Off I went.
It felt weird - to say the least - to be travelling without two small hands to hold on to. If you're a mum too and have forgotten quite what it's like to travel alone you might find these pointers useful.
1. It's normal to carry just a single piece of baggage. Nah, you haven't forgotten anything. And it's not even important whether the bag is pink, blue or yellow.
2. On the flight, you are not allowed to cuddle people sitting on either side of you (to be on the safe side, keep your hands off the hand rests).
3. If your boarding pass says window seat, you actually get to sit at the window.
4. You can survive a two-hour flight without a visit to the loo. As a bonus - you also survive take offs and landings without admonishing your neighbours to 'hold it in' even while wondering anxiously if they will hold it in.
5. You can get through a flight without a single apology.
6. You don't need to ask the airline staff for favours - no change of seats, no extra water, no extra tissues to mop off said water.
7. Airport shopping zones are a grossly misunderstood lot. Far from the disaster-waiting-to-happen-zones you thought them, they make for blissful browsing.
8. You get to decide what you want to do on the flight - reading, listening to music and sleeping being real options (over visiting loos, ensuring co-passengers don't get kicked/ pushed, mopping messes and refereeing seats).
9. The baggage carousal is just that - a baggage carousal, not a forbidden slide you cannot allow your kid on.
10. A two hour flight is way too long. After a point you don't quite know what to do with yourself.
A last bit of advice. Sit back, relax and try to enjoy yourself just as much as the kids are enjoying your absence back home.
Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter 'J' for Journey. Joyful thanks to Mrs Nesbitt who thought up this wonderful meme.
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