What was your last experience like flying with your child(ren)? Like me, do your last memories on an airplane include a grumpy toddler who wouldn’t sleep during the entire 10-hour flight? And who thencomplained that headphones made her ears too hot but she still wanted to watch movies? And because you were almost in your third trimester of your second pregnancy, you were so tired that you passed out, leaving said toddler to bitch-slap your partner because she was losing her mind? And when you arrived at the airport, your child started to hysterically scream ‘fire, fire’ for some unknown reason? Needless to say, I haven’t been on an airplane since. That was three years ago.

Do you remember going on a long-haul flight and watching loads of films and taking lots of naps? And dipping into your book whenever you feel like it? And going to the loo infrequently because you didn’t want to miss the end of the romcom you were watching? Well, my friends, that will be me in about eight days. Next Saturday I am flying to Florida to visit my family for my grandmother’s 100th birthday party. Alone. Without Husband. Without the kids.

So think of me next weekend. Flying alone. With some magazines, my new Kobo Glo HD e-Reader and yummy snacks that my children aren’t allowed to eat. I will watch movies and take naps. I will travel the way that travelling was meant to be. Without the kids.

Photo credit: Liane Metzler