.
I am not one of those people.
Two years ago I chose–against all my anxiety-ridden feelings–to book a flight and head to San Diego for a big weekend to go to a blogging conference (I live in Michigan, so this wasn’t a quick trip).
I am not a risk-taker. I don’t even like talking on the phone. In fact, I will beg my husband to order pizza or takeout so I don’t have to talk on the phone. In fact, as I write this I need to call and make my annual lady parts exam appointment. It will take 2 minutes. But I hate the phone.
In lots of ways I’m a confident person. I teach high school and speaking in public doesn’t faze me. Confronting teenagers I don’t know? Easy. Asking directions from a stranger? No big deal. Asking for help in a store? So easy. Going to the bathroom at the bar without a friend? I actually prefer it.
But getting on a plane and navigating airports and changing planes and OMG what if there is a delay or a flight cancellation??? I don’t make big decisions quickly…or at least I don’t make them well quickly.
I know lots of people play the “what if” game, but as someone with an anxiety disorder, I tend to do it more than the average Jane.
Did I mention that by the time the trip came around I was smack in the middle of the first trimester of pregnancy and I was developing a yet-to-be caught/diagnosed case of antenatal depression? Oh I was in great shape to travel alone for the first time.
Did I also mention that I have a diagnosed case of OCD and traveling by public transportation gives me more anxiety because I have no control over issues that may arise, and I have to rely on other people rather than myself to get me from point A to point B? Yeah. Fun times up in my brain.
So anyway, the day of my trip arrived and my husband and two-year old son drove me to the airport and saw me off. There was crying. By only me. My husband was all smiles and was encouraging that I would be great at traveling and I would have so much fun. My son just waved buh-bye and looked confused.
Tears and my eyes and shaking from nerves, I produced the wrong boarding pass. Thankfully, the workers at our small airport were kind and helpful.
From there on out, the entire weekend went very smoothly. The only other hang up was on the way home. My very last flight was one that would take under an hour from Detroit back into Grand Rapids, but our plane in Detroit was delayed due to mechanical issues. Instead of arriving at 9 p.m. to my waiting husband, I arrived at 1am. Luckily he had secured an overnight sitter for our son, and I knew that since I was only about 150 miles from home if worse came to worse, I could rent a car and drive the last three hours of my trip.
All that being said, hearing about other friends and their horror stories of canceled flights and having to wait DAYS to get home, I am not really ready to get on a plane alone again any time soon.
I think I would feel more secure if I had someone with me…at least to talk me off the edge when my luggage gets lost. Because in my mind that is for sure going to happen next time.
How are you at traveling? Do you do it often? Do you do it well? Do you do it alone?
