I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, the airport was always a complete saga for my family.
I was VERY lucky that my parents took my brother and I on so many amazing holidays. From Spain to Florida, and from Cyprus to New York to name a few, every summer we all bundled into a taxi to Glasgow airport to head off on a brand new adventure.
But by christ was it a faff.
…and we fought A LOT.
Fights over passports. Fights over someone sleeping in. Me fighting with my dad about why it should be illegal to get to the airport 4 hours before our flight (anyone else’s Dad do this?!!). Fights over where we should eat. And when actually on the flight, fights with my brother about his arm taking up the entire arm rest, him breathing too loudly and him just generally being alive.
The trip always got off to a great start.
Of course the holiday always ended up being absolutely amazing and we had the most incredible time…but the airport experience could have always gone a bit smoother.
The Airport is different for all of us
The airport really is a strange experience, isn’t it?
For some of us, it is the gateway to a break from normal life, with sunshine usually at the other end. For others, like my boyfriend who travels around the UK for work, it’s just an unnecessarily large building to walk through to your transport to work.
Thankfully, I am definitely part of the first group.
I am really lucky that getting on a plane has always meant going somewhere fun. And even when it has been for work, I do it so infrequently that it’s just exciting to not be in the office! (yes the office…remember those?)
And if I’m honest, doing it on my own makes it all so much more enjoyable.
Doing the journey on my own makes me feel empowered
I know this all might sound a bit weird, but I honestly find doing an entire airport/flying journey myself SO empowering.
I have done it loads over the years, but the feeling isn’t really going away, and I actually find it really hard to understand and make sense of ‘why.’
Before I try to explain, I just want to say I personally don’t feel it has anything to do with me being female and on my own. If you feel that it’s an achievement for a female, then I will not question or judge…but I personally don’t. Maybe I am lucky to be able to feel this way. And not to go off on a tangent, but I don’t think I would even feel the NEED to mention this if it wasn’t for social media at the moment and the fact that I keep being told that I, as a female, MUST have experienced certain things in my life and MUST feel a certain way. I really wish the louder voices would stop speaking for an entire group.
ANYWAY…..
I think this empowering feeling maybe has something to do with being comfortable being on my own.
Being on my own is not something I have always been comfortable with, particularly in public places like cafes, restaurants and pubs, and I know I am not alone in this.
I have spoken to a few friends and for some reason we all feel a bit uncomfortable sitting at a table on our own, feeling like people are looking at us maybe thinking “what a shame,” wondering if we have any friends, and just generally pitying us – which 9 times out of 10 will not be the case at all.
Often, when I am on my own in a place like this, I feel awkward and I don’t know know where to look. To confirm my thoughts, I have actually come to a local cafe to write this on my own, and I swear if I didn’t have my laptop to distract me I would be so lost and not know how to act! Why does if not feel natural and why do I feel so awkward!?!
But in an airport and on a plane, you’re not alone in being alone. In fact, you are likely in the majority I think. There are so many people travelling alone to visit family, for business and for whatever other reasons…and I just love being part of this group when I’m on my own!
I just feel so sophisticated (weird I know…!)
I get to choose where I eat. I do everything on my own and am on my own clock. I am not relying on anyone else and can just relax, during what can otherwise be a stressful time. If I lose my passport it’s my fault, so I almost feel more careful with my belongings. I own every moment from getting to the airport to whenever I chose to not be on my own. There is something just so liberating about it.
I own my trip.
I have been on journeys where I have had a fair few stopovers (mostly due to my budget as a student), and I just loved feeling that confidence in my own ability to navigate travelling across the world!
For me this feels like a really normal thing that I am so comfortable with, but having spoken to a few friends, they have told me that they would never travel on their own, and would just feel too nervous. So hearing from some people that travelling on their own really is a big deal, it just makes me feel even more empowered.
But there’s more to it….
I love talking to new people too, which is more likely to happen when I’m on my own
I remember one moment in particular in 2012.
I was on my own sitting at a bar in JFK airport, after having spent a full summer working at a summer camp in upstate New York. It had been the absolute best summer of my life, filled with a lot of laughter (and also some tears I must admit). I was absolutely knackered, and devastated the summer had come to an end, so had decided to treat myself to a couple of beers before getting on my flight – and I got pretty overwhelmed.
Having that bit of time on my own, to finally reflect on the summer before heading back to normal life, really just caught me off guard. I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I know there are millions of people that have travelled sooooo much more than me and seen so many more things, but this was about me. There I was, sitting in the city I had dreamt about my whole life, myself, heading home to start university and kickstart a new chapter in my life.
I felt so relaxed and happy, I ended up chatting to an older American gent at the bar, with him telling me about his Scottish family who were from Edinburgh (or ‘edinburG’ as he pronounced it). I then got on the flight and for hours listened to the incredible woman I was sat beside.
She had lived in the US most of her life, but had escaped Poland with her family as a child during WW2. She was on her way to Poland to visit Auschwitz, and was hoping to find out more about where she was from. She told me about the horrific journey and risks her mother took for her and her younger siblings, doing all she could to escape persecution. They had walked (yes, walked) from Poland to France, where there was family that might have been able to help – her mother carrying her newborn baby on her back, starving herself so that her children could eat whatever scraps they could find along the road. I felt so honoured and privileged that this woman was willing to tell me her story. We shared wine and drank to her good fortune on her trip.
…and I honestly think I would not have heard any of this if I had been with someone else. She and I were both on our own, so it felt only natural to strike up a conversation…particularly I guess as we were about to spend the next 7 hours together.
This is just one example of the beauty of meeting new people, and I won’t bore you with all of the other tales I have heard by chatting to someone at a bar in the airport or on the plane!
You can really learn a lot though can’t you, just by talking to a stranger?
So there you have it, the reasons why I generally prefer to fly alone.
(p.s. if my boyfriend, parents or friends are reading this…I love my airport experiences with you too! Promise!!)
Cara
x
Cara Mia 