It was one of the easiest trips I have ever taken.  I really enjoy Richmond and all of the different museums, parks and outdoor attractions.  My father’s family was very helpful and gave me a real rest.  It was great to spend so much time with them, but back to the subject of air travel.

It is interesting to do this kind of travel and to see what kind of reactions you get from people. Here are some little anecdotes and exchanges from the trip:

·         “You are so brave.”

·         “You bring kids’ Tylenol with you.”  I do not.

·         “Since you can do that trip you could travel to a location that requires you to be traveling for a full 20 hours with four plane changes.”

·         In one of the connecting airports the elevator was broken.  Four repairmen were looking at the elevator but doing nothing. They watched me dismantle the stroller upon which I had piled my carry on, Cora’s carry on, the car seat, our lunch and a half-asleep Cora. The four repairmen continued to watch while I put each of these items (except Cora) on an escalator (since the elevator was broken). We all watched as all of my belongings crashed and bumped at the top in a big pile.  Then I rode the escalator and put everything back together at the top under the watchful eyes of the repairmen. (Who still weren’t fixing the elevator).

·         After my first flight the pilot asked everyone to stay seated before we got off because we had a close connection time. Everyone stood up.  We missed our connection.

·         Happily, the agent at the counter upgraded us to first class because of our missed connection.

·         Also happily, the man who sat next to us asked to change seats to give us more room.

·         On the way back, when I went to the gate to get a stroller ticket, the gate agent told me the flight would be loading in 20 minutes.  Since I thought I had some time, we went to the bathroom, when I returned I realized that the gate only had a long staircase. The agent hadn’t mentioned that important piece of information. I had to dismantle my whole rig but I made her carry everything because she refused to bring me to the service elevator. I kept the whole airplane waiting.   At first the stewardess said I could not bring the car seat (which Cora has to sit in) onto the plane because it could not fit in the overhead compartment (what parent would bring a car seat to store it?)

·         In Atlanta, I ordered food but had the stroller and the tray to carry. A cleaning lady carried my tray, cleaned the table and pulled my chair out. She also sat Cora down.

·         Another cleaning lady noticed I had not cutlery and went to get some for us.

·         In one bathroom, Cora was getting tired and thought that she cut her finger and started to scream bloody murder. She does not like the idea of bleeding.  I got out of the stall as she was pulling on my pants and putting snot all over my shirt and kicking.  We had 10 minutes to make it to our connection. I had no idea what to do. A mom who was changing her baby opened her suitcase and handed me a fluorescent green adhesive bandage. I slapped it on the non-existing cut and Cora agreed to get in the stroller and we ran to the gate making our flight.

Why is this the best air travel I have ever done?

Because when traveling with children you need to change your mindset. Everything is about them.  I had no illusion of resting, reading or taking care of my specific desires.  If you take care of your children’s needs and your basic needs and just go with the flow, then you do not build anxiety or stress over situations.  Also, I think the dynamic is simpler without another adult. When another adult is present you tend to have high expectations of their involvement but they may have a different agenda and want to take care of their own needs. In this case, you don’t have a choice.  Cora was fun and I enjoyed her company.

Heidi