
My uniform is hanging untouched in the closet, my trolley is stowed away and my visa to China expires in three weeks. I have an almost empty roster for the rest of the month, and it does not look like things will be much different next month.
My uniform is hanging untouched in the closet, my trolley is stowed away and my visa to China expires in three weeks. I have an almost empty roster for the rest of the month, and it does not look like things will be much different next month.
Fall is here and I have been on a long haul flight to Washington. The last time I was in Washington was four years ago, and that was when I found out I was having Marta, my youngest daughter. Even though I have been to Washington many times, I have mostly spent the layovers by the pool, relaxing and reading. Though I have decided that my layovers from now on will be all about exploring and writing so I put on my sandals and went for a walk down Connecticut Avenue. I ended up in front of the White House and what an amazing place it is. Just think about how many presidents that have been living there.
I am back from Chicago and my first long-haul flight for almost 4 years. I started my layover with a visit to Le Pain Quotidien, where I got their oatmeal to go. Then I went down to the beach at Lake Michigan and found a sunny spot to sit down and have my oatmeal breakfast. Oatmeal tastes better with a view like this, don’t you think?
After 3.5 years on the ground, keeping busy with a full-time job as a mother of three, it takes a while before the body gets used to working up in the air again. I had a rough start and did not take proper notice of the warning signs. Early check-ins, long flights and short layovers at airport hotels. Constant sleep deprivation and then back home, where three kids and a husband struggled with adjusting to the fact that the person who usually took care of everything from cleaning and laundry to grocery shopping, suddenly wasn’t there all the time.